Strum

Bernard, a deaf young woodworker, is drawn into an old growth forest in rural Quebec by mysterious and compelling music. Summoned there by the spirits of his Iroquois and European great-grandparents, he witnesses a colossal 800-year old cedar fall literally at his feet, and nearly loses his life salvaging a portion of the great tree to craft an instrument worthy of the music he hears. His creation of two exquisite classical guitars imbued with the spirits of his ancestors sets in motion an intricate yet intimate story of turbulent times and tumultuous family relationships. Reaching across two centuries and four continents - from a convent in the French Alps to the jungles of Southeast Asia to an opera house in Sydney - Strum is a sweeping tale told against a backdrop of forbidden but enduring love, blind faith, war, and the legacy of six generations of a mixed-race family torn by tragedy but bonded by a music destined to reunite them. Young's debut novel delights the reader in a mesmerizing story you can't stop reading. Definitely a page turner Francisco Vargas, American Library Association.…