A gripping page-turner about a professor who uncovers a shocking secret about the most famous American composer of all time—that his music was stolen from a young Black composer named Josephine Reed. Determined to uncover the truth and right history’s wrongs, Bern Hendricks will stop at nothing to finally give Josephine the recognition she deserves.

Bern Hendricks has just received the call of a lifetime. As one of the world’s preeminent experts on the famed twentieth-century composer Frederick Delaney, Bern knows everything there is to know about the man behind the music. When Mallory Roberts, a board member of the distinguished Delaney Foundation and direct descendant of the man himself, asks for Bern’s help authenticating a newly discovered piece, which may be his famous lost opera, RED, he jumps at the chance. With the help of his tech-savvy acquaintance Eboni, Bern soon discovers that the truth is far more complicated than history would have them believe.

In 1920s Manhattan, Josephine Reed is living on the streets and frequenting jazz clubs when she meets the struggling musician Fred Delaney. But where young Delaney struggles, Josephine soars. She’s a natural prodigy who hears beautiful music in the sounds of the world around her. With Josephine as his silent partner, Delaney’s career takes off—but who is the real genius here?

In the present day, Bern and Eboni begin to uncover more clues that indicate Delaney may have had help in composing his most successful work. Armed with more questions than answers and caught in the crosshairs of a powerful organization who will stop at nothing to keep their secret hidden, Bern and Eboni will move heaven and earth in their dogged quest to right history’s wrongs.

I’ve had this book since it was first released, and I’m so happy I finally found the time to read it. I found it to be an interesting look at music, history, and the long-overlooked contributions of Black artists to the canon of American art. Through dual timelines, the author weaves a compelling story about cultural theft and the lengths people will go to keep a secret.

The book begins in the 2020s when Bern Hendricks, a music scholar, gets a call from the Delaney Foundation asking him to authenticate a recently discovered operatic score by famed composer Fred Delaney. Bern has studied Delaney for years, and to be involved in the possible discovery of the legendary opera is too exciting an offer to pass up. But as he begins his inspection along with Eboni – a close friend and computer whiz – the two realize that Delaney may not have composed his own music.

We also visit the 1920s, where we witness young, white composer Fred Delaney befriend Josephine Reed, a young, neurodivergent Black woman with an extraordinary gift – she can hear music in the sounds of everyday life. Her talent is unmatched, but because of her race, gender, and social status, she has no opportunities to develop said talent on her own. Josephine becomes Delaney’s uncredited collaborator, feeding him compositions that will make him one of the most celebrated composers of the twentieth century.

The more Bern and Eboni dig and uncover about Josephine, the more they are determined to expose Fred Delaney and finally give Josephine the recognition she never received when she was alive. But the Delaney Foundation is very powerful and will do anything to keep this a secret.

At its heart, this novel is about how white institutions and individuals have systematically taken credit for Black artistry, profited from it, and done everything in their power to maintain the illusion of “white genius”. The Delaney Foundation, a powerful organization dedicated to preserving Delaney’s legacy, serves as a stand-in for the many real-life institutions that have long profited from stolen Black artistry.

The characters are all very layered. I liked watching Bern grapple with the fact that Delaney – someone Bern has studied and admired for years – was not the man he thought he was. I also appreciated how he fought to bring the truth to light.

Speaking of Delaney, he is not a cartoonish villain but a white man whose dreams and aspirations are bigger than his actual talent. You could tell that he was a good guy at one point, but his greed and dreams of fame got the better of him. His relationship with Josephine is complex. You can tell he admires her, but that admiration is always overshadowed by exploitation.

Josephine is the heart of the novel. Her story is deeply emotional and, at times, heartbreaking. She represents the countless Black artists throughout history who have been used and discarded, their contributions buried under whitewashed versions of history. Her neurodivergence added another layer of complexity and made her a character I wanted to scoop up and protect at all costs.

For readers who enjoy historical fiction with a mystery element, this book is a must-read. It’s a slow-burn thriller, but the stakes are high, and the revelations hit hard. It also raises important questions about how we attribute artistic genius and who gets to be remembered. This book is not just about music – it’s about race, privilege, and the fight for justice in an industry that has long been built on exclusion and theft.

Reading Challenge(s):