Symphony of Secrets

Written in 2023 by Brendan Slocumb, Symphony of Secrets includes two time periods, the 1920s and the 2020s, and explores the extraordinary journey of one woman’s music as another musician steals it and passes it off as his own. One hundred years later, a dedicated music professor struggles against the thief’s descendants to give the original musician the credit she deserves. As the dual timelines unfold, Slocumb examines issues of institutional racism, intellectual property, and the emotional impact of music across multiple generations.

Brendan Slocumb completed a degree in music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and taught music for many years after that. Symphony of Secrets was on the Washington Post’s Best Mysteries of the Year list and NPR’s Best Book of the Year list.

This guide refers to the Random House Large Print edition.

Content Warning: Both the source material and this guide contain descriptions of domestic abuse, racism, and institutionalized racist violence. The source material also includes racist and ableist language, as well as outdated and offensive terms for mental health conditions, which is replicated in this guide only in direct quotes of the source material

Plot Summary

Symphony of Secrets alternates between two time periods: the novel’s present (the 2020s) and the past (1918-1936).