Revolution
by Jennifer Donnelly
★★★★
This book has been popping up everywhere, but it was Sandy’s recommendation that made me finally pick it up. I listened to the audio version which was the perfect format for this.
The novel gives us two separate stories. First there is Andi, a teen living in Brooklyn who is struggling with the death of her younger brother, Truman. Overwhelmed with grief, she’s been falling behind at school and has been thinking about committing suicide. Her estranged father whisks her off to Paris over Christmas break to try to get her back on the right path.
Andi’s passion is music, specifically guitar. She’s incredibly talented and spends her time in Paris busking and researching the famous French composer, Amade Malherbeau. In the midst of her research, she finds the journal of Alexandrine, a young woman who lived during the French Revolution. Alex’s story is the second one to unfold. Her journey leads her to become the nanny to Louis Charles, son of King Louis XVI.
Donnelly managed to perfectly capture the voice of a broken teenage girl. She makes Andi both sympathetic and frustrating. You want to slap her and give her a hug at the same time. That voice made the whole book ring true for me.
My only real issue with the book was the ending, I didn’t love. But at the same time, I’m not sure how I wanted it to end. It felt a bit rushed and forced in the moments leading up to the conclusion. I did love the final pages which give a roundup of who ended up where, that felt right.
In so many ways, this book is a love song to the power of music. It has the power to rise above time and grief, and it binds people together despite their differences. That’s what I’ll take away from it and I’m so glad I read it. I’m looking forward to trying Donnelly’s Rose trilogy, which I’ve heard great things about.
“I’m wishing he could see that music lives. Forever. That it’s stronger than death. Stronger than time. And that its strength holds you together when nothing else can.”
“History is a Rorschach test people,” she said. “What you see when you look at it tells you as much about yourself as it does about the past.”
