The Mozart Conspiracy: A Girl Violinist Investigates in 18th Century Vienna

The Mozart Conspiracy by Susanne Dunlap is the sequel to a YA historical mystery that I really liked called The Musician's Daughter in which fictional fifteen year old violinist Theresa Schurman investigated her father's death in 18th century Vienna.   I wasn't aware that there was a sequel when The Mozart Conspiracy was originally published in 2010.  I only found out about it now because the new Kindle edition is available on Net Galley.  I snapped up the free digital review copy, and decided to read this mystery during Thanksgiving week because I felt thankful for it.

                          

The first thing that readers considering a sequel generally want to know is whether it can stand alone.  My answer is that you can start with The Mozart Conspiracy, but why would you want to do that?  The Musician's Daughter is wonderful.
 
As my readers will know, women in the 18th century who had careers in the arts were rebelling against established conventions. Theresa was fortunate in having a violinist father who taught her and believed in her gift. This is believable because some prominent historical women in the arts and sciences of earlier eras were trained by their fathers.  The ancient mathematician Hypatia and the Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi spring to mind as examples. Theresa was even more fortunate in having the composer Joseph Haydn as her godfather and mentor.  He is a significant character in The Musician's Daughter.

 A Romani woman named Mirela played an important role in both the books that center on Theresa.  Theresa relied on Mirela's insight and assistance.  Theresa also had connections to Romani musicians that Haydn knew.  (I found a section of the Wikipedia article on Haydn and Folk Music  that deals with Haydn's relationship with the Romani and their influence on his music for those who are interested in this subject.)

Another female character in The Mozart Conspiracy that I wanted to bring up in this review was Constanze Weber, who later married Mozart.  I've seen Constanze portrayed as self-centered, greedy and manipulative elsewhere.  Dunlap shows her in a much more positive light.   It seemed possible that Theresa and Constanze could become friends in the future. 

The Theresa Schurman mysteries contain themes that are relevant to me.  In The Mozart Conspiracy gender inequality and anti-semitism were the ones that I found most noteworthy.  I felt Theresa's distress when she was viewed as anti-semitic by some of the Jewish characters.

The mystery aspect of the book was handled very suspensefully.  The conspiracy referred to in the title of the novel remained unclear until the final reveal. Until then, it was difficult for Theresa to discover whodunit since it transpired that she couldn't be entirely certain about what was done.

Although I didn't like The Mozart Conspiracy nearly as much as The Musician's Daughter, I did enjoy reading it.  Yet one area of disappointment was the absence of Haydn.  If there is a third book in this series,  I'd love to see Haydn resume his mentor role in Theresa's life. 



                              

                               

Temptation Rag: Music, Class, Race and Feminism in a Historical Novel

When Joelle Speranza from Smith Publicity requested that I become an early reader of Temptation Rag by Elizabeth Hutchison Barnard, she pitched it to me as dealing with a number of different themes that made it sound both complex and of particular interest to the readers of this blog.  So I accepted a paperback ARC from the publisher and this is my honest review.

                           

    

Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard originally intended to write a book focused on male protagonist Mike Bernard who was a prominent ragtime musician and the grandfather of the author's husband.  She decided to expand her focus by creating a fictional life for Mike Bernard's first wife, May Convery, about whom almost nothing is known.

This fictionalized May Convery became a published poet and a women's suffrage activist.  Her struggle to achieve the independence that allowed her to pursue the life she wanted for herself is important to this novel.  Yet I have to say that the critical factor that allowed her to succeed was having been born into a wealthy family.   If that hadn't been the case, May's dreams would have died.

  I have seen reviews that call May the real protagonist of Temptation Rag.  If this were true, there would have been a great deal more about May's career.   While there is some content about her career activities that appears relatively late in the narrative,  I feel that this is still primarily a novel about Mike Bernard and ragtime music.

Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard shows us through the life of Mike Bernard how and why the history of ragtime was re-written.  This book allows readers to understand that the cultural appropriation of ragtime music was all about racism.  Racists could not enjoy this music unless they could claim it for themselves.  Mike Bernard is depicted as trying to be fair minded because of his own Jewish heritage. Mike didn't want to owe his success to racism.  The suppression of African American musicians is very much a part of Temptation Rag.

I applaud the honest characterization in this book.  Mike Barnard is portrayed as a flawed character who mistreated people thoughtlessly and falsified his history. May also became reluctant to share her true self as a result of her experience with Mike. It was difficult for these characters to form meaningful relationships. They were both very self-protective individuals.

