THE SOUND BETWEEN THE NOTES by Barbara Linn Probst

The highly anticipated new novel from the multiple award-winning author of Queen of the Owls . . .

What if you had a second chance at the very thing you thought you’d renounced forever? How steep a price would you be willing to pay?

Susannah’s career as a pianist has been on hold for nearly sixteen years, ever since her son was born. An adoptee who’s never forgiven her birth mother for not putting her first, Susannah vowed to put her own child first, no matter what. And she did.

But now, suddenly, she has a chance to vault into that elite tier of “chosen” musicians. There’s just one problem: somewhere along the way, she lost the power and the magic that used to be hers at the keyboard. She needs to get them back. Now.

Her quest—what her husband calls her obsession—turns out to have a cost Susannah couldn’t have anticipated. Even her hand betrays her, as Susannah learns that she has a progressive hereditary disease that’s making her fingers cramp and curl—a curse waiting in her genes, legacy of a birth family that gave her little else. As her now-or-never concert draws near, Susannah is catapulted back to memories she’s never been able to purge—and forward, to choices she never thought she would have to make.

Told through the unique perspective of a musician, The Sound Between the Notes draws the reader deeper and deeper into the question Susannah can no longer silence: Who am I, and where do I belong?

MY THOUGHTS: 

This is my second book by Barbara Linn Probst and won't be my last. As long as she writes such beautiful books I will continue to read them. 

This is a beautiful story with a lot of feelings involved. A family who are almost perfect. Susannah, Aaron, and James. Mom, dad, and son. Susannah was a piano player who had given up her dream to be a mother. She wanted to be the best mother possible and thought being home full time was the way to do that. She devoted her young life to her husband and son. When she's offered a chance to play again she takes it. Her son is almost sixteen and she wants this so bad. Little does she know what lies ahead for her.

This book has a lot going on as most of the books I read does. It's about adoption and all that goes with that. Finding a birth mother. Finding out you have siblings and other family. Taking you away in ways from the parents who raised you. Who loved you completely. I really liked learning about Susannah's other family. I didn't like them very much though. I also didn't like her mother very much. The one who raised her. She was a bit to controlling for me. I loved her dad. He seemed so sincere and like a good man. I also was angry at Aaron through a lot of this book. But I also understand his view on things. I think Susannah was a bit selfish in some ways. I think she finally was getting what she wanted and nothing was going to stand in her way. Nothing. James was just a typical teen. 

This book has such a good storyline. It's told in a way that you truly feel each character. You feel their pain, happiness, fears, selfishness and likes. You will feel like you belong with them. I could feel Susannah's fear when she found out something was possibly wrong that could interfere with her musical career. The fact that her and Aaron seemed to be in opposite corners was flooring. They seemed to be so together. That part I didn't like at all. But it made the story more interesting and made you wonder if he was hiding something. 

This is a beautifully written story. It's about a family. Two families at times. About a chance to play again. To be the pianist that you always wanted to be. To dream and dream big. A chance.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #BarbaraLinnProbst, #SheWritesPress for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book.

5/5 stars and a high recommendation. You will love how this book plays out. It's truly beautiful.