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Bezig met laden... Symphony of Secrets: A novel (editie 2024)door Brendan Slocumb (Auteur)
Informatie over het werkSymphony of Secrets: A novel door Brendan Slocumb Mystery & Detective (177) Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. The author's note says a great deal. It is a "must read." This is an excellent book. It is not only a "good read," it has a lot to say about how racism and misogyny live in our society alongside prejudices dealing with differences. Slocumb has written a terrific story about classical music, the music industry and its history, and struggling composers. And he has created a mystery that kept me glued to my kindle. This is a remarkable book that is a literary gem and an historical story, as well as a suspense and mystery novel all wrapped in music...symphonies, ballets, speakeasies and smoky nightclubs. I listened to this book on audio and and the narrator. Chanté McCormick, held my attention from beginning to end. Bern Hendricks is a professor who happens to be black, and his specialty is music and he is a world-renowned expert on the music of Fredrick Delaney. Delaney is a world- renowned 20 Century American composer and Bern has been asked to authenticate a newly discovered Delaney symphony and he jumps at the chance. Little does he know that as he digs further into the music, and with the help of his very computer-savvy friend, Eboni Washington, they uncover a real morass of back information, not only about RED, the piece he has been asked to authenticate, but about all of Delaney's work and also about what it meant to be black in 1920's America.. Who is this young black woman that they see in old pictures from the 1920's? They discover that her name is Josephine Reed, and with further digging, they also determine that Miss Reed was more tied up in Delaney's life than they first thought. Eboni and Bern go all over the country trying to find information on Reed and Delaney, and once they start to get close, the Delaney Foundation puts roadblocks in the way. It appears that the Foundation will stop at nothing to prevent their newly discovered information from going public.The tension is real throughout the entire book, and the characters are remarkably drawn. This book was a pure delight for me to listen to. Highly recommend. Bern Hendricks is an expert on composer Frederick Delaney. While working as a professor, he receives a call from the Delaney Foundation (DF). They ask him to authenticate a recent discovery, but they are very secretive about it. Bern calls his friend Eboni, a tech wizard. They force the DF to provide the original, and they discover the initials JOR. Researching this, they discover a prodigy-Josephine Reed. The story then travels back to the 1920s, when Fred meets Josephine. Josephine is an amazing performer, and she hears music in her surroundings. Fred has her write the music, and he writes lyrics, but because Josephine is black, Fred convinces her that he has to put only his name on the work. Bern and Eboni discover the sinister truth about Fred and Josephine and divulge this secret to the world. Very interesting! geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
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"From the celebrated author of book club favorite The Violin Conspiracy: A gripping page-turner about a professor who uncovers a shocking secret about the most famous American composer of all time-that his music was stolen from a young Black composer named Josephine Reed. Determined to uncover the truth and right history's wrongs, Bern Hendricks will stop at nothing to finally give Josephine the recognition she deserves. Bern Hendricks has just received the call of a lifetime. As one of the world's preeminent experts on the famed twentieth-century composer Frederick Delaney, Bern knows everything there is to know about the man behind the music. When Mallory Roberts, a board member of the distinguished Delaney Foundation and direct descendant of the man himself, asks for Bern's help authenticating a newly discovered piece, which may be his famous lost opera, RED, he jumps at the chance. With the help of his tech-savvy acquaintance Eboni, Bern soon discovers that the truth is far more complicated than history would have them believe. In 1920s Manhattan, Josephine Reed is living on the streets and frequenting jazz clubs when she meets the struggling musician Fred Delaney. But where young Delaney struggles, Josephine soars. She's a natural prodigy who hears beautiful music in the sounds of the world around her. With Josephine as his silent partner, Delaney's career takes off-but who is the real genius here? In the present day, Bern and Eboni begin to uncover more clues that indicate Delaney may have had help in composing his most successful work. Armed with more questions than answers and caught in the crosshairs of a powerful organization who will stop at nothing to keep their secret hidden, Bern and Eboni will move heaven and earth in their dogged quest to right history's wrongs"-- Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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For me, the strongest part of this book was the relationships between various characters and how those relationships changed over time. There's not just the relationship between Bern and Eboni as they work to uncover the truth about world-famous composer Frederick Delaney, there's the relationship between Bern himself and the composer. Bern is a man who has spent his life becoming an expert on Delaney and his music. As more and more facts are uncovered that Delaney did not compose his own music, Bern is no longer the slavish devotee. Now he is a disillusioned knight fighting to right a serious wrong, and if he is to survive, he must shed his naïveté in dealing with the Delaney Foundation.
Perhaps the most profound relationship in Symphony of Secrets is between Frederick Delaney and neurodivergent Josephine Reed, a poor Black woman who just happens to be a musical genius. Theirs is a most personal relationship that also shows how Blacks were treated in the music industry of the 1920s.
I found myself equally enjoying both time periods (present day and the 1920s) as the story unfolded, and I often felt myself working through all the legal and moral implications of what Bern and Eboni were uncovering as they dug up each new clue. Wow. What has Brendan Slocumb got up his sleeve next? I can't wait to find out. ( )