“I am Music. And I am here for the soul of Frankie Presto. Not all of it. Just the rather large part he took from me when he came into this world. However well used, I am a loan, not a possession. You give me back upon departure. … All humans are musical. Why else would the Lord give you a beating heart?”
This is the story of Frankie, whose real name was Francisco, as told in alternating chapters by Music and as remembrances of friends and acquaintances. Some of the people whose lives were touched by Frankie are famous: Elvis Presley, Marcus Belgrave, Duke Ellington, and Django Reinhardt. Some were not so famous: Aurora York, Baffo Rubio, and El Maestro who became Frankie’s music teacher.
“Everyone joins a band in this life. You are born into your first one.”
Frankie was born during a revolution in Villareal, Spain, when raiders came to destroy the church where his mother had come to pray. As a seven-year-old, Francisco was habitually rubbing his eyes. His father arranged for music lessons so he would have a craft if he eventually lost his sight. The music teacher was blind, but he taught Frankie all he knew. It was music that was Frankie’s salvation, and his mainstay throughout his life.
“Everyone joins a band in this life. Only some of them play music. Frankie, my precious disciple, was more than a guitarist, more than a singer, more than a famous artist who disappeared for a good chunk of his life. As a child, he suffered greatly, and for his suffering, he was granted a gift. A set of strings that empowered him to change lives. Six strings. Six lives.”
This riveting novel shifts back and forth in time, telling the story of Frankie’s life and drawing the reader in and holding the attention until the very end. It is filled with twists and turns, unexpected events and subtle nuances which add to the whole compelling composition.