Brenda Slocumb is the author of the autobiographical fiction, The Violin Conspiracy. Fictional Ray loves playing the fiddle, much to his mother's consternation. She'd like nothing more than for Ray to get a job at a hospital cafeteria making minimum wage, helping to support the family. Ray, however, has a dream to be a professional musician. The only one who supports him in this dream is his grandmother.
His grandmother gifts him her grandfather's beat-up fiddle which turns out to be a priceless Stradivarius! Ray was a talented violinist but knowing that this the violin his grandfather played gives him a special spark.
Ray is recruited to attend college on a music scholarship by a professor who does all she can to show him that his dream makes sense. She helps him conquer the racism that beleaguers the music world. Ray - and his Strad - take the music world by storm.
He's all set to compete in the Tchaikovsky Competition, the Olympics of classical music, when his violin is stolen from his case, with a ransom note - and a sneaker - in it's place. Ray suspects either his family - or the family that owned his great-great-grandfather when great-great-grandfather was a slave. But could it be someone else?
Slocumb cleverly knits the story together, taking us back in time. Will Ray every find his violin?
The novel allowed me to explore things I'd never thought of before, mostly involving race and being a musician as a career. I never really warmed up to Ray as a character, though. Is that why I only gave this one 3-stars on goodreads? Perhaps.
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