Dunlap's latest (after Emilie's Voice
) is an uneven but spirited mystery-cum-romance set in 1830s Paris. After cholera claims her mother, the Countess Anne de Barbier-Chouant's cartoonishly cold father, the marquis, locks up her beloved piano and announces that he wants her to wed distant cousin Armand. Anne finds this idea unappealing, but uses Armand as an excuse to secretly visit her mother's friend, patron of the arts Marie d'Agoult. Anne becomes infatuated with the pianist Franz Liszt; at the same time, medical student Pierre Talon falls for her. Liszt, enamored of Marie, offers his services as tutor to Anne, whom he intends to use as cover for his flirtation, but Anne misunderstands and thinks that Liszt is in love with her. Convinced that Liszt is trying to seduce Anne, Marie, whose feelings for Liszt are late-blooming, tries to pair off Anne with Pierre. Dunlap manages to hold her narrative's momentum halfway through the novel, but a slew of too-convenient coincidences and contrived plot twists eventually overwhelm the narrative. The story picks up again when Dunlap focuses on the marquis's secret past. Ultimately, things are unconvincingly explained away. Dunlap's novel is a near-miss. (Apr.)
