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Even in the womb, Marthe Adler loved music. At age four, the little Jewish girl from Köln learned violin at her father's knee before his sudden death crumbled her world. Left with a non-musical mother, a bratty little sister, and poverty, Marthe abandons her dream of attending Köln Conservatory until a scholarship comes her way in 1906. Now a woman in a man's world, she spends her next four years navigating heights and depths as she is befriended, persecuted, ostracized, accepted, worked to the bone, and taught what is important in life.
Although Carlton is not a musician, her prose reverberates with the romance of the violin, the language of the orchestra, and the conviction that music is poetry for the soul. Knowledge of bowing techniques, music theory, and the psychology of assembling a quartet lends realism to a layered plot, accented by delightful, nuanced characters who both fulfill stereotypes and break them. Personalities clash and harmonize, tensions tauten, and Marthe's interior-focused life wrestles with complexities until the final stanza.
Notable is Marthe's teacher and advocate, the Wolff, a strong female musician with almost superhuman prowess. Opposite is Marburg, a spoiled, wealthy student who inexplicably hates Marthe, making a difficult life even more so. In between lie male and female students who inspire, protect, challenge, and nurture. Katerina, Marthe's student, provides comic relief, along with the elderly Oma Judith, a revolutionary Czech poet. Martha's genetic family counterpoints with her adopted musical family as she begins to bloom in life, love, and career.
Carlton's fictional tour de force captivates with dialogue-driven drama, well-drawn characters, and rhythmic language that mirrors mood. A multilayered plot enhances a fascinating insight into the world of a prestigious musical conservatory, where male and especially female students struggle to be worthy of their subjects.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review