Symphony of Secrets: A novel
A gripping page-turner from the celebrated author of book club favorite The Violin Conspiracy Music professor Bern Hendricks discovers a shocking secret about the most famous American composer of all time--his music may have been stolen from a Black Jazz Age prodigy named Josephine Reed. Determined to uncover the truth that a powerful organization wants to keep hidden, Bern will stop at nothing to right history's wrongs and give Josephine the recognition she deserves. "A maestro of musical mystery ... Slocumb's writing is invigorating, and the detail in his character work makes the main characters in both time periods easy to root for. . . . Thrilling." --The New York Times "At once a celebration of music and also a cautionary tale about legacy, privilege, and creative genius." --Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid 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.
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Community Reviews
I loved this book! The author developed his characters with well thought out research and made them come alive. The plot is very believable and the dual settings of the 1920’s to the present day had smooth transitions were enjoyable and well written! The beginning of the story requires one to really focus in as the author gives background information on the theme of the story which takes a bit to digest first before plowing forward. I really enjoyed the author’s book The Violin Conspiracy and really looked forward to reading this one. I was not disappointed!! This is a great read!
Reviewed by Fallon Vaughn for This BrowneGirl Reads book club.
Outside of SA Cosby, Stephen King, and Kiese Laymon I had not read many books by male authors, so I found myself pleasantly surprised with Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocum.
This novel retells a story that has constantly repeated itself in terms of history whereas the culture, music, and talent of Black people has been colonized and stolen by non-Black individuals. A talented yet quirky composer finds herself in the grasp of Mr. Delaney who uses his influence, power and whiteness to pirate her music as his own. He goes through great measures to keep his theft secret and ultimately devises a plan that he thinks will solve his problem permanently. That is until the story jumps to present times, where two individuals discover some inconsistencies that lead to the discovery of the stolen legacy.
This story reminded me of how Elvis and numerous other artists saw Black individuals doing miraculous things, and stole them as their own. It was well written and flowed easily. I enjoyed the authors writing style and the way this story comes to an end.
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I absolutely loved this book. Am going to an event at the end of September where Brendan Slocumb is appearing in front of over a thousand readers - the whole town reads one book together over the summer, and this book was the choice. I’m looking forward to him sharing his inspiration, as well as the audience Q and A. He has a unique voice in using the music industry - and his vast knowledge of it - as a prism through which a human story is told. And he’s an amazing advocate for marginalized populations who need to be heard. This story delivered on all of this, plus held century-spanning mystery, suspense and incredible character development. I listened to the audio, and the vocal talent really made the story come alive. It’s a story that will stick with me for a long time.
I got on the waitlist for this one at my library as soon as they put it in their inventory. I read and loved THE VIOLIN CONSPIRACY a few months back by Brendan Slocumb and was over the moon to discover his sophomore novel already had an expected publication date.
I listened to the audiobook solely for this one and highly recommend it. Chante McCormick is the narrator and she was perfection.
Plot: 7
Characters: 8
Logic: 8
Intrigue: 7
Atmosphere: 6
Writing: 9
Enjoyment: 7
Plot
Dr. Bern Hendricks has spent his life studying the famous composer Frederick Delaney. In fact, he's considered an expert, a scholar because of his work. Bern is a product of the Delaney Foundation, an organization set up by the composer to help kids afford instruments. Now Bern gets a call from the current Delaney Foundation board members - the lost opera RED has been discovered and they're tapping Bern to transcribe it!
Bern makes a startling discovery - one that lands him in the crosshairs of a very powerful organization that will stop at nothing to keep their secrets hidden. The easy thing would be to just focus on the music of RED - but can Bern ignore what he's uncovered?
This premise is what hooked me right away in the first chapter. The explanation of what this opera is - part of a 5 part series celebrating the different countries that participate in the Olympics - and the mystery of what happened to this lost original of RED was so interesting. I couldn't believe this was fiction - I actually hit up Google to make sure!
