In Jeanette Ingold's Mountain Solo, she artfully holds three plots together: Tess, the 16 year old violin prodigy who has returned to her father in Montana after a disastrous debut concert; Frederick, the homesteader who lives in Montana in the 1800's; and Tessie: the story of Tess as a young girl.
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The story begins describing Tess's concert in Germany. Soon after, full of chagrin, she returns to her father and his remarried family in Montana. She becomes friends with her new stepsister, Amy, and gets along well with her stepmother. The family decides to go on a camping trip to the woods of Montana to attempt to discover more about Frederick, a homesteader in the area. While on the trip, Tess has lots of time to consider whether she should stay with her happy, violin-free life in Montana or to return to her mother and her music in New York.
Frederick's story is woven throughout Tess's. After the death of his parents, at 16 he is sent to live with his uncle in Montana, on a homestead. He had been given his father's violin, and decides to learn it in order to impress the neighbor that he has fallen in love with. Unfortunately, Maureen's father and brother do not approve of Frederick and this causes a life-changing accident for Frederick and Maureen.
Arguably the most poignant plot in the book is that of "Tessie," Tess as a young child. From the time she first started violin lessons at four years old, everyone knew she was something special. Because of this, she is whisked away to a new life in New York City with her mother. Fortunately, she adjusts to a new life and attends what I deduced to be the Children's Professional School and Julliard Pre-College. She leads an extremely happy life there until her fateful concert in Germany.
The review of this Book prepared by caroline t
