![]() ![]() In the beginning, there is only one person who believes in Ray - his Grandma Nora, who delights in her favorite grandchild's musical gift. If Ray were a white teenager, he'd be considered a prodigy, but most people do not take this young Black violinist seriously. But Ray loves playing the violin, and he plays it well. "You could have been making good money at Popeyes by now," she tells him. His mother, who doesn't understand her son's obsession with "that fiddle," wants him to graduate early so he can get a job to help pay the bills. Rayquan (who prefers to be called Ray) McMillian is a senior in high school with lofty aspirations. Taking inspiration from his day job as a music teacher, Slocumb has orchestrated an engaging and suspenseful story about an aspiring musician and his great-great-grandfather's violin. In the crowded world of fiction, that's no small accomplishment. When I opened Brendan Slocumb's debut novel, "The Violin Conspiracy," I was immediately transported to a place I'd never been, surrounded by characters I'd never met. ![]()
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