This book is beautiful, clever, and the kind of secret I want to find for myself. I can't wait, however, to share this story with more people.

While I really enjoyed the first half of this book, the second half lost a little too much steam to keep me invested. I loved Jelly as a character, and learning her true history at the end of the novel was really interesting, as I wasn't aware to what extent the novel was based on true events. Definitely an interesting concept with well fleshed out characters, but it was just a hair too slow for me.

This book is not as good as Odette which was a shame as I really enjoyed that. The element of mystery and fantasy was there but it was not as refined or as good. The premise was interesting and it needed a little bit more work for it to be fully functional for me.

This is an engrossing tale of a rediscovered Schumann violin concerto, an ageing performer and the fracturing politics of Britain and Germany in the 1930's run up to WWII. Duchen uses real characters and known facts to embed the mystery in the claustrophobic reality of the nationalistic times and the cloistered world of classical music. But it is the author's understanding of the precarious position of talented women in a conspiratorial male world which make the book transcend the confines of mere creative use of interesting trivia; Jelly d’Arányi's search is as much for a viable identity, sexually, racially and personally in uncertain times, as it it for a lost manuscript. In that respect it offers interesting parallels with today's fractious European politics - creative minds , artists, women and non-conformists will always suffer at times of instability.

Ghost Variations by Jessica Duchen is wonderfully written. I loved the mystery of this historical book. I found it hard to put down. This book combined three of my favorite things, mystery, history, and music. There was also a bit of paranormal. I loved this book.

Iwould like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

A really interesting and well told story with wonderful writing. I found myself thinking about it when I was reading it and raced pack to pick it up. A really solid mystery

A just okay endeavor for me but obviously the product of thorough research and great fondness/love for the subject. Perhaps this could be adapted into a lovely BBC production, as its got all the elements (period-piece, mystery, love, good music) but it hangs together a touch awkwardly. A recommend, but with a bit of a warning.

This is a beautifully written historical novel, a mystery thriller and a character piece on art and how the events of a time can disenfranchise you from your home. Jelly was a very sympathetic character and the unfurling mystery was spell binding. This was unlike any other historical mystery I have ever read and I was enthralled to find out how closely it follows real historical events. Utterly beautiful.

I think we all know that if there’s the word ghost in the title I will probably want to read it and this one was no exception. I loved the sound of this book, historical fiction and ghosts, also music and a single female lead character? Yes please. Luckily this book was exactly what I was looking for and I really enjoyed it.

The book takes place in London in the early 1930’s and features out main character Jelly searching for a lost violin concerto that was brought to her attention by the spirit of the composer himself. The book is based on a true story and after reading it I’m really curious to see if there’s any non fiction books on the subject because it was really interesting to read about.

I loved the characters in here, we don’t go too in depth with a lot of them, but overall you get more than enough information to see where they stand and I think who they are as people. I especially loved Jelly, she was such a strong main character and it’s always so nice to read about a woman in a historical setting that chooses not to marry. I loved knowing that she had a successful career doing what she loved and that she found that to be more important than settling down. I also loved all the side characters, they all added something to the story, whether it was help, a different perspective or they were one of the bad guys, they all seemed to have a place in the story and it was well done.

The setting and time period were also really well done in my opinion! I love historical fiction and if you can make me picture the time period you’re talking about without boring me then we’re solid and this one did a really good job. Flipping from London to the countryside to Germany on the verge of WWII made the story what it was, and made the search and fight for the concerto so much more real and important somehow.

Overall this was a really enjoyable book, I loved the characters and the atmosphere and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone that likes historical fiction and who wants a quick read. In general it’s not a very heavy book, but we’re still very aware that it’s taking place in the world right before WWII breaks out, and knowing how history unfolds does make some information hit very hard, but overall it’s an interesting mystery based on a real life event and real life people.