A Few Notes On...
Music Fiction

Atkins, Ace
Leavin’ Trunk Blues
Ruby Walker, one of the greatest blues singers, lost everything when she was convicted of murdering her lover and producer, Billy Lyons. Decades later she agrees to an interview with a Tulane University blues historian in hopes to uncover the truth.

Becker, Geoffrey Bluestown
Living in Brooklyn and working for a shady musical effects company, Spencer finds his life thrown into turmoil by an ugly labor dispute, a breakup with his girlfriend, uncertainty about his future, and the return of his father, Spider, after a seven-year absence

Bell, Madison Smartt Anything Goes
Twenty-year old Jesse escapes from his dysfunctional family life by forming a band that embarks on a year-long tour across the South, which enable him to come to terms with where he is from and where he is going.

Bocelli, Andre The Music of Silence: A Memoir Bocelli reveals the anguish of his blindness and the transcendent experience of singing.

Carter, Charlotte Rhode Island Red
Nanette Hayes enjoys earning her living playing the saxophone for spare change on New York's funky, mean streets, until an undercover cop is killed in her apartment, and she becomes the prime suspect.

Crouch, Stanley Don’t the Moon Look Lonesome: a Novel in Blues and Swing
Interracial tension surmount between Carla, a jazz musician and Max, and a sax player.As Carla, an up-and-coming jazz singer, prepares to wed her saxophonist husband, the tensions created by their interracial relationship come to the fore.

Dalton, David The Been Here and Gone: A Memoir of the Blues
A panorama of the twentieth century as seen through the eyes of 102-year-old bluesman Coley Williams includes anecdotes about such figures as Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Robert Johnson, and young Elvis Presley.

Dart, Iris Rainer
Some Kind of Miracle Facing a slump in her career, struggling songwriter Dahlia Green hopes to convince her cousin to give up rights to a song they co-wrote years earlier, an endeavor compromised by her cousin's mental illness and Dahlia's conscience.

Doyle, Roddy Oh, Play that Thing
Ex-IRA assassin Henry journeys between Chicago and New York in his pursuit of his elusive wife and his love for jazz, all the while endeavoring to outmaneuver the death warrant that has followed him across the Atlantic.

Fermine, Maxence The Black Violin
Wounded while fighting with Napoleon's army in the Italian campaign, violin prodigy Johannes Karelsky arrives in Venice, where he is rescued by a mysterious woman and boards with Erasmus, an aged violin maker who has created the legendary "Black Violin."

Forsyth, Frederick The Phantom of Manhattan
With the help of the woman who had originally freed him from torment, the Phantom of the Opera escapes by ship to America to begin a new and secret life that leads him to power and wealth, until a mysterious death-bed message transforms his life once again.

Goudge, Eileen Taste of Honey
Gerry Fitzgerald confronts a painful secret when the daughter she gave up for adoption twenty-eight years earlier comes into her life, seeking answers.

Goldstein, Yael Overture: a Novel
Natasha Darsky, a musical prodigy whose talent blossoms during her college years, when she begins to pursue composition as well as performance, abandons her dream of writing music after a passionate affair with a young composer, until her young daughter's talent as a composer has a profound influence on her life and their relationship.

Halpin, Brenda Dear Catastrophe Waitress: a Novel
Two young people, Philippa and Mark, whose respective celebrity rock singer exes achieve fame and fortune by writing nasty things about them in their songs find true love with each other after they both end up in Boston—Philippa, now a single mother on the run from an abusive relationship, and Mark, a grad school teacher and confirmed bachelor.

Holmes, Rupert Swing: a Novel
Jazz musician Ray Sherwood, playing at the 1940 World Fair, becomes involved in the investigation into the death of a mysterious Frenchwoman, who had previously propositioned him.

Mackay, Scott Old Scores
When a much-despised music mogul is found strangled in his apartment, detectives Barry Gilbert and Joe Lombardo find their job complicated by the victim's long list of enemies and the case's impact on Gilbert's family.

Marson, Bonnie Sleeping with Schubert: a Novel
When her body is surreptitiously possessed by the spirit of Franz Schubert, Brooklyn lawyer Liza Durbin struggles to retain her identity in the wake of her proud parents, the media, a mysterious elderly fan, and the late composer's passions.

Patchett, Ann Bel Canto
When terrorists seize hostages as an embassy party, an unlikely assortment of people is thrown together, including American opera star Roxane Coss, and Mr. Hosokawa, a Japanese CEO and her biggest fan.

Seth, Vikram An Equal Music
Against the magical backdrop of Venice and Vienna, two lovers, Michael and Julia, confront the truth about themselves and their love, about the music that both unites and divides them, and about a devastating secret that Julia must finally reveal.

Starer, Robert The Music Teacher
Bernard Winter, a failed concert pianist and music teacher connects musically and emotionally with his new student, Lydia Harding. The reader is given a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the concert circuit.

All annotations courtesy of NoveList

DH 5/07