Title: The Music Room
Author: Deborah C Marks
Publisher: URLink Print and Media
ISBN: 978-1-64753-846-0
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 221
Reviewed by: Allison Walker
Hollywood Book Reviews
It is around the year 2064, shortly after the Third World War. The country is unrecognizable as we know it. Overwhelmed by crime and hopelessness, world leaders have given up and instead a tyrannical dictator rules the United States. His merciless enforcers, called the Detectives, police the streets. Music is outlawed and those who dare to protest are “lost.” Cloistered in the mansion of a wealthy and beautiful music teacher, a mixed group of young adults play their instruments in secret, every day fearing discovery by the Detectives. But the musicians are tired of being scared and ready to make a leap of faith for an island which may or may not exist, an island called Genesis.
The Music Room, written by Deborah C Marks, is a fantasy novel about a gifted music teacher and violin virtuoso who teaches music in secret to a group of young people. Once discovered by the Detectives, the musicians have no choice but to flee America and her stifling new laws. They seek an island called Genesis where they can be free of those who wish to destroy their rights and freedom. Besides being the title of Marks’ novel, the Music Room is at first a room hidden behind a laundry closet but later, readers come to recognize the Music Room symbolizes the heart’s desire for freedom and joy. As main character Miriam Jonna perfectly encapsulates, “Freedom had a good feel to it. The chains of law and control were gone and replaced with joy and a giddiness.” It’s symbolic of the secret which the musicians hide in their hearts and which is finally able to be given freedom and open air. It’s a lovely story about faith and goodness prevailing.
There are fully fleshed backstories to each character, and an especially wonderfully detailed history of the dictator who takes control of war-torn America. His soldier, Captain Victor Overcash, is a determined and ruthless disciple of the new law, a terrifyingly persistent villain and the perfect antithesis to the equally determined but compassionate Miriam. There are a lot of Biblical parallels in his backstory which fans of the Christian fiction genre will appreciate. Another striking characteristic of the world created in “The Music Room” is how quickly the values of a society fall apart once its citizen are hopeless. Exhausted and impoverished, the country is desperate for security and then allows immorality to flourish. If it has any fault, it’s that “The Music Room” is predictable at times. In an effort to move the story forward, subtlety is sometimes forgotten.
The Music Room is an action and adventure novel which may appeal to young adult readers. It has the social tension of The Handmaidens Tale and a distant, glittering promise reminiscent of The Book of Eli, but in a much softer tone and with less adult themes. The Music Room is a fantastic option for teens who love apocalyptic stories, and for adults who crave the this genre but don’t enjoy violent or sexual themes.