Don't read this book if you're looking for a romance novel.  There is no HEA. This book is recommended for people who want to know what life was like for women and minorities at the turn of the 20th century in the U.S., and for those who are interested in the history of music.






           

Playing With Fire by Tess Gerritsen

December has been busy, and I haven't been reading fiction with strong female protagonists lately.   I debated with myself over whether a review of Playing With Fire, Tess Gerritsen's recent standalone thriller, belongs on this blog.   This is a dual time period book, and it was the historical female protagonist that caused me to decide in favor of posting about this book on Book Babe.

                                 

Violinist Julia Ansdell, the contemporary central character,  tried to be strong but she was more often a victim who needed to be rescued.  Her life was beyond her control, and her judgment was very badly compromised for reasons that became clear by the end of the book.   Because she didn't understand what was going on, she didn't know who to trust and fought the wrong battles.  I was glad when Julia's situation was finally resolved, but she wasn't our Book Babe heroine.

I found her in the historical narrative which took place in Venice, Italy during the 1930's and 1940's.   Julia had found the manuscript of a mysterious unpublished piece of music called Incendio by L. Tedesco.  He is violinist/composer Lorenzo Tedesco, the viewpoint character of this story line.  The Tedescos were a Jewish family and this was Fascist Italy which became occupied by their ally, Nazi Germany. Lorenzo might have been forgotten despite his brilliance if it were not for a brave young cellist named Laura Balbini.   Laura had been seriously burned in an accident, but it didn't damage her confidence even though it marred her beauty.   When she wanted to enter a musical contest, she dared to rehearse a duet with Lorenzo even though Jews were viewed with extreme prejudice.  She also had the courage to care about him and I believe it was she who motivated her father to try to help the Tedescos.   I know that she persuaded her father to shelter Jews who were strangers under conditions of tremendous danger.   She said to her father, "What if it was Lorenzo?"   At the end of her historical notes, Gerritsen tells us "In the darkest of times, there will always be a Laura to light the way."  Laura's story is linked more directly to Julia's because she also played an important role in the composition of Incendio.

Laura and Lorenzo are fictional characters, but  they had real life parallels.  There were many real Italians who saved Jews at the risk of their lives.  There were also real Jewish musicians like Lorenzo during this period.

Some of you may remember another novel that took place in Fascist Italy dealing with another courageous woman cellist who worked for the Italian Resistance, and utilized a very unusual means of passing on secret messages.  It was The Garden of Letters by Alyson Richman which I reviewed on Book Babe here.  This shows that woman heroes may be uncommon, but not unique.

 2015 was the year that I uncovered the role of Italian woman musicians in opposing the Nazis in novels by Alyson Richman and Tess Gerritsen.  In 2016 I anticipate discovering other great woman heroes in historical fiction, and I will be sure to share these discoveries with you on Book Babe.

The Garden of Letters: The Cellist Who Was Code Named Dragonfly

The Garden of Letters by Alyson Richman takes place in Italy during WWII.  I have not visited Italy in WWII through the pages of a book since reading The Garden of the Finzi-Continis during my teen years. Regrettably, I have not read Alyson Richman since The Mask Carver’s Son which I very much admired for the way it showed the differences between the perspective of art as a tradition, and the perspective of art as an individual accomplishment.  In The Garden of Letters Richman deals with the perspective of a musician discovering her true priorities in a time of fear and privation.  

                                                

When I read about fictional protagonist Elodie Bertolotti’s dedication to music and her love for the fine cello that her father had given her, I was reminded of The Rainaldi Quartet by Paul Adam, a mystery I read some time ago  dealing with luthiers and the love of great violins with a history behind them.  It also took place in Italy, but it didn’t stray outside the world of music as The Garden of Letters does.  Because when your friends are courting danger and your country is about to be invaded by alleged allies, being absorbed in music is not enough for a person of integrity.  I was impressed by Elodie’s courage when she joins the Resistance, and her ingenuity in inventing a new means of secret communication.  I’ve read a number of novels dealing with the French Resistance.  I had expected the Italian Resistance to be similar, but Elodie brought her background into the Resistance which gave fighting the Nazis an unusual twist. 

I would like to discuss a few thoughts I had about The Garden of Letters of the title.  It was seen as a private expression of love, but no one ever called it art or its creator an artist.  Do people only think it’s art if it’s public and the elite give it sanction?   Does the fact that a woman created it for her husband make it not art?   If so, then the definition of art needs to be broadened.  My paternal grandmother had examples of her crewel embroidery hanging on a wall of her living room.  Few people got to see them, but I’d definitely consider them art.  My grandmother was an artist with her needle.   I think that Dalia, the creator of The Garden of Letters, was an artist though she probably would never have thought of herself that way.  All expressions of the creative impulse could be considered art. The Garden of Letters also gave Dalia the strength to deal with separation from her husband.  Therapeutic art is still art. 

