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Bellweather Rhapsody
by Kate Racculia
Published: 2014-05-13
Hardcover : 352 pages
Hardcover : 352 pages
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"For its darkness and its glee, I loved this novel." —Robin Sloan, author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore A high school music festival goes awry when a young prodigy disappears from the most infamous room in the Bellweather Hotel, in a whip-smart novel sparkling with dark ...
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Introduction
"For its darkness and its glee, I loved this novel." —Robin Sloan, author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore A high school music festival goes awry when a young prodigy disappears from the most infamous room in the Bellweather Hotel, in a whip-smart novel sparkling with dark and giddy humor Fifteen years ago, a murder-suicide in room 712 rocked the grand old Bellweather Hotel and the young bridesmaid who witnessed it, Minnie Graves. Now hundreds of high school musicians, including quiet bassoonist Rabbit Hatmaker and his brassy diva twin, Alice, have gathered in its cavernous, crumbling halls for the annual Statewide festival; Minnie has returned to face her demons; and a colossal snowstorm is threatening to trap them all in the hotel. Then Alice's roommate goes missing—from room 712. The search for her entwines an eccentric cast of characters: conductors and caretakers, failures and stars, teenagers on the verge and adults trapped in memories. For everyone has come to the Bellweather with a secret, and everyone is haunted. Bellweather Rhapsody is a genre-bending page-turner, full of knowing nods to pop culture classics from The Shining to Agatha Christie to Glee. But its pleasures are beautifully deepened by Kate Racculia's skill with her characters, her melancholy, affecting writing about music, and her fearlessness about the loss and darkness that underline the truest humor. This is a wholly winning new novel from a writer to watch.
Discussion Questions
1. Bellweather Rhapsody is a story built on music, with characters who play it, love it, miss it, and live by it. What does music mean to you? How did the passages that describe classical music, whether you knew the pieces or not, work for you? Is it possible to re-create one kind of art--music--using another--writing?2. Each of the main characters at the Bellweather is haunted by something, whether they realize it or not. What do you think the novel is trying to say about ghosts and fear, and the relationships between memory and past trauma, and imagination and the future?
3. It isn't easy to become who you are--to own your dark side (Natalie, Jill), to be your truest, fullest self (Rabbit, Alice), or to come to terms with your regrets (Hastings, Fisher). How do each of the characters become themselves? Do you think the novel presents an essentially romantic idea of forgiveness and acceptance, or is it morally murky? (I.e., do you blame Jill? Do you trust her?)
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Notes From the Author to the Bookclub
"Delightfully odd...Racculia, clearly a fan of Agatha Christie, stuffs the Bellweather with a fine cast of misfits and dreamers and foes...The pleasures of this great yarn are not just its full heart but its clever head.A" —Entertainment Weekly, Grade: A "Warm, entertaining and thoughtful, and a glorious celebration of music...Fans of Racculia’s first book, This Must Be the Place, will recognize her quirky style and her great affection for her oddball characters." —Minneapolis Star-Tribune "A rollicking story...Racculia’s exuberant voice inspires laugh-out loud moments while also bringing to life broken people who find solace in each other’s heartaches...[Bellweather Rhapsody] hits all of the right notes for a darkly awesome summer read." —Wisconsin State Journal "An entertaining and enthralling yarn...This is the stuff that dreams and nightmares are made of: what one is willing to go through – or not go through – when you’re infused with a dazzling talent." —PopMatters "Bellweather Rhapsody is funny and exuberant, twisty and captivating. Racculia tells the truth here, about art and life and the many trajectories that talent can take. She's also written the most resonant descriptions of music—how it really works in the head and the heart—that I've ever read. For its darkness and its glee, I loved this novel." —Robin Sloan, author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour BookstoreBook Club Recommendations
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