THE VIOLIN MAKER’S SECRET by Evie Woods

5 stars

Working at Heathrow Airport’s baggage handling and looking for a birthday present for his girlfriend, Devlin buys an old violin that’s been sitting in the lost luggage section. Unbeknownst to him, the violin dates from the early 1800’s, made by a young luthier just home from his violin making apprenticeship to find for his betrothed drowned in river by her jealous sister. In her memory, he constructs a special violin to mimic her gorgeous singing voice.

Devlin feels a deep attachment to the violin he has bought but comes to realize it may have actually been stolen from a Christie’s auction in New York. Devlin seeks out his retired high school history teacher for help learning about whether this is the stolen violin. When Devlin arrives at Walter’s doorstop, he stumbles in to realize that his old professor had been about to commit suicide with pills. Turns out that Walter has been intensely lonely and feeling without purpose since his recent retirement from teaching. Spending time with Devlin and on a historical research quest to identify the violin reengages Walter into life.

Walter in turn take Devlin to a reputable violin repair shop whose owner he knows, only to find out that his friend has died and his daughter Gabrielle has taken over the business. Gabrielle, also intensely lonely and in a protective shell since her prodigy career as a premier violinist got suddenly cut off by a mysterious pain in her wrist. Gabrielle becomes mesmerized, as they all do, with the violin and who the luthier is behind its creation. But most importantly, the quests take each character on a road to get over past traumas that have stymied their lives.

Devlin, Walter and Gabrielle all join forces to figure out who created the violin and whether it matches the valuable one stolen from the auction house. Adventures, and misadventures ensue as thugs try to kill Devlin and Walter to get the violin back. The Canadian woman Verity behind the thugs and the violin stealing gets in touch with Gabrielle to both bribe and threaten her in getting the violin back.

On top of all this, the violin herself has a strong first-person narrative voice as the luthier’s dead beloved whose soul and voice lives on within the violin. She traces her experiences with all the owners of the violin that takes us through centuries of violin stories and intrigue.

Knowing not much about violins, the craftsmanship, the superstitions, the historical lore, and the prodigy players all became illuminated. That violins have been engineered to sound like human vowels and thus a human voice is astonishing. Loved this line from the novel, “It is said that making a violin is the marriage of mathematics and nature.” I emerged from the novel both enlightened and mesmerized!

Thanks to Harper 360 and Netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.