I bought this book in a little town that's known as the Hobart book village" in the Cakstills. My sister Joy and my two daughters Courtney and Claire and I went through last autumn on our annual autumn girls day away. It was great fun and we all bought a book or two or three. This is a period piece set in the 1920s-1940s and based on the life of Gershwin and his long term affair with Kay Swift, a pianist and composer who was married to James Warburg, whom she divorced in 1934.
STORY SUMMARY
It is New York City, 1924. Katherine (Kay) Swift is a restless but very devoted society wife. She's married to the very wealthy banker named James Warburg (who later worked with FDR!). She's also a serious pianist and composer who longs for some recognition. She decides to attend a concert where a new piece of music is being introduced by the composer. It is "Rhapsody in Blue" (click link to hear) and the composer is George Gershwin who is brilliant, but elusive. He is actually a musical genius.
Kay is absolutely mesmerized. She cannot resist the pull of Gershwin's talent, swagger, and charm. They begin a 10 year love affair, which is complicated by her conflicted loyalty to her husband and the twists and turns of her own career in music. Their affair ends when Gershwin dies of a brain tumor at the age of 38. No one, including himself, knew he had a brain tumor.
What music did Kay and George work on together?
What music and lyrics did Kay and James work on together?
Read the book to learn some interesting piece of the music scene in 1920s-1930s New York City and points beyond.
MY THOUGHTS
This is one of the best written historical fiction works I've read in a very long time. Probably since The Book Thief. which I read over 10 years ago!
The book is set during the coming of the Jazz Age in NYC. It is about the timeless bond between two strong-willed, remarkable artists. The woman (Kay Swift) was mostly unknown to me although I did know that she was the first woman to write a complete musical score that became a hit. (I took Musical Theatre and Drama Literature in high school and Musical Theatre in college 💪)
Gershwin, of course, left behind not just a body of work unmatched in popular musical history (Porgy and Bess) but a woman who loved him with all of her heart, knowing that he didn't belong just to her, but to the entire world.
I did some research while reading this book and discovered that although many people in today's generation believe that George Gershwin was gay, he was not. Rather, he had multiple lovers at any given time. The ladies loved him and he used them on a super casual basis but did indeed love Kay. It is true that Kay helped George transcribe music. It is also tr
ue that Kay's biggest hit was the musical "Fine and Dandy" and her biggest hit song was "Can't We be Friends?"
The author notes in the back of the book that he did take liberties with some of the timing of things. For instance, Gershwin moved out of his parents home into his own apartment on Riverside Drive in 1929, not 1932. Also, he dated Paulette Goddard during his second trip to L. A. not his first. And the lyrics for the song "Little White Lie" have been lost, so the author made them up. (there are other facts in the back of the book, as well).
I absolutely loved that the author included all the big musicians' and their names, works (in some cases) and a bit about their lives in this story. People like Ravel, Stravinsky, and others).
The book does goe into the economy and Hitler/Germany for a little bit in the middle of the story but it's an easy read and mainly I felt like it was just setting the tone for the way America was reacting to various economic and political issues and how the characters (real people!) weren't negatively affected due to their influence, wealth, reputations, etc.
Something that stood out to me was the theme (not sure that's the correct word though) of minority cultures/races dominated by the majority, in this era, the white upper class. It is a well researched book!!
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (Due to some mature content).
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.
2 comments:
Thank you for telling me about this on my blog post today...where you commented on my Porgy and Bess post! How very interesting that you were reading about Gershwin just now! I'm not all that familiar with him, and was surprised to see that he died so young of a brain tumor. How very sad. But back then they didn't have ways to figure that out in time to treat it, and probably didn't have good ways to treat it anyway. Amazing he was still able to accomplish so much! Interesting story! Thanks for sharing!
I love Gershwin's music. This book sounds like a good one. Thanks for the review!
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