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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
"Symphony of Secrets" explores music, race, and the power struggle between entitlement and talent against the backdrop of a gripping mystery.
The novel takes place in dual time periods; in present day Bern and Eboni are working on the long-lost original version of famed composer/ lyricist, Frederic Delaney's masterpiece, "RED".
Bern, a music professor at the is beyond thrilled to be on this project as he is a huge fan of Delaney and an expert on his work.
However, the deeper they get into the musical score, they come across something unusual; the letters "JaR" are written on one of the pages.
This, coupled with the Delaney Foundation being extremely guarded about certain things cause Bern and Eboni continue to dig as they believe may have discovered something that could change everything about the origin of the music.
We are then swept back to 1918 where Freddy isn't the most impressive musician until he meets Josephine Reed, a young Black woman down on her luck.
Josephine seems a bit off, rarely looks people directly in the eyes, and uses vivid colors as a way to describe things and feelings, especially music. She's undeniably musically gifted and Freddy hires her to teach him to play the piano better. It isn't long before he finds out she also writes music, and this is when their partnership changes.
Everything seems like it's on the up and up and that this is a mutually beneficial tradeoff, but is it really?
Going back-and-forth in time we learn Freddy's true intentions, a lot about the music industry in the early 20th century, and how sometimes our heroes aren't always good people or have the best intentions.
I truly enjoyed this book and look forward to discussing it at my next book club meeting! I will definitely read more by Brendan Slocumb.
Quote from the book I loved: "But he wasn't just playing the music. He'd fallen in love with it. Playing Schubert took him out of himself. These weren't just notes on the page--this was a blueprint for an entire emotional experience that he had never even dreamed existed."
The novel takes place in dual time periods; in present day Bern and Eboni are working on the long-lost original version of famed composer/ lyricist, Frederic Delaney's masterpiece, "RED".
Bern, a music professor at the is beyond thrilled to be on this project as he is a huge fan of Delaney and an expert on his work.
However, the deeper they get into the musical score, they come across something unusual; the letters "JaR" are written on one of the pages.
This, coupled with the Delaney Foundation being extremely guarded about certain things cause Bern and Eboni continue to dig as they believe may have discovered something that could change everything about the origin of the music.
We are then swept back to 1918 where Freddy isn't the most impressive musician until he meets Josephine Reed, a young Black woman down on her luck.
Josephine seems a bit off, rarely looks people directly in the eyes, and uses vivid colors as a way to describe things and feelings, especially music. She's undeniably musically gifted and Freddy hires her to teach him to play the piano better. It isn't long before he finds out she also writes music, and this is when their partnership changes.
Everything seems like it's on the up and up and that this is a mutually beneficial tradeoff, but is it really?
Going back-and-forth in time we learn Freddy's true intentions, a lot about the music industry in the early 20th century, and how sometimes our heroes aren't always good people or have the best intentions.
I truly enjoyed this book and look forward to discussing it at my next book club meeting! I will definitely read more by Brendan Slocumb.
Quote from the book I loved: "But he wasn't just playing the music. He'd fallen in love with it. Playing Schubert took him out of himself. These weren't just notes on the page--this was a blueprint for an entire emotional experience that he had never even dreamed existed."
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Absolutely brilliant. Slow to start, but then it just took off. Excellent book if you’re a musician, but if you aren’t you might not enjoy the music-heavy sections.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, Murder
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Bored. Come on, 10s of thousands for letters from an opera writer?
informative
mysterious
reflective
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated