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Review
‘Jessica Duchen's debut novel is captivating, imaginative and fascinating. As a musician and a mother, I recognized many of the scenarios and found the questions that were posed very poignant, both from a musical and personal perspective. The pace builds powerfully to a dramatic and ultimately very moving conclusion. Completely gripping!’
(Tasmin Little on RITES OF SPRING )
'Adam and Sasha appear to have the perfect life - good jobs, a nice home, money and three perfect children. But as their marriage begins to unravel, their ballet-crazy daughter starts staving herself - and her parents are too preoccupied to notice. A haunting, heartbreaking novel.'
(Closer on RITES OF SPRING )'A sensitive and thought-provoking novel that will resonate all the more for those with musical leanings.'
(Femke Colborne, MUSO on RITES OF SPRING )'Jessica Duchen has crafted a riveting drama set within the arts world . . . The neatly-composed plot charges to a climax as steadily as Ravel’s Boléro, with Duchen capturing well the inner world of the pubescent girl and the London classical music scene. For fans of Joanna Trollope and Russian composers alike.'
(Classic FM Magazine on RITES OF SPRING )'An imaginative novel about a music writer, her violinist husband their daughter, with themes of miscommunication, perfectionism and adolescence.'
(Eve on RITES OF SPRING )'Wonderful! Thank you for hours of absorption - I had to know what happened to the characters.'
(Steven Isserlis on Rites of Spring )'The devil in this book is in the detail, the accumulation of every detail that disables middle class life when the unexpected lands, in this case a musically gifted child. You turn the pages with a tremble, in case you crush the fragile family. Unbearably real.'
(Yasmin Alibhai-Brown )'Duchen skilfully balances the conventions of the genre with the authority of a writer who really knows her subject. ALICIA's GIFT is a wonderful read. But make sure you keep the Kleenex handy when you tackle it.'
'This is a very well written study of the problem of being and having a child prodigy.... it's a gripping read and it's very easy to get caught up in the excitement of wanting Alicia to succeed... I enjoyed this book a lot'
Music Teacher Magazine, May 2007
'Alicia's Gift' is a wonderful read. But make sure you keep the Kleenex handy when you tackle it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Alicia's Gift is one of those rare novels that combines excellent narrative skill with deft characterisation whilst simultaneously increasing one's knowledge about an arcane but approachable subject.
Alicia, a child prodigy of the piano, is our heroine and her story of the impact she has on those around her, from family to fellow professionals and friends, is faultlessly charted by Jessica Duchen. Here we are not analysing genius; we observe it and with it the extaordinarily high level of hard work and personal sacrifice that unique talent insists on bringing in its wake.
The structure of the story is impeccably paced. With each page the characters develop and their own challenges and their personalities emerge. In the seas of genius there are always demons lurking underneath the surface ready to sink the fragile vessel that plots its lonely voyage. Duchen's skill lies in resisting the temptation to over characterise her subsidiary characters. She creates a thoroughly credible cast, sparingly but tellingly observed, who combine to propel the reader ever more enthusiastically towards the denouement. This is one of Duchen's great skills as a novellist. Alicia does little except study and play the piano with relentless persistence; hardly one would think, an interesting character in herself; worthy but potentially dull. After all we cannot hear her play so the supporting cast has to supply her character through their own reactions and relationships with her. This is achieved 'con brio'.
Jessica Duchen's technical grasp of plot, pace and personality combined with her formidable knowledge of music make this a simply great read. Her unobtrusive manipulation of the relationships within the novel provide a delightful reminder of Iris Murdoch.
Alicia's Gift is a thoroughly good, intelligent, read!
Give yourself pleasure: buy it!
Alicia, a child prodigy of the piano, is our heroine and her story of the impact she has on those around her, from family to fellow professionals and friends, is faultlessly charted by Jessica Duchen. Here we are not analysing genius; we observe it and with it the extaordinarily high level of hard work and personal sacrifice that unique talent insists on bringing in its wake.
The structure of the story is impeccably paced. With each page the characters develop and their own challenges and their personalities emerge. In the seas of genius there are always demons lurking underneath the surface ready to sink the fragile vessel that plots its lonely voyage. Duchen's skill lies in resisting the temptation to over characterise her subsidiary characters. She creates a thoroughly credible cast, sparingly but tellingly observed, who combine to propel the reader ever more enthusiastically towards the denouement. This is one of Duchen's great skills as a novellist. Alicia does little except study and play the piano with relentless persistence; hardly one would think, an interesting character in herself; worthy but potentially dull. After all we cannot hear her play so the supporting cast has to supply her character through their own reactions and relationships with her. This is achieved 'con brio'.
Jessica Duchen's technical grasp of plot, pace and personality combined with her formidable knowledge of music make this a simply great read. Her unobtrusive manipulation of the relationships within the novel provide a delightful reminder of Iris Murdoch.
Alicia's Gift is a thoroughly good, intelligent, read!
Give yourself pleasure: buy it!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I found this book riveting. A taut plot, convincing characters and some astonishing insights into the mind of the young girl who becomes the 'Peak District prodigy', as well as a sensitive, observant portrait of a family undergoing the gradual disintegration that the imbalance of a gifted child can so easily bring. Child prodigies are fascinating and I'm only surprised that there haven't been more novels about them.
The writing is very evocative, especially the passages relating to synaesthesia, and the way Duchen builds the picture of Kate, Alicia's obsessive mother, is superb, showing us the 'stress fractures' before Alicia is even born. I felt that even if Kate's decisions made me want to scream, I could still understand all too well where she was coming from. Alicia's brother Adrian is a wonderful character, alienated, stubborn, supportive and misguided in equal measures. The atmosphere of the Peak District is well evoked and its relative isolation from the hub of musical life provides an interesting parallel with Alicia's own position in relation to her peers.
But rather than being a neurotic nutcase as she so easily could have been, Alicia is drawn as a very "normal" girl who happens to have a God-given gift. She's the most sensible, kind, natural and sympathetic person in the cast, but what most of the people around her respond to is, unfortunately, not her real self but her ability to play the piano.
It would have been the same, one feels, were she a tennis player or a maths prodigy or an Olympic athlete - this is an archetypal drama of the gifted child and, behind that, the universal, increasing rift between mother and daughter as the girl transforms into a woman.
The writing is very evocative, especially the passages relating to synaesthesia, and the way Duchen builds the picture of Kate, Alicia's obsessive mother, is superb, showing us the 'stress fractures' before Alicia is even born. I felt that even if Kate's decisions made me want to scream, I could still understand all too well where she was coming from. Alicia's brother Adrian is a wonderful character, alienated, stubborn, supportive and misguided in equal measures. The atmosphere of the Peak District is well evoked and its relative isolation from the hub of musical life provides an interesting parallel with Alicia's own position in relation to her peers.
But rather than being a neurotic nutcase as she so easily could have been, Alicia is drawn as a very "normal" girl who happens to have a God-given gift. She's the most sensible, kind, natural and sympathetic person in the cast, but what most of the people around her respond to is, unfortunately, not her real self but her ability to play the piano.
It would have been the same, one feels, were she a tennis player or a maths prodigy or an Olympic athlete - this is an archetypal drama of the gifted child and, behind that, the universal, increasing rift between mother and daughter as the girl transforms into a woman.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was looking on the libary shelf looking what to read,as a male i usually read crime i.e. stieg larsson. I saw this on the library shelf wanting a change and im so, so glad that i did. This is an absorbing read, its great, it is easily readable, beautifully written and write in depth of knowledge and human concerns and music. cliche-Every page is a page turner! with something happening. It made me want to find a quiet spot, no music or t.v. but just read. fantastic, iread it a while back and i still think about it. I will indeed read the authors' other books.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
An absorbing study
From the moment you open this book and find that the infant Alicia has a special gift, the plot of this novel holds no surprises. Read more
Published 15 months ago by D. H. Swift
Prepare yourself for a treat!
I was delighted to find this book as I thoroughly enjoyed Jessica Duchen's first book, Rite of Spring. I couldn't put Alicia's Gift down, I was totally absorbed. Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2008 by Kindle Queen
Beautifully absorbing
I responded to a 'tip-off' about Jessica Duchen's novels, and what a brilliant piece of advice!?
I stormed though the book as I couldn't put it down, and the emotional climax... Read more
I stormed though the book as I couldn't put it down, and the emotional climax... Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2008 by R. K. Lloyd
A Masterpiece
Alicia's Gift is a finely written book that takes the reader, whether musician or not, through a carefully crafted prism that disperses a range of spectral and musical colors on... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2008 by Jane C. Knox
Moving and beautifully written
Alicia's Gift succeeds on many levels. At heart it is a coming-of-age story which charts the central character's development into a musician and woman. Read more
Published on 4 Dec 2007 by Leonora351
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