The Sound Between the Notes

By Barbara Linn Probst

Lingers Long after the Final Word

Like a sonata’s shimmering final note the resonance of The Sound between the Notes lingers long after the last word. Yes, that analogy is a bit sappy, but it’s apt, for what’s truthful is that the transformation the protagonist ultimately achieves at the end of the story is satisfying and well-earned and touching.

Pianist Susannah put her career on hold for her family years ago when an unexpected opportunity arises for her to revive it. Although she had continued to play the piano locally, somewhere along the way she lost her passion--her ability to hear and play the music beneath the notes. As she struggles to rediscover it, questions about identity, fears of a degenerative disease, juggling conflicting values of family, artistry, and herself all arise in conflict. It's as though all the facets of who she is come under attack in rapid succession.

Susannah’s subsequent journey to finally understand who she is drives the narrative movement. Barbara Linn Probst has produced another gorgeously written novel. I couldn’t put it down.