Lucy Beck-Moreau once had a promising future as a concert pianist. The right people knew her name, her performances were booked months in advance, and her future seemed certain.
That was all before she turned fourteen.
Now, at sixteen, it's over. A death, and a betrayal, led her to walk away. That leaves her talented ten-year-old brother, Gus, to shoulder the full weight of the Beck-Moreau family expectations. Then Gus gets a new piano teacher who is young, kind, and interested in helping Lucy rekindle her love of piano -- on her own terms. But when you're used to performing for sold-out audiences and world-famous critics, can you ever learn to play just for yourself?
National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr takes readers inside the exclusive world of privileged San Francisco families, top junior music competitions, and intense mentorships. The Lucy Variations is a story of one girl's struggle to reclaim her love of music and herself. It's about finding joy again, even when things don't go according to plan. Because life isn't a performance, and everyone deserves the chance to make a few mistakes along the way.
(Summary from GoodReads)
I’ve heard
wonderful things about Sara Zarr’s books and was thrilled when I had the chance
to read and review The Lucy Variations.
When it comes to writing characters who are deeply passionate, Zarr
nails it. The Lucy Variations is a
wonderfully written book about pursuing one’s passion in life and trying to
find happiness along the way.
Lucy is one of
the most compelling characters I’ve read about in 2013. Despite being only sixteen, she’s had to face
tragedy with a topping of family bureaucracy.
A cocktail of emotions comes with everything that’s happened, and that’s
what her feel so incredibly realistic.
Our main character is decidedly sure of one thing: she loves music, and
it has a place in her life. Zarr portrayed
how absolutely exhilarating it can be to find something you love and chase it
until it’s right.
The Lucy
Variations is wonderfully atmospheric novel.
I got a vivid picture of how Lucy’s wealth family dressed day to day and
went about their lives. However,
whenever Lucy would have an experience that made her feel strongly, I got to
see it in descriptions that covered the scenery, the sensory, and the
emotional. Zarr never used too many
words achieving this goal.
I did feel a
slight disconnect with Lucy in terms of her love interests. The types of people that she’s attracted to
aren’t the people she perhaps should be attracted to—you’ll see what I mean
when you read the book. As I read these
portions of the novel, it felt like Zarr was trying to tell me something about
Lucy, but it wasn’t clear what. Zarr added some nice twists to the story, and I appreciated how it ended.
Some readers may
feel anxious about picking up this book because it’s so musical, but it has much
broader appeal than that. Readers who
have ever felt deeply passionate about something will really appreciate Lucy’s
struggle to excel while staying true to herself. The Lucy Variations may not have been a
perfect book, but it made me want to read the rest of Zarr’s work.
Disclosure: I received a digital galley of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Other reviews:
I Eat Words
The Readventurer
Stacked
I loved the musical parts so much but was unable to feel much of a connection with Lucy herself which made this book a wash for me.
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