A Note Yet Unsung: A Belmont Mansion Novel

Christy Award–winner Alexander crafts a music-lover’s delight in this third Belmont Mansion novel (after A Beauty So Rare), set in the 1870s and featuring Mrs. Adelecia Acklen Cheatham, a woman of fierce independence who loves art, nature, and music. Rebekah Carrington, grieving her grandmother’s death, returns to her Nashville home after a decade of studying music in Vienna. Her relationship with her mother and stepfather is strained, and she is determined to make her own way. When she auditions for the Nashville Philharmonic, Maestro Nathaniel “Tate” Whitcomb praises her performance but slams the door on her hopes because of her gender. Mrs. Cheatham hires Rebekah as a violin tutor for her daughter, but also mandates that she assist the ailing Tate in finishing his symphony, which must be ready for the opening of the new opera house. Rebekah and Tate engage in a battle of wills as soon as they attempt to work together, but they both have too much at stake to walk away from the arrangement. This fast-moving work of inspirational historical romance highlights both classical and Appalachian music. Thanks to Alexander’s vivid writing, one can almost hear the music resonating off of the page. (Feb.)