(no subject)
May. 28th, 2022 10:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seekingferretLight from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
This is a beautiful novel about a woman who is the daughter, grand-daughter, and great-grand-daughter of famous luthiers, who for mysterious reasons insisted on only training her brothers and not her in the family trade. When her father dies unexpectedly and her brothers abandon the family business, she considers closing shop. Then a visit from a mysterious musician with an unusual violin pulls her back in and forces her discover talents she never knew she had.
The language is incredibly sensual. The novel's descriptions of her violin repairs are so incredibly technically detailed in a physical way and it really dug into the magic of fine art and making things with your hands like I'm not sure I can ever remember a story doing. There's a lot of cool intergenerational stuff, the things that Lucia learned unconsciously from her father and grandfather in spite of their efforts, the inheritances that are unlocked somewhere deeper in the soul, and ultimately the inheritances that she chooses to consciously pass down to her son. All of this is brilliantly set against the backdrop of a constantly changing Los Angeles, struggling to preserve its heritage and still reinvent itself for a new generation.
Ultimately, she discovers some of the reasons why she was kept out of the business and comes to peace with them, for better and for worse. It's a really satisfying narrative and I loved the way it blurred lines between realistic fiction and urban fantasy.
(this is only a somewhat facetious review, I liked a lot of the rest of the book but I kept rooting for Lucy to return)
This is a beautiful novel about a woman who is the daughter, grand-daughter, and great-grand-daughter of famous luthiers, who for mysterious reasons insisted on only training her brothers and not her in the family trade. When her father dies unexpectedly and her brothers abandon the family business, she considers closing shop. Then a visit from a mysterious musician with an unusual violin pulls her back in and forces her discover talents she never knew she had.
The language is incredibly sensual. The novel's descriptions of her violin repairs are so incredibly technically detailed in a physical way and it really dug into the magic of fine art and making things with your hands like I'm not sure I can ever remember a story doing. There's a lot of cool intergenerational stuff, the things that Lucia learned unconsciously from her father and grandfather in spite of their efforts, the inheritances that are unlocked somewhere deeper in the soul, and ultimately the inheritances that she chooses to consciously pass down to her son. All of this is brilliantly set against the backdrop of a constantly changing Los Angeles, struggling to preserve its heritage and still reinvent itself for a new generation.
Ultimately, she discovers some of the reasons why she was kept out of the business and comes to peace with them, for better and for worse. It's a really satisfying narrative and I loved the way it blurred lines between realistic fiction and urban fantasy.
(this is only a somewhat facetious review, I liked a lot of the rest of the book but I kept rooting for Lucy to return)
(no subject)
Date: 2022-05-29 07:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-05-29 06:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-06-01 05:14 am (UTC)