The Glass Harmonica
Louise Marley
Ace, 334 pages
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The glass harmonica--whose eerie, chiming, strangely penetrating tones, once heard, are not easily forgotten--was
invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761, and briefly became popular as a concert instrument in England and Europe.
Its otherworldly sound also inspired more peculiar uses--Franz Mesmer, the early pioneer of hypnotism, made its
music part of his magnetic therapy sessions--and gave rise to rumors that listening to or playing the harmonica
was damaging to the health, due to excessive stimulation of the nerves. It was even banned, by police order, in
some parts of Germany. Louise Marley uses that odd element of the harmonica's history as the jumping-off point
for her new novel, The Glass Harmonica.
The book tells two stories, widely separated chronologically but linked by music. Eilish Eam is an orphan in eighteenth
century London who earns a meager living on the street, playing tunes on a set of water-filled wineglasses. One
day she's discovered by Ben Franklin, who is in the process of developing the glass harmonica and needs someone
who can play glass music. Franklin takes Eilish into his home. There she experiences security and happiness for
the first time, as well as the joy of fulfilling her musical gift. Sometimes, as she plays, she's visited by a
fey sense of presence, as if a young girl like herself were standing at her shoulder.
In a near-future Seattle, Erin Rushton is the world's foremost virtuosa of the glass harmonica. Her playing, together
with the ambitious musical compositions of her wheelchair-bound twin brother Charlie, have helped revive the popularity
of this ancient instrument. Erin has begun having strange, ghostly visions of a girl in old-fashioned clothing,
which come to her only while she plays. Though she doesn't believe in the so-called curse of the glass harmonica,
she can't help wondering if these visions have something to do with the music--if indeed her instrument is deranging
her nerves. But Charlie thinks otherwise, as does Gene Berrick, the doctor whose experimental sound-based therapy
may help Charlie walk again. They believe Erin shouldn't reject her visions, but follow them, and see where they
lead her.
Louise Marley, whose last book was the darkly dystopian The Terrorists of Irustan, turns her hand to something
very different here, blending history, fantasy, and science fiction into a dreamy tale of self-discovery and fulfillment.
The two storylines are relatively simple, propelled more by mood and their sympathetic, appealing characters than
by plot. In fact there's a distinctly young adult feel to this novel. Erin, who is twenty-two, doesn't seem much
older than Eilish, who is fourteen. And the eighteenth century sections, with their somewhat self-conscious inclusion
of various historical figures and stilted treatment of the issue of slavery, read more like something I'd expect
to find published by Greenwillow than by Ace.
Still, this is an entertaining read. Marley handles the time-shifting deftly, and her sensitive depiction of Eilish's
and Erin's shared passion for the glass harmonica makes a connection between their stories that goes beyond the
obvious device of their visions of one another. Setting is also well-realized, especially in the twenty-first century
sections, which provide intriguing details of a future where cities have been sanitized by herding the poor and
homeless into giant tent encampments, located well out of sight of the restored, retro-themed neighborhoods (though
again, the treatment of Erin's reluctant confrontation with the dark side of her clean world is surprisingly simplistic).
And the musical details, which possess the authority of Marley's own musical experience, add considerable interest.
Readers expecting the complexity of Marley's last outing may be disappointed by The Glass Harmonica, but
those looking for an evocative, undemanding fantasy-cum-history will enjoy what they find here.
Copyright © 2000 Victoria Strauss
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