Characters
As with his debut novel, Slocumb continued to excel in writing and developing characters. You can't help but to connect to and love the main characters, Bern and Eboni, as well as several of the secondary characters.
Logic
Even though I'm not a musician, never played an instrument or even a fan of opera, I completely understood this book. Slocumb has a fantastic way of explaining the musical world that speaks to his skills as a teacher.
Intrigue
This was a story that had me thinking about it when I wasn't reading it. I wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery behind how it was the original composition of RED had only just now been found - I also wanted to know about a certain character relationship, but I won't spoil that here.
Atmosphere
The majority of the book takes place in present day New York, with later sections take place in the past, which was also New York. We get a brief visit to France, but no descriptors of it during the 1920 time period.
Writing
Slocumb excels in this regard. It's flows beautifully, easy to keep up with - it's a printed song without the musical notes to accompany it.
Enjoyment
I'm glad I picked this one up. It's one that I think will appeal to other character driven readers like me and those who are big fans of literary works. Slocumb incorporates several themes in this book, as he did with his debut. I thought they were the same themes, but the author's note at the end explained better what he was covering in this novel. He just wrote them in the way that he himself has first hand knowledge of.
I listened to the audiobook solely for this one and highly recommend it. Chante McCormick is the narrator and she was perfection.
Plot: 7
Characters: 8
Logic: 8
Intrigue: 7
Atmosphere: 6
Writing: 9
Enjoyment: 7
Plot
Dr. Bern Hendricks has spent his life studying the famous composer Frederick Delaney. In fact, he's considered an expert, a scholar because of his work. Bern is a product of the Delaney Foundation, an organization set up by the composer to help kids afford instruments. Now Bern gets a call from the current Delaney Foundation board members - the lost opera RED has been discovered and they're tapping Bern to transcribe it!
Bern makes a startling discovery - one that lands him in the crosshairs of a very powerful organization that will stop at nothing to keep their secrets hidden. The easy thing would be to just focus on the music of RED - but can Bern ignore what he's uncovered?
This premise is what hooked me right away in the first chapter. The explanation of what this opera is - part of a 5 part series celebrating the different countries that participate in the Olympics - and the mystery of what happened to this lost original of RED was so interesting. I couldn't believe this was fiction - I actually hit up Google to make sure!
Characters
As with his debut novel, Slocumb continued to excel in writing and developing characters. You can't help but to connect to and love the main characters, Bern and Eboni, as well as several of the secondary characters.
Logic
Even though I'm not a musician, never played an instrument or even a fan of opera, I completely understood this book. Slocumb has a fantastic way of explaining the musical world that speaks to his skills as a teacher.
Intrigue
This was a story that had me thinking about it when I wasn't reading it. I wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery behind how it was the original composition of RED had only just now been found - I also wanted to know about a certain character relationship, but I won't spoil that here.
Atmosphere
The majority of the book takes place in present day New York, with later sections take place in the past, which was also New York. We get a brief visit to France, but no descriptors of it during the 1920 time period.
Writing
Slocumb excels in this regard. It's flows beautifully, easy to keep up with - it's a printed song without the musical notes to accompany it.
Enjoyment
I'm glad I picked this one up. It's one that I think will appeal to other character driven readers like me and those who are big fans of literary works. Slocumb incorporates several themes in this book, as he did with his debut. I thought they were the same themes, but the author's note at the end explained better what he was covering in this novel. He just wrote them in the way that he himself has first hand knowledge of.
Content warning for violence, murder, racism, abuse, threats of violence, domestic abuse, interpersonal abuse, and related topics. I liked this novel, it was different from The Violin Conspiracy, but it carried over some of the major themes. Typically, when there is a joint timeline, I prefer the historic timeline. This was the case here! I really liked Josephine, she was such an incredible character. She has audio/visual synesthesia, where the neurons from one sense are intermingled with another and convey messages at the same time. I thought the language got to be a little repetitive, it felt like there were multiple conversations that got repeated. Overall, this is a great read and I would completely recommend it.
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