A Woman of Note

By: Carol M. Cram

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

Virtuoso pianist Isabette Grüber captivates audiences in the salons and concert halls of early nineteenth-century Vienna. Yet in a profession dominated by men, Isabette longs to compose and play her own music - a secret she keeps from both her lascivious manager and her resentful mother. She meets and loves Amelia Mason, a dazzling American singer with her own secrets, and Josef Hauser, an ambitious young composer. But even they cannot fully comprehend the depths of Isabette's talent.

Her ambitions come with a price when Isabette embarks on a journey that delicately balances the line between duty and passion. Amid heartbreak and sacrifice, music remains her one constant. With cameos from classical music figures such as Chopin, Schubert, and Berlioz, A Woman of Note is an intricately crafted and fascinating tale about one woman's struggle to find her soul's song in a dissonant world.

©2015 Carol M. Cram (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Annoying narration...

I suspect this is a good book, but I found the narration to be so annoying that I couldn't stick with it. While the protagonist is very musically talented and accomplished, the narrator seems to have only one breathy tune, so to speak. She changes when speaking as a character, but then it's back to the same old breathy pattern. She has the potential to be a top notch narrator, but doesn't manage it here.

A Woman of Note

Really enjoyed reading the book and listened to Audiobook twice. I enjoyed this book for many reasons, it was about a woman composer and pianist that lived in the time of Beethoven, etc. It spoke about many of the classical composers and how poor they were. It reminded me of what I learned when I took piano lessons. Women were not supposed to compose music. It is the type of book or story that stays with you after reading or listening to it. I don't want to give any spoilers and I am sure others have described the book in much better detail . It's about love, friendship, and abuse and how strong the main character becomes.