Title: Rhapsody by Mitchell James Kaplan
Publisher: Gallery Books
Genre: Historical, Fiction
Length: 348 pages
Book Rating: B
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher
Summary:
One evening in 1924, Katharine “Kay” Swift—the restless but loyal society wife of wealthy banker James Warburg and a serious pianist who longs for recognition—attends a concert. The piece: Rhapsody in Blue. The composer: a brilliant, elusive young musical genius named George Gershwin.
Kay is transfixed, helpless to resist the magnetic pull of George’s talent, charm, and swagger. Their ten-year love affair, complicated by her conflicted loyalty to her husband and the twists and turns of her own musical career, ends only with George’s death from a brain tumor at the age of thirty-eight.
Set in Jazz Age New York City, this stunning work of fiction, for fans of The Paris Wife and Loving Frank, explores the timeless bond between two brilliant, strong-willed artists. George Gershwin left behind not just a body of work unmatched in popular musical history, but a woman who loved him with all her heart, knowing all the while that he belonged not to her, but to the world.
Review:
Rhapsody by Mitchell James Kaplan is a delightful novel based on true life people and events.
In 1924, Katharine “Kay” Swift is transformed after attending a performance by George Gershwin in which he plays Rhapsody in Blue. She is a classically trained pianist whose attempts to replicate his style are initially frustratingly out of reach. As her once happy marriage to James “Jimmy” Warburg is marred by her husband’s long absences and numerous affairs, Katharine embarks on a ten-year love affair with George. With her eyes opened to new music and rising stars, Katharine continues composing music and searching for the opportunity for her big break.
Katharine is from a modest background whose three-woman musical group plays for wealthy families’ parties. She meets Jimmy at one of his family’s parties in 1917 and they marry the following year. By the time Katharine meets George, she and Jimmy are the parents of three young daughters who are mainly raised by their nanny. She remains a distant mother whereas Jimmy is adored by their children.
Katharine’s marriage is not exactly unhappy but neither is it a grand passion. Katharine and Jimmy’s attempts to repair their relationship often fall short but they remain married for several more years. They collaborate on a few songs with Katharine composing the music and Jimmy writing the lyrics. He remains supportive of her attempts to break into show business but his efforts are met with varying degrees of success.
Katharine’s affair with George begins innocently enough and she sees him in between his work and out of town trips. She immediately falls for him and yearns for a more permanent relationship. Katharine experiences occasional bouts of jealousy when she suspects George is seeing other women. George is uneasy when she pushes for a commitment but as he often points out, she already has a husband.
Rhapsody is an engaging historical novel that is meticulously researched. This sweeping story is set against a glamorous backdrop of exclusive parties, Broadway plays and intriguing behind the scene peeks of musical composition. Katharine becomes more relatable later in the story as she becomes more aware of the world outside her wealthy marriage. George Gershwin breaks the “rules” of composing as he mixes various styles of music into his works. Mitchell James Kaplan brings Kay Swift’s story vibrantly to life in this engrossing novel. I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend this fascinating look into the real-life story of Kay Swift, her career and love affair with George Gershwin.
