Bellweather Rhapsody

The book opens with a child witnessing a murder-suicide in a big hotel. 15 years later, the hotel is hosting a regional high-school music festival. Rabbit and Alice are twins - he plays bassoon and she is a singer - attending the music festival. Alice is staying in the room where the murder-suicide happened. Her child prodigy roommate with the overcontrolling narcissistic mother recreates the suicide from 15 years ago, but then her body disappears. Alice wants to know what happened to the roommate, but the mother is convinced it's just a prank. Meanwhile, Rabbit is trying to work up the courage to come out to his sister while experiencing freedom to be gay for the first time in his life. Rabbit and Alice are accompanied by a chaperone show more who has a dark secret, and the conductor of Rabbit's orchestra takes out his personal stress on the students. On top of all of that, the woman who witnessed the murder-suicide as a child comes back on the anniversary of the event to bury her own demons. All of this is overseen by the hotel's senile concierge.

There's a lot going on in this book, but Racculia balances all of the storylines perfectly. There's a good mix of foreshadowing and slow reveals. There are lots of times when you wish the characters just had 10 minutes to sit down and tell each other what they know, but eventually they do all get all the information they need. All of the various storylines come together for a very satisfying ending.

I was an orchestra kid in the 1990s, so this book spoke to me on such a personal level. I had all of the same musical experiences that are described in this book (the stress of solo competitions, the excitement of getting selected for the regional orchestra, the coming-of-age experience of spending a weekend making music, the powerful synchronistic feeling of being a part of an orchestra, the feeling of discovering your life's purpose, the disappointment of realizing maybe you aren't cut our for this).

There's nothing really profound or groundbreaking in here, but it is a really fun read. show less

On her website, author Kate Racculia says that Bellweather Rhapsody asks the big questions, such as: "What if Glee and Heathers had a baby and sent it to band camp at the Overlook Hotel?"

That has to be one of the funniest and most apt descriptions of a book I've ever seen.

Winner of a 2015 Alex Award, which the American Library Association gives to adult books that hold particular appeal for teens, this novel follows twins Alice and Bert (nicknamed "Rabbit") to a resort hotel for an important statewide music competition. There, Alice's roommate disappears under mysterious circumstances, and Alice learns that fifteen years earlier, some kind of murder/suicide incident happened in the very same hotel room. Alice, an ambitious, talented, show more and somewhat manipulative girl not unlike Glee's Rachel, tries to solve the mystery of her roommate's disappearance while somewhat reluctantly learning that the universe may not necessarily revolve around her.

In the meantime, Rabbit is struggling to decide whether or not to come out of the closet. His sexuality is by no means the main focus of this book, but it's handled beautifully. When a blizzard traps everyone at the hotel, Rabbit discovers a hitherto unacknowledged desire to strike out on his own, and escape his sister's loving but sometimes suffocating attention.

This is a lovely and original book that I recommend highly. show less

On November 13, 1982, twelve-year-old bridesmaid Minnie Graves witnesses the murder-suicide of a just-married couple that scars her for life. Fifteen years later, she prepares to face her fears by returning to the Bellweather hotel in upstate New York; her visit coincides with the annual Statewide music event for talented high school musicians, including the Hatmaker twins, bassoonist Rabbit and singer Alice. Alice's roommate is the preternaturally talented flautist Jill Faccelli, whose mother, musician and sociopath Viola Fabian, is in charge of the conference after the sudden heart attack of the regular organizer. Also in the web are conductor Fisher Brodie, former lover of Viola's, and Natalie Wink Wilson, a former student of Viola's show more and the Hatmakers' chaperone. Presiding over the Bellweather, saturated by decades of memories, is concierge Mr. Hastings.

Jill storms out of the first orchestra rehearsal, and after a bonding session in their room, Alice returns to find Jill hanging from a sprinkler pipe - but when she returns, Jill is nowhere to be found. Viola insists that Jill is fine, though she doesn't reappear all the next day. Meanwhile, a storm dumps several feet of snow on the hotel and its inhabitants, meaning no audience for their final performance on Sunday.

A deliciously clever, delightfully twisty mystery, with several brilliant reveals toward the end.

[Spoilers: Jill is alive, and is Brodie's biological daughter. Viola has murdered more than one person over the course of her lifetime, but her daughter does her in with her own poison in the end. Natalie is also a murderer, though in self-defense, when an ex-student broke into her house. Hastings is living in a dream world, calling the front desk to speak to his dead wife, mourning the death of his daughter - the Bellweather Bride - and speaking to his deceased librarian friend Rome. Minnie temporarily kidnaps Alice, then they team up to solve the mystery of Jill's disappearance. Rabbit comes out to Alice.]

Quotes

Is it like reverse magnetism, that in order to be drawn violently there needs to be the same charge on the other end? (Rabbit, 69)

"You know, that's the difference between you and me, Rabbit. You believe people are basically good. I know it doesn't matter whether people are good or bad. It matters what they do, not what they are, and I know people are capable of doing more horrible things than you can imagine." (Alice to Rabbit, 138)

Nothing, after all, is more powerful than a love unrequited. (Fisher Brodie, 149)

Is what she feels or looks like important? Will she accomplish anything worthwhile before she dies? (Alice, 173)

"I honestly don't know which would make me feel worse, being crazy or being right." (Helen Stoller to Brodie, 185)

...Rabbit is a born believer. He wants to believe....There's a kind of beauty in accepting the possibility, if not the plausibility, of everything imaginable. (218)

"We make music to...to find each other in the dark." (Natalie, 222) show less

The Bellweather is a huge old hotel in the middle of nowhere. It would have closed years ago--and is so decrepit that it probably needs to--if it weren't for the annual music convention that keeps it solvent. Every year, the best high school musicians in the state are invited to play for recruiters from the top conservatories in the nation. And this year, both Hatmaker twins have been invited.

