Book Jacket:
Lucy Beck-Moreau once had a promising future as a concert pianist. The right people knew her name, her performances were booked months in advance, and her future seemed certain.
That was all before she turned fourteen.
Now, at sixteen, it’s over. A death, and a betrayal, led her to walk away. That leaves her talented ten-year-old brother, Gus, to shoulder the full weight of the Beck-Moreau family expectations. Then Gus gets a new piano teacher who is young, kind, and interested in helping Lucy rekindle her love of piano — on her own terms. But when you’re used to performing for sold-out audiences and world-famous critics, can you ever learn to play just for yourself?
National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr takes readers inside the exclusive world of privileged San Francisco families, top junior music competitions, and intense mentorships. The Lucy Variations is a story of one girl’s struggle to reclaim her love of music and herself. It’s about finding joy again, even when things don’t go according to plan. Because life isn’t a performance, and everyone deserves the chance to make a few mistakes along the way.
Review:
Having never read Sara Zarr before, I had no idea what to expect of this book – and I was entirely blown away by what I found. Holy smokes, this is one freaking good book.
First and foremost, piano is a huge part of this book, no question, but trust me, you don’t have to play or even like piano to fully get this story, because it is entirely and brilliantly a teen coming of age story. Everything Lucy deals with, from the pressure to succeed to inappropriate feelings for older men, from figuring out what she wants to do with her life to navigating the tsunami of assumptions and preconceptions bearing down on her, all of which box her in or label her in one way or another – it’s all just so TRUE. I recognized everything in and about this book – the confusion, the turmoil of dealing with grief and loss, the search for identity, the struggle to take control of your life – and not only is it utterly fantastic storytelling, nuanced and real, but it also makes for a universal and powerful story, because this book is simply the story of a teen dealing with her shit and coming out the other side, unbroken and complete. And all in all, it’s just brilliant.
And moreover, this book is a phenomenal character study. Lucy, of course, is the main event, and the fact that she is entirely imperfect, so often wrong and so often doing uncomfortable things, and yet all the while she remains wholly understandable and sympathetic is a tribute to Zarr’s skill. And the way we get to see and feel Lucy’s evolving understanding of the people in her life, particularly her family – all of whom are complicated and fascinating individuals – and the shifting dynamics of all Lucy’s relationships as she starts to change (and I particularly LOVED the way Lucy’s relationships with her mother and grandfather evolved throughout this story) – oh, it is just a tour de force of characterization.
But the thing I loved more than anything else about this book was the way it explored the student/mentor relationship between Lucy and Will. Will was such a crucial pivot for Lucy, in so many ways – he helped her rediscover what she loved; he encouraged her to fight for what she needed – and yet, and yet the ways in which their relationship evolved, and the ways in which it strayed in directions it should not go, at times walking a tightrope of impropriety, it was all just utterly and brilliantly uncomfortable. I think Zarr has touched on something here that is so important and far too often neglected in YA, and that’s the complexity of the student/mentor relationship – the both the awesome and awful power of that influence, and the many ways in which it can either make or break a teenager. And as that relationship has Lucy swimming in very dangerous waters, it brings a delicious tension to the story as she balances on a knife’s edge, poised to fall in a way that could easily ruin lives, including her own. And the way it all plays out – I’m not going to spoil anything, but it was unflinching, honest and powerful, and I loved and respected Lucy for how she came out of it all in the end. Just, wow.
So yes, I’ll say it once more – this is one freaking good book. Seriously, you don’t want to miss this one.
Byrt Grade: A+
As Levar Burton used to say – you don’t have to take my word for it…
Kirkus Reviews (starred review) says:
What makes Lucy’s story especially appealing is the very realistic way this “entitled brat” (as grandfather called her) acts out as she experiments with new identities…The combination of sympathetic main character and unusual social and cultural world makes this satisfying coming-of-age story stand out.
…the idea of pressuring teens to be something they may not want to be is spot on and so very important. Subtle, nuanced and empowering.
Publishers Weekly (starred review) says:
Like every teenager, Lucy has moments of self-doubt, self-centeredness, regret, infatuation, and humiliation. This multifaceted characterization makes her a deeply real and sympathetic character, and that dimensionality extends to the rest of the cast. The pressures Lucy is under feel powerful, immediate, and true—her journey of self-discovery will strike a profound chord with readers.
whoa – a+? i totally have to read this then. i have not read any zarr either but have heard really good things. the student/mentor relationship is def one that is a bit taboo and i am interested to see how it plays out here. thanks for the tip. def adding this to my pile.