Reviewer: Connie Payne
Title: Symphony of Secrets
Author: Sharon Hinck
Publisher: Bethany House
ISBN-13: 9780764202827
Release Date: February 2008
Genre/Sub-genre: Contemporary Inspirational Fiction
Year/Setting: Present Day - Minneapolis MN
Overall Rating: 3.25
Sexual Content Rating: None
Language (Profanity/Slang) Content Rating: None
Violent Content Rating: None/Minimal
Sharon's Website:
www.sharonhinck.com
Amy Johnson feels as if her dreams are always out of reach. Her dream of becoming a performing flutist never became a reality. Oh, she was on her way to fulfilling that dream, however, life and circumstances intervened. She’s been less than content giving music lessons and raising her daughter. Her life and her passion have always been about her music first with no tolerance of others who don’t see things as she does.
Having a desire to be the next Nancy Drew has been a pastime, too. You never know when having read those mysteries will come in handy. Yet, it always seems to land her in a bit of trouble.
Perhaps her detecting skills aren’t as sharp as those of playing her flute, but they just might come in handy when there’s trouble among the members of the Minneapolis Symphony. You see, finally, Amy’s dream was about to come true. She passed the auditions and is second chair on a probationary basis. Amy was all too aware that she had much to prove, not only to the conductor and the first chair flutist, but herself as well. But how could she do that when accidents were happening? When there was a real possibility the Symphony would be shutting down?
In addition to the unstable situation within the Symphony, Amy’s daughter Clara announced she was going out for the cheerleading squad! Cheerleading. That’s something beyond Amy’s comprehension. She wanted a life of music for her daughter and knows nothing about cheerleading, nor does she want to.
And if that weren’t enough, Amy’s best friend Lena is nudging her to go to church with her. Not going to happen. She has no need for God or anything remotely having to do with Him. She’ll just focus on investigating the accidents behind the scenes of the Symphony and perfecting her technique. But God may have other plans to get Amy’s attention.
I could connect with Amy on only a very few levels and was happy to do so (what reader doesn’t want to connect with a character in some way?), but when it came to the absorption with her music, her parenting, it became a bit harder to maintain that connection. Yet, with the reading group questions available, it’s clear the author wants the reader to not only enjoy the story in itself, but also question and dig beneath Amy’s actions and reactions.
Symphony of Secrets has the ability to make the reader delve into their own lives, their own little world to see if they’re stepping along as Amy did, with tunnel vision, or if they really are living life as God intended, experiencing it in a kaleidoscope of ways with His blessings. Food for thought.
Connie
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