The Garden of Letters shifts perspectives and time periods.  I never got confused even though the story didn’t unfold in linear order.    I didn’t think that the head hopping was unclear or excessive.    Other readers might have problems with the author’s narrative techniques, but I consider this the best historical fiction that I’ve read so far in 2015.

                                             

Be Your Own Hero

Growing up, I remember all the cartoons of princesses sitting there looking beautiful but miserable...and they never found happiness until a rich and handsome prince rescued them from whatever was ailing their lives.


I don't write love stories like that. My heroines always meet their prince (or princess) but they aren't sitting there waiting to be rescued.

Take Kimberly for example. She's got the handsome Carlos helping her, but in the end, she really rescues herself by coming to terms with who she is now, hearing loss and all.

There's no contest what song I choose for this book and as you read it, I'd love for you to keep the lyrics in mind and remember...

There's a hero

If you look inside your heart

You don't have to be afraid

Of what you are

There's an answer

If you reach into your soul

And the sorrow that you know

Will melt away...

So even if, or when, a hero comes along, save yourself by looking deep within you. The hero is right there. As the song says, YOU can survive. If you look around you, you will see survivors everywhere. You may not even know their stories. Like Kimberly, they may have hidden disabilities.

Try to take a moment everyday to remind yourself of this.

Thumbs up to Mariah Carey for her song, Hero. *I posted part of the lyrics because some of my followers are deaf/hard of hearing and the video is not cc'd. I have no intention of stepping on anyone's copyright. 

A Healing Love can be purchased on Amazon.

Stay for a Song

Love Request: a story about two people reconnecting on the Internet and a young woman discovering she can indeed be truly loved despite her "disability" while at the same time, facing down the bullies from her past. She could have been beaten down, refused to face it, went through life resentful and distrustful, but instead she chooses to open her heart and forgive.


I couldn't settle on one song for this book so I'm sharing with you today two songs, both by Amy Grant. I'm a huge fan of her.

The first one: Stay for A While. This is how Ciara remembers Hunter, years later.

Long time since I've seen your smile,

But when I close my eyes,

I remember

You were no more than a child,

But then so was I,

Young and tender.

Time carries on;

I guess it always will,

But deep inside my heart

Time stands still

The second one...this one has always touched a place deep inside me and though Ciara was never sexually abused, she faced a trauma of a different sort: bullying. Bullying does have long-term effects on people. The feelings of insecurity, fear of people, and extreme self-consciousness stay with people long into adulthood. The question is...how does one handle it? Can they be like this woman in Ask Me? Can they look in the mirror at a lovely woman face and see no more frightened little girl? Or do they still see that frightened child afraid to go to school for fear of what will be done to be her that day?

Now she's looking in the mirror at a lovely woman face

No more frightened little girl, like she's gone without a trace

Still she leaves the light burning in the hall

It's hard to sleep at all.

Not an official music video, but I love it. Someone named Terapath made it.

Make sure you don't live your life as a victim. Live your life as a person.

Choosing a Rhythm for Ride for Rights

Last week, a lady who runs a radio show was asking me if I wished for her to mention my YA historical novel on a special radio program for teenagers. How could I say no?

But then she asked me if there was a song I associated with it, a special soundtrack. After all, it's a radio show, and radio shows are about sound...

I had to really think on it. After all, I'm deaf and though I can hear some music if I connect an iPod to my hearing aid, I'm afraid I don't make it a habit of sitting here jamming. It takes too much concentration.

But I knew there was by Pink I liked. She always does these strong women music videos and stuff. So I sat down and browsed YouTub until I found one that I felt suited the story. Why I associate it with Ride for Rights?

First of all, Angeline and Adelaide are making trouble everywhere they go in the novel--even though it's not intentional. They are for the underdog too--women. Like Pink in the music video, they get themselves arrested, but they don't let it stop them from their goal. And though they come from a life of wealth, they can get nitty, gritty, and dirty when necessary. 

And my fingers

Are bejeweled

With diamonds and gold

But that ain't gonna help me now

And I imagine...if those two sisters ran across a town full of oppressed whores, they'd free them too. LOL

On that note, I'm just sharing the video with you. I'm gonna see what else I can come with for my other novels because truly, this was fun.