An Unfinished Score - Hardcover

Blackwell, Elise

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1936071665 ISBN 13: 9781936071661

Publisher: Unbridled Books, 2010

Synopsis

As she prepares dinner for her husband and
their extended family, Suzanne hears on the radio
that a jetliner has crashed and her lover is dead.
Alex Elling was a renowned orchestra conductor.
Suzanne is a concert violist, long unsatisfied with
her marriage to a composer whose music turns
emotion into thought. Now, more alone than
she’s ever been, she must grieve secretly. But as
complex as that effort is, it pales with the arrival of
Alex’s widow, who blackmails her into completing
the score for Alex’s unfinished viola concerto.
As Suzanne struggles to keep her double life a
secret from her husband, from her best friend,
and from the other members of her quartet, she
is consumed by memories of a rich love affair
saturated with music. Increasingly manipulated by
her lover’s widow and tormented by the concerto’s
many layers, Suzanne realizes she may lose
everything she’s spent her life working for.
A story of love, loss, sex, class, and betrayal,
this psychologically compelling novel explores
the ways that artists’ lives and work interact, the
nature of relationships among women as friends
and competitors, and what it means to make a life
of art.

About this title

About the Author:

Elise Blackwell is the author of three previous novels: Hunger, The Unnatural History of Cypress Parish, and Grub. Her books have been chosen for numerous best of the year lists, including the Los Angeles Times, Sydney Morning Herald, and Kirkus. Her short stories and cultural criticism have appeared in Witness, Topic, Seed, Global City Review, Quick Fiction, and elsewhere. Originally from southern Louisiana, she has lived in many others places and is currently Associate Professor of English at the University of South Carolina.

From Publishers Weekly:

Blackwell's melodramatic fourth novel dwells on the odd circumstances that befall an unhappily married concert violist. Suzanne learns of the death of Alex Elling, an orchestral conductor and her lover, as she fixes a meal for her stoic husband, Ben, manipulative best friend, Petra, and her young deaf daughter, Adele. Struggling to remain composed, Suzanne later finds solace in her memories and music, though it's difficult to sympathize with her suffering; with so many musicians crowding the narrative, the story sags under the weight of passages filled with musical history and discussions between musicians in Suzanne's quartet. Suzanne continues to keep her love affair a secret, but when Alex's widow, Olivia, begins to call her home with cryptic messages, she fears she could be exposed. Unable to resist the tie to her lover, Suzanne visits Olivia and discovers he had been composing a score for her. In the stilted confrontation that follows, Olivia blackmails Suzanne into completing the score. Though Blackwell (The Unnatural History of Cypress Parish) manages a few twists, the frequently overwrought writing is a big turn-off. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Unbridled Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1936071665
• ISBN 13: 9781936071661
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272