The first time I ever heard any version of the old folksong Barbara Allen was in the Daffy Duck cartoon "Robin Hood Daffy", when it was sung by Porky Pig. Who was, I might add, possessed of a surprisingly true voice for a stammering pig--and therefore, it is in no way, shape, or form a statement on the quality of Ms. Marley's writing that her book totally songvirused me with Porky's voice. ;) It is simply a reflection of how the first verse of this ditty, the one that Porky sings, is quoted more than once throughout this book. I kept trying to envision the characters drawn in Warner Brothers style, too.
All that aside, I did quite enjoy this novel. The central plot is about a glass harmonica player in 2018 having visions of a young girl in 1762--the very child Benjamin Franklin has brought into his home to test-play his newly invented armonica--and how the unfolding of young Eilish Eam's life in turn affects Erin Rushton's. It's a gentle, subtle story, neither big nor flashy, and read for me like a well-written musical piece plays. There are two separate but intertwined storylines, balanced against and reflecting each other, and ultimately coming together in the end with a chord of resolution. Moreover, since Marley is a local author, it was quite satisfying as well as thought-inducing to see certain details that exist in the Seattle of today employed in her plot.
I have a vague memory of hearing a glass harmonica performance at a Worldcon; it had to have been either the 1998 Baltimore one or 2002 in Philly, I can't remember which. But because of this book, I'm very much wanting to find a decent recording of appropriate music. And any book that makes me want to go find music is a win! Four stars.
All that aside, I did quite enjoy this novel. The central plot is about a glass harmonica player in 2018 having visions of a young girl in 1762--the very child Benjamin Franklin has brought into his home to test-play his newly invented armonica--and how the unfolding of young Eilish Eam's life in turn affects Erin Rushton's. It's a gentle, subtle story, neither big nor flashy, and read for me like a well-written musical piece plays. There are two separate but intertwined storylines, balanced against and reflecting each other, and ultimately coming together in the end with a chord of resolution. Moreover, since Marley is a local author, it was quite satisfying as well as thought-inducing to see certain details that exist in the Seattle of today employed in her plot.
I have a vague memory of hearing a glass harmonica performance at a Worldcon; it had to have been either the 1998 Baltimore one or 2002 in Philly, I can't remember which. But because of this book, I'm very much wanting to find a decent recording of appropriate music. And any book that makes me want to go find music is a win! Four stars.
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