Symphony of Secrets

I very much enjoyed “The Violin Conspiracy,” but this book was a big let down for me. While the book engages with important ideas and themes like racism and whitewashing of history and so on, I found that it didn't hold together well as a novel. One issue I had that was probably unique to me is that I am far too close to much of the subject matter. As a musician married to an archivist, the tiniest flaws in accuracy stuck out to me (such as using gloves to handle historical paper documents). Of course, each individual flaw is hardly a deal breaker, but taken in aggregate, I felt that they undermined the characters and the story.

Generally speaking, I found many of the characters broad and flat, almost archetypical. Perhaps the worst of all is Josephine herself, who I felt very much lined up with the Autistic Savant trope/stereotype. At the same time, I found that her synesthetic descriptions of music just didn't read as something I could imagine any actual musician saying or doing. Maybe it's an unfair critique, but it just felt inauthentic to me.

I think that's what most of my reaction to this book boils down to. The Violin Conspiracy was clearly based on Slocumb's own experiences as a black musician in the modern era, at least in part. As a result, it came across as more authentic to me. Symphony of Secrets just felt more contrived to me in order to serve the message Slocumb was trying to get across.

Brendan Slocumb has shown that he’s the real deal with his second novel; “The Violin Conspiracy” wasn’t a one-hit wonder. Slocumb weaves his intricate knowledge of music into a compelling tale of the ouvre of a famous (fictitious) composer’s origin and development. Written from the perspective of a Black musician, which Slocumb is, the tale is told with great pathos. Slocumb’s passion for music and the Black community resonate throughout this book. I enjoyed it thoroughly.