Bertram Hatmaker--Rabbit to his friends (of whom he has few)--desperately needs to tell his sister something. But Alice is a little difficult to talk to. She's so used to being the center of attention that she doesn't always register the emotions of those around. Sometime during this weekend away from parents and school, he'll find the time.

Alice show more is self-centered and sure of herself, always. Until the boyfriend she didn't know she was going to miss suddenly broke up with her, sending her into a tailspin of questions and doubt. And her triumphant return to the Bellweather Convention isn't, quite, going as she'd imagined. Instead of leading the fun, she's watching everyone--her brother, her roommate--shine, while she doesn't. It doesn't help that her roommate is one of the few legitimate young stars in the country. Instead of being the star, Alice is--possibly for the first time--not shining.

And that's the high school musical/Glee component of the book. And if that's all there was to it, it'd be good, but I probably wouldn't have ever finished it in the first place. However...

There was a murder/suicide fifteen years ago at the Bellweather. A bride shot her groom, just after the wedding, and hung herself in one of the suites with an orange extension cord. Minnie knows all about the extension cord--she was eight at the time, at another wedding, and stumbled into the wrong corridor and saw the whole thing. She's seen it every time she closes her eyes since.

Jill is a child prodigy. Or at least, that's what people say. What she knows is that her mother--steely eyed and perfectly suited Viola Fabian--demands the best and generally gets what she desires. One way or the other. And Jill is (quite literally) at the end of her rope.

Natalie Wilson knows all about child prodigies. She was one--or at least, people said she was. And now she's a school chaperon, chauffeuring the Hatmaker twins to this insufferable competition. And she needs to get away....

And everybody ends up at the Bellweather, on a weekend of terrible storms and worse events, on the anniversary of that first murder. And all is not well.
****
Excellent. So enjoyable. The shifting perspectives--Alice's world, then Rabbit's, then Natalie's, then...--works so well, keeping the reader interested but perhaps a little off-balance. And all of the characters and worlds fit together, and come together, during the weekend that none of them will ever forget. show less

I feel a little duped by Bellweather Rhapsody; I thought it was one kind of book, but it became another, and then another, and then another. Sometimes being surprised by a book is a great thing, but sometimes--not so much--and for me, this is one of those times. Author Kate Racculia gives a good cast of characters, but the action focuses on twins Alice and Bertram “Rabbit” Hatmaker; both talented musicians on their way to a long weekend state invitational performance at the worn down Bellweather Hotel. Turns out the Bellweather has a horror-filled past, and now possibly present. What once felt like a well-written coming of age YA story morphs into a slightly violent, definitely convoluted and messy, murder mystery with a cast of show more exaggerated characters. Some of my problems with Bellweather Rhapsody are my own problems with mysteries, but some lie squarely on the ridiculous plot twists, too many coincidences, and unbelievable narrative. I can’t quite recommend this book unless implausible mysteries are your preferred genre. show less

This is not my usual thing, in terms of subject or style, but I enjoyed it. (A coworker read it last year and the music angle caught my interest.) It’s very focused on the characters, jumping between the teens and their teachers and a few other people, and a large part of the fun in this is seeing them spark off each other and the way inner and outer lives differ. The voices are great and while the situation’s a bit contrived, it’s not by much and definitely within the parameters of literary fiction. The performance bits are beautiful and made me want to pick up an instrument again, but they take a backseat to the mystery and the Issues (as they should, because that’s where the character and plot developments are). It gave me show more some good food for thought about ways to structure a novel and write characters, too.

7/10 show less

Bellweather Rhapsody is an interesting mix of genres with the characterizations frequently found in short stories. Part detective story, part character study, part rallying cry for musical education, Racculia's novel blends all of these elements together into a mostly satisfying 4-day story arc of connected vignettes.

Rabbit and Alice Hatmaker are musical prodigies, twins, each with their own problems (Rabbit is gay, Alice is terrified of not hitting it big, peaking in high school); their music teacher Natalie Wilson has dark secrets, deep depression, and overwhelming self-loathing; Natalie is about to come face-to-face with her evil music tutor Viola Fabian, now mother of a flute prodigy; flute prodigy Jill Faccelli disappears the first show more night of the Statewide music festival, held at the Bellweather hotel (which resembles the hotel from The Shining and has its own murderous past); conductor Fisher Brodie is trying to find his way through the cynicism to something real; Mr. Hastings, concierge, is trying to come to terms with a life of loss; and Minnie Graves has returned to the scene of the original crime at the Bellweather. Racculia weaves all their stories together deftly, moving from one to the other, creating complex relationships and stoking suspense. Was Jill Faccelli murdered? Why did the original crime in Jill's room 15 years ago occur? Was that murder too? Is there a killer still at large?

Ultimately, these questions are unimportant. Racculia's strength is in creating characters and their interactions that make the reader continue through. While many of her characters have implausible personalities, and the twists that link them together often a little too convenient, they still captivate in a larger-than-life kind of way. The novel's other strength is its love affair with music. Racculia attempts to describe with words the intense feelings of playing, listening, experiencing, living, and dreaming music. Her moving descriptions through the Fisher Brodie POV as he conducts the youth orchestra are some of the most captivating in the novel. I never really appreciated Holst's The Planets until reading about it through the eyes of her musical enthusiasts - the reader comes to appreciate it as Brodie regains his own love of music through the weekend rehearsals and performances.

Racculia's prose style is inviting and her plot is entertaining, if the mystery is a bit weak. While the reader may have initially come for The Shining-like setting and atmosphere, s/he will stay for the character drama that overshadows the plot. show less