Chaconne

A novel

@jongregory · Mar 08, 2026 · 31 chapters ·367 min total LinkedIn ✓

Bob Harrington has the life his father planned for him: a house overlooking Cottesloe Beach, a wife who curates their image on Instagram, two children at the right schools, and a fund management business on St George's Terrace that is, very quietly, a fraud.

On a family holiday in Austria, he walks into a violin shop and walks out carrying a broken instrument that will upend everything. Back in Perth, behind a soundproofed office door, he begins to learn the most demanding piece of solo violin music ever written: Bach's Chaconne.

Over two years of obsessive practice, Bob becomes someone his family doesn't recognise. The fund collapses around him. The violin may be worth a fortune. His wife suspects an affair. And on the night of his fiftieth birthday, in front of everyone he has ever loved or lied to, he picks up the instrument and plays.

What happens next will stay with you.

Table of Contents

  1. 1. The View from Marine Parade 14 min
  2. 2. Nedlands, 1987 13 min
  3. 3. Gaggle 12 min
  4. 4. Fund 10 min
  5. 5. Rottnest 9 min
  6. 6. Terrace 10 min
  7. 7. What Jeannie Doesn't Know 9 min
  8. 8. Trip 11 min
  9. 9. Köthen, July 1720 12 min
  10. 10. London, Paris 11 min
  11. 11. Absam 20 min
  12. 12. Vienna 10 min
  13. 13. Home 9 min
  14. 14. Restoration 9 min
  15. 15. First Lesson 12 min
  16. 16. Cremona, 1715 9 min
  17. 17. Cliff Face 20 min
  18. 18. Recordings 9 min
  19. 19. Soundproofed Room 14 min
  20. 20. Injuries 12 min
  21. 21. Busking 8 min
  22. 22. Gap 14 min
  23. 23. Authentication 14 min
  24. 24. Invitation 14 min
  25. 25. Köthen, Autumn 1720 8 min
  26. 26. Party 9 min
  27. 27. The Chaconne 31 min
  28. 28. Gossip 6 min
  29. 29. Smashing 9 min
  30. 30. Beach 7 min
  31. 31. Recording 12 min