Heartsong by Kevin Crossley-Holland
Ill. by Jane Ray. Orchard Books, 2015. ISBN 9781408336069
(Age: 8-12) Highly recommended. Themes: Music; Abandonment; Orphans;
Resilience. This novella was inspired by a visit to Venice and the
Vivaldi Museum. There the Illustrator, Jane Ray, found an entry in a
Venetian orphanage ledger of one girl, Laura, among many girls; one
name among many foundling children who were gifted to the orphanage
to be protected and to receive sanctuary during the time that
Vivaldi worked there as music master (c1724). From the illustrations
and imaginings of Ray, came the idea of a story that
Crossley-Holland completed with words that are unadorned yet
atmospheric. This artistic collaboration wafts like a performance of
Vivaldi's Four Seasons through this simple story of the life
of Laura, the mute orphan who discovers music, and her own musical
talent. Her 'heartsong' plays through her struggles as the abandoned
child with no history and her lack of her own words finds voice
through her music.
This is a beautiful story, a treasure like the masterful playing of
a haunting piece of music. It lifts and carries the reader as we
discover the filaments of joy and sadness in the life of this child.
Woven through the threads of narrative, we get an insight into the
life of the composer Vivaldi as he works with the orphan children to
create an orchestra. We also get a glimpse of the human responses to
abandonment from the perspective of the foundling children, those
who came to be there 'the ordinary way - through the hatch in the
wall of the orphanage'.
Highly recommended for young readers 8-12, it will also be loved by
adults who read it aloud with a younger audience.
Carolyn Hull