What WATER FOR ELEPHANTS was to the circus, TEMPTATION RAG is to ragtime . . .
5-star pick from Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews“A striking portrait of racial and gender inequality in the ragtime era.”—Fredric Tulsky, Pulitzer Prize—winning journalist“A page-turning story of passion, ambition, and desire.”—Megan Chance, bestselling author of Bone River and InamorataWhat is the price of freedom? How … bestselling author of Bone River and Inamorata
What is the price of freedom? How do we leave a legacy? Can we ever forgive the unforgivable? A deeply human story of love, lies, and the power of music from the author of The Beauty Doctor, Finalist for the 2018 Eric Hoffer Book Award, 2017 AZ Literary Awards, and a Medallion Honoree of the Book Readers Appreciation Group.
Seventeen-year-old May Convery, unhappy with her privileged life in turn-of-the-century New York City, dreams of becoming a poet. When she meets the poor but talented Mike Bernard, a young aspiring concert pianist, she immediately falls in love. But it’s not long before Mike abandons May and his love for serious music to pursue a career in ragtime, soon winning the coveted title Ragtime King of the World.
Within the confines of an unhappy marriage arranged by her parents, May struggles to salvage her self-respect as a woman and an artist. After a chance encounter, she befriends Abbie Mitchell, a young African American soprano of extraordinary talent who is married to the tempestuous violinist and composer of ragtime operettas Will Marion Cook. Through May’s unusual friendship with Abbie, she meets J. Rosamond Johnson, one of the most successful African American musical theater composers of the era. A relationship begins that will force May to confront the bitter realities of racism in America and, eventually, the shameful secret she has kept hidden for years.
Mike’s life without May appears to be a success. He is the first solo ragtime pianist to record for Columbia Records and a top draw at every big theater in New York City. But that isn’t enough. His rivalry with the charismatic Ben Harney, the self-proclaimed Originator of Ragtime, consumes him. It is only when Mike meets the naive young Ziegfeld girl Dolly Zuckerman that he starts to remember what it feels like to care about someone other than himself. But love is more fickle than he imagined, and so is the public. When his fans begin to tire of ragtime, quick to embrace the modern new music of jazz, Mike must grapple with the painful realization that he is yesterday’s news. Bitter and alone, he finally faces the ultimate question of what, if anything, really matters. It is then, under the most uncomfortable of circumstances, that he and May happen to meet again, their unexpected contact rekindling confused emotions that have lain dormant for nearly thirty years. Can they make peace with the past that still haunts them? Or is it too late?
The world of ragtime is the backdrop for a remarkable story about the price of freedom, the longing for immortality, and the human need to find forgiveness, From vaudeville’s greatest stars to the geniuses of early African American musical theater, an unforgettable cast of real-life characters populates this richly fictionalized historical saga.
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Temptation Rag is the story of the people who brought Ragtime to the mainstream, fueled its epic rise, and for a while glided on the coattails of faddism until the next big thing came along–Jazz.
It is the story of racism and Anti-semitism, the quest for fame and the fickleness of the public, the entertainment industry’s birth, and the growing power of women over the early 20th c.
In the Gay Nineties, no one knew how big Ragtime would become, how Tin Pan Alley would be filled with white songwriters cashing in, appropriating African Americans’ music that sprang right out of the rhythms of Africa.
Southern and white, Ben Harney was credited as the originator of Ragtime. Tom Strong gave Ben his talisman ring; soon afterward Ben saw Tom hanging from a tree. Ben took the sounds he heard and brought them to Tony Pastor’s New York City vaudeville house where respectable white audiences soon embraced this new sound.
“Said I was the only whitey he ever knew who could play music to stir a black man’s soul.” ~from Temptation Rag
When classically trained, nineteen-year-old pianist Mike Bernard was hired as Pastor’s music director and heard Harney perform he imitated his sound and perfected it, his fame eventually outshining Harney.
Mike always wanted Harney’s ring. Sure, he was the Ragtime King, but he knew he copied from Harney. Mike wanted everything Ben had–his girl, his career, his fame, and that ring.
Readers met the forgotten stars of a hundred years ago, like Will Marion Cook, a classically trained black violinist. “No black man ever got what he got on account of luck,” Cook tells Strap who is hoping to ride Harney’s coattails to fame. J. Rosamond Johnson’s African American operas caused rioting in the streets. Mentioned are the early sheet music publishers like E. T. Paull and Waterson, Berlin, and Snyder (Yes, THAT Berlin–Irving). Scott Joplin, today famous, was only known by a few musicians as the authentic ‘real deal.’
Then there are the women who loved these men, who were betrayed by these men. The wealthy May who loved and lost Mike and went on to become a suffragette and to challenge racism. The Ziegfield star Dolly who slept her way to the top. The long-suffering and loyal Jessie.
Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard has written a terrific read in terms of plot and characters that also incorporates the great American themes of class, race, and the fleeting nature of fame.
And if you love music, it’s a must-read.
“…the first thing you need is a good, strong, left hand. That’s important, ’cause the bass is what draws the listener in, makes him feel that powerful rhythm all the way down in his bones.”…”The Melody accents fall between the beats” ~from Temptation Rag
I purchased an ebook.
Temptation Rag is a fictional/factional story of the Ragtime King, Mike Bernard, brought to life by an actual family member. Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard wife of one of the King’s descendants wrote about real individuals who were part of Mike’s life wove together with fiction which added drama that kept me turning the pages.
The story is centered around Mike and his first wife, May Convery, and how the decisions they made, or didn’t make, effected not only their lives but others as well. Mike and May were tortured soles as they lived their lives separately, coming in and out of each other’s lives occasionally. It is May’s life, which little is actually known about, that Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard truly showed her talent as a writer. Instead of distracting from the story, May’s fictional life actually brought added interest of how her interaction with Mike, an individual who mistreated others throughout his lifetime, affected her throughout hers’.
I truly enjoyed reading Temptation Rag as the fictional/factional story was so well intermingled by the author who did not shy away from tough touchy subjects and portraying what life was really like for woman and minorities in an era of great change in America. Her character development was superb including even the minor ones who brought additional interest to the story.
Is this a HEA story? Maybe, maybe not. I for one, think it is how you perceive what is HEA. Either way this is a well written book definitely worth reading.
I received a complimentary copy (or ARC) of this book from from the publisher via NetGalley and Smith Publicity, Inc. I was under no obligation to write a review, and all options expressed in this review are completely my own.