2024 NYC Big Book Awards Winner in Memoir
Countermelodies
A Memoir in Sonata Form
Description
Offering a uniquely musical perspective on the #MeToo experience, this is the story of a talented and fiercely determined musician—a young woman with everything to gain and, ultimately, nothing left to lose—who finds a way through despite multiple betrayals by the men in her life.
Jealous of her brilliant older sister, Ernestine longs for her father’s approval as a little girl but is never good enough. When she discovers a talent for the flute, she meets a charismatic teacher who gives her the encouragement she craves and becomes her surrogate father. After winning several competitions, she dreams of being a professional musician, but her stern father ridicules the idea and forces her to attend Emory University as a math major like her sister.
Ernestine doesn’t give up on her musical dreams, however, and halfway through college she wins the second flute chair in the Atlanta Symphony. There, she sits beside her former teacher, the principal flute. At first, she loves working with him, but after one successful season he turns on her and does everything in his power to get her fired. Devastated by her idol’s merciless harassment, she’s driven into a spiral of suicidal depression. As she tries to recover, her vulnerability is exploited, again and again, by the very men she turns to for help.
A harrowing account of one woman’s battle with twentieth-century misogyny, Countermelodies follows Ernestine as, through the darkness, she clings to her love for the flute and her unshakable dream of making it in the cutthroat world of classical music.
Reviews
“A disturbing and compelling tale of resilience, determination, and musical passion.”—Kirkus Reviews
"Whitman has composed a remarkable work, a musical memoir that is symphonic in scope, emotional range, and musical nuance . . . she expertly weaves together themes of heart wrenching tragedy and despair with themes of uplifting joy and triumph. And pulsing beneath each word, sentence, and melodic phrase, the undeniable transformational power of courage, resilience, and hope. Once I began the musical journey, I couldn’t put it down. Brava!"—Brian Pertl, Dean, Lawrence Conservatory of Music
“. . . In this memoir you will learn about the inner workings of professional orchestras and brush shoulders with luminaries, but the most important lesson it delivers is how to overcome pernicious self-doubt.”—?Jean Feraca, author of I Hear Voices: A Memoir of Love, Death, and the Radio
