It was really tough to get through, but now that it's behind me I can look back somewhat fondly on Copperfield's life and the people in it.

I have just spent what I'm pretty sure is the longest two and a half weeks of my life reading David Copperfield. My edition was over 1000 pages, but even so I can't explain why it took me so long to read it. The Lucy Variations wasn't my favorite Sara Zarr novel (that is still Sweethearts!) but not only am I glad I finally read it (well, listened to it), it even kind of made me want to learn more about classical music. That was a poor choice, but luckily it was only once and fairly brief. An audiobook is no place for vocals, and I had to struggle to focus on Zarr's narration with singing in the background. But in a couple of spots it was pop music, once even including vocals. Some parts included music, which was usually classical pretty nice. The audiobook was narrated by the author, and I mostly enjoyed it. I came to like her a great deal and felt bad that someone so young is already struggling to figure out the direction of her career. (I skimmed that chapter in Far From the Tree.) But of course it's not just about Lucy's musical career - it's about her family and how she deals with her grandmother's death, and her relationships with her friends, and the way she is finally trying to separate her feelings about music from her feelings about the pressure put on her to play music. I love Sara Zarr a whole lot, but put off reading this book because I get rather bored with stories about prodigies. He's trying to help her figure out what she wants to do in terms of music, and they develop a friendship, which ends up affecting their other relationships in unexpected ways. Lucy is sixteen, Will twice her age, and her schoolgirl crush on him only muddies the waters more. Lucy's friendship with Will is complicated. He rules the household, hires the piano teachers, and basically makes everyone feel like they're not good enough. Wound up in these traumatic events are the complicated feelings Lucy has for her mother and especially her grandfather, who is rigid, demanding, and will accept nothing less than perfection. Lucy's story opens with the death of Gus's longtime piano teacher, which not only ushers in Will, the new piano teacher, but also dredges up memories of her grandmother's death eight months before. When Gus suddenly has a new, young piano teacher with a particular interest in Lucy's abandoned career, she begins to wonder if she is truly done with music after all. Now it's her younger brother Gus who is being groomed for musical success. But that was before Prague before she walked out during a performance, leaving her promising career behind. Lucy Beck-Moreau was once on her way to stardom as a concert pianist.

Sweethearts by sara zarr summary