Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, there didn’t seem to be a lot of options for Ray. And when he discovered his talent as a violin player, the chance of him succeeding was almost zero. His mother wanted him to "stop that racket" and get a real job, and he couldn’t afford a real violin to practice on, not to mention the racist way people in the classical music world treated him.
But when his grandmother gave him a fiddle belonging to his great-great-grandfather, he was hooked. He caught the eye of the right teachers and started to get the training he needed to hone his talent. And then he discovered that this beat-up violin was actually a Stradivarius worth millions of dollars. Suddenly not only did his family want to get their hands on it, but so did the family whose ancestors enslaved Ray’s great-great-grandfather. They claim the man stole the violin from their family and are suing Ray.
As Ray prepares for the prestigious Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow, his violin is stolen, with a ransom note in its place. Who stole the violin—his family, the family suing for the return of what they claim is theirs, or someone else? Can it be found before he has to compete with another violin in its place?
This was a fascinating story. While I figured out the mystery part pretty early, I really liked Ray’s character and the book’s discussion of racism in the world of classical music. Since the author is a classical musician, this felt very authentic.
NetGalley, Knopf Doubleday, and Anchor Books provided me a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!
The Violin Conspiracy publishes 2/1/22.
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