I have been blessed with the opportunity to serve on the launch team for Roseanna White's latest book, A Song Unheard. A few months ago, I wrote about the first book in the series, A Name Unknown, which followed Rosemary as she attempted to steal a name from a man whose ties to Germany have made him the object of suspicion in a pre-World War 1 England.
In this book, we get to know Willa Forsythe, Rosemary's adopted sister. She is tasked with stealing a cipher from her favorite musician, a Belgian violinist whose father had been working on an important machine that could be used against the Germans.
Will she be able to complete her task and continue to support her family?
Find out when you purchase the book on Amazon, available in ebook or paperback form! ;-) Or, you can order directly from the author's website and receive a signed copy!
You can read my review and thoughts about the book below. I hope it inspires you to read it for yourself. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I hope you will too.
***I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author/publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone***
Synopsis:
Willa Forsythe is both a violin prodigy and top-notch thief, which makes her the perfect choice for a crucial task at the outset of World War I—to steal a cypher from a famous violinist currently in Wales.
Lukas De Wilde has enjoyed the life of fame he's won—until now, when being recognized nearly gets him killed. Everyone wants the key to his father's work as a cryptologist. And Lukas fears that his mother and sister, who have vanished in the wake of the German invasion of Belgium, will pay the price. The only light he finds is meeting the intriguing Willa Forsythe.
But danger presses in from every side, and Willa knows what Lukas doesn't—that she must betray him and find that cypher, or her own family will pay the price as surely as his has.
Review:
My must-have in any great story is multi-dimensional characters who undergo serious character development throughout the events of the story. This book did not disappoint. A Song Unheard was full of all the classic elements of a Roseanna White book: deep characters, beautiful descriptive language, humor, drama, and of course, characters and relationships who earn their happy ending after much character development. Willa and Lukas both start out as flawed and hurt characters. Willa, who was abandoned by both of her parents as a child, does not trust anyone outside of her adopted family of thieves. She has grown up poor, having to steal in order to survive. Lukas, by contrast, comes from a loving family who has always supported him, but he has not fully appreciated their influence before. He has lived the life of a famous musician socialite, going to parties, meeting beautiful women, and reveling in his fame. He struggles with guilt over not being able to take care of his family, Willa struggles to trust anyone outside of her circle. Both of them find refuge in music, and it was interesting to see the way it played into their personal journeys of faith.
This book had a great cast of supporting characters as well. I enjoyed getting to read more about Barclay, the leader of Willa's family band of thieves. He wore the roles of Big Brother and Protector very well and I look forward to reading more of his story in Book 3! Another character I hope to see more of is Margot. I absolutely LOVED her character. Some of the most hilarious and profound quotes in the book came from her and I hope she gets her own book someday.
The writing contains beautiful storytelling, intriguing characters, and a profound message of God's faithfulness and love. Thank you, Roseanna White, for another great read!
Favorite quotes:
"Can a man compose a symphony without paying attention to each individual note? Can he put together an orchestra without caring about each musician in it? It's ridiculous to posit a Creator who stands back, unconcerned. If we grant a God, we have to grant a complete God."
"But she heard music. And for the first time in her life, she wondered if maybe...maybe this was what the Lord sounded like. If He'd been whispering to her all along, all these years. Little snippets of melodies she'd never quite caught."
"Peter said something before he left about God calling us, drawing us while we're still sinners. And I wonder...I wonder if that's what He's been doing all along. Calling us to Him. To His work."
Final Thoughts:
I believe God finds ways of speaking to us in ways that are uniquely meaningful to us. I loved the way the author brought that out in the individual storylines of the characters. In Willa's and Lukas' storylines, He speaks to them through music. In Margot's story, He speaks to her through numbers and order. In my personal walk with God, I have heard His voice through stories and books. There have been times when I have been able to look back and make sense of events in my life by looking at them in the context of a story. His greater story. The question is not whether God speaks to us in any given moment. The question is whether or not we are willing to hear His voice, listen to His song, read His story. It brings to mind a quote from another great book, The Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis:
" 'You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you,' said the Lion."
May each of us be able to hear His voice calling to us, and be willing to answer back.
Discussion Questions:
Have you ever heard God speaking to you through your hobbies and passions?
What spiritual lessons have you learned, or can be drawn, by experiencing these different areas of interest?
