Synopsis
A gifted young singer fights to be heard against poverty, illness, and fear of losing her voice. In a cramped Parisian room, a fragile girl named Sylvie trains under a strict teacher, while her devoted family clings to hope and love. A sudden illness exposes the fragility of fame and tests loyalties, begging the question: who will fight for her when the music stops?
Set amid the bustle of the Champs-Élysées and quiet back rooms, this story follows Sylvie from hopeful practice to a crisis that threatens her gift. The book explores the tensions between art, duty, and family, and how a single voice can alter the course of many lives.
What you’ll experience:
- A vivid portrait of a devoted teacher, a wary mother, and a stern mentor who shape a prodigy.
- Moments of intimate music making, contrasted with sudden illness and the fear of losing a career.
- Family dynamics, social pressures, and the costs of fame in a world that prizes performance.
- Quiet resilience and the slow, human path toward hope and recovery.
Ideal for readers who love historical fiction centered on music, ambition, and the bonds of family under pressure.
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The Mute Singer: A Novel (Classic Reprint)
Print on DemandSeller: Forgotten Books, London, United Kingdom
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Paperback. Condition: New. Print on Demand. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by MARY G. THOMPSON In the Clerks Ofce of the DistIict Court of the United States for the Southern Distnct of New York. THE NEW YOR! PRINTING COMPANY 81, 88, and 85 Centre Street, N EW YOR! CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I. CHAPTER II. A Toilette Dilemma CHAPTER III. Maitre Beaujeus Violin CHAPTER IV. Launched CHAPTER V. CHAPTER VI. The Second Step CHAPTER VII. CHAPTER VIII. CHAPTER I! CHAPTER X. The Old Musician CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER !I. Convalescence CHAPTER !II. CHAPTER XIII. CHAPTER !IV. The Great World Again CHAPTER !V. A New Home CHAPTER !VI. Luminous Cloud CHAPTER XVII. The Mob and the Singer. CHAPTER XVIII. CHAPTER !I! MUTE SINGER. CHAPTER I. SYLVIE'. THE height of a house in Paris is by no means indicative of the grandeur of the abode. In a remote portion of the Rue St. Denis stands many a dwelling that, if placed beside the most sump tuons mansions of Grosvenor Square, would tower above them, and yet is the residence of a host of humble toilers for daily bread, who seem to mount nearer to the skies according to the degree of their poverty. One might almost imagine that the pro mise of easier access to heaven than is accorded to the rich, gave them this upward tendency. In one of these lofty habitations for the lowly, a hundred and forty steps led to an apartment in the sixth story, where Everard de la Roche lodged, with his wife and daughter. The bareness of the 8 THE MUTE SINGER. room betokened an absence of worldly possessions. The red -tiled oor had no covering, the windows no curtains, the bed no drapery. Indeed, the lat ter was merely a framed canvas that could be folded up at pleasure. A few yards of faded calico, stretched across the further corner, con verted that portion into a small chamber. In one window feebly bloomed a pot of unhealthy -look ing mignionette the favorite ower of the French poor, and often to be found in their meanest abodes. The enumeration of the furniture will occupy little space. It consisted of a wash -stand, four rush -bottomed chairs, a low stool, a worm eaten chest !the receptacle of the family ward robe), a tiny charcoal cooking -stove, and yonder strangely unsuited to the place a piano! An old, battered affair, with keys as yellow as a tobacco -chewers teeth, but still a veritable piano. Just above the venerable instrument, an unpainted deal shelf held a number of broken -backed books, some pieces of music, and a tin cup containing a few common owers. Upon a corresponding shelf on the ,Opposite side of the room, were various kitchen utensils, neatly arranged; a cup board beneath inclosed a sparse supply of crockery and other household goods. SYLVIE. 9 It is June, and the twilight of a long summer day is approaching. Several sheets of music are scattered upon the floor. The piano is Open; on the three -legged stool before it sits a young girl. Her head rests upon one arm, which is stretched over the instru ment as though she had fallen forward from ex haustion; the other arm hangs listlessly by her side she is asleep. The outline of her undeveloped form is delicate, yet too angular for grace. The coarse grey stock ing and rough shoe cannot wholly disguise the smallness and shapeliness of a foot and ankle some what liberally revealed by her position. Her complexion is sickly, almost sallow in its hue. Her features are too much sharpened by want and suffering to be deemed handsome; but the min gled blandness and rmness of the mouth, the thin, slightly curved nostrils, and the broad brow, indicate force of character. The only impression of beauty is conveyed by the arch of the slender eyebrows, the length and darkness of thellashes that lie upon her colorless cheeks, the silkiness and luxuriance of the purple -black hair that, escaping from her comb, sweeps down her shoul ders, and falls like a rich veil over the yellow 10 THE MUTE SINGER. piano -keys. Her garb is very humble; simply a dark blue calico dress, relieved by a narrowâ¦. print-on-demand item. Seller Inventory # 9781332596393_0
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The Mute Singer
Seller: PBShop.store US, Wood Dale, IL, U.S.A.
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PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # LW-9781332596393
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The Mute Singer
Seller: PBShop.store UK, Fairford, GLOS, United Kingdom
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PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # LW-9781332596393
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