As an Alexander McCall Smith fan, I picked up the audio edition of this book to listen to during my commute. It makes for excellent listening. You really don't want to listen to a depressing story on the way to work. Overall, I give the story 3 stars with an extra star for McCall Smith's style and voice. The story has a quicker pace than The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency so you don't get lost in the characters' meditations. But it has the same light touch conveying a wonderful message of hope.

Here's a summary from Ellen Shapiro (People magazine):
LaStone is a widow who, as the Nazi threat looms, assembles a ragtag orchestra in rural Suffolk in hopes of altering "the temper of the world."...more LaStone is a widow who, as the Nazi threat looms, assembles a ragtag orchestra in rural Suffolk in hopes of altering "the temper of the world." She falls for one of her recruits, a Polish pilot with a suspicious past. But patriotism trumps passion, leaving La to worry if her life will always be "a play in which I have no real part." In McCall Smith's quintessentially English world, perserverance, pots of tea and the power of music will show the way.