While the Music Lasts: A Memoir of Music, Grief, and Joy

A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 2025

‘Emily MacGregor takes two things people are often scared of – classical music, and death – and makes them winningly accessible, warm, funny and real. This book is as finely tuned as the very best of orchestras. I loved it.’

Alice Vincent, author of Rootbound: Rewilding a Life, and Why Women Grow

‘Beautifully written… A powerful testament that music is life.’

Michael Spitzer, author of The Musical Human: A History of Life on Earth

Listen to Emily talk about the book on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour