*Editorial Book Review*
The Music within Your Heart
by Isaac Samuel Miller
After Sophia discovers her older brother's mutilated body in The Lake of Tears, she attempts to take her own life at the tender age of thirteen. Halted by a life-changing encounter in a prejudiced community in California during the summer of 1963, she shares her life's biggest secret with a new, and questionable neighbor. Although this neighbor is battling biases and a disability of his own, he feels that in Sophia, he has discovered not only the voice of his generation-but a friendship unlike any other-until they're torn apart by a horrific crime. Due to hatred beyond their control, Sophia and her family are forced to flee, leaving behind her secrets and the young love she forged.
Can love reunite childhood friends ripped apart for decades? An unlikely romance, deep secrets, and a powerful gift sets the stage for a tug at the heartstrings odyssey of an unforgettable love story between a young girl and her risky soulmate, while answering this question: After years of setbacks can true love be rendered 5000 miles apart?
“Every time I allow myself to love someone, I lose them.”
Sophia was only thirteen when the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) came for her older brother. He had done nothing wrong, other than being the wrong colour, and in the wrong place at the wrong time. The senseless and brutal murder breaks Sophia's tender heart.
Wanting to protect their only surviving child, Sophia’s parents decide to move. However, to the surprise of her parents, Sophia is reluctant to leave. They know nothing about her sweetheart, Sammie, nor did they know that he had saved her life.
Sophia and Sammie come from vastly different backgrounds. The difference that stood out the most was the colour of their skin. But they had one thing very much in common - their love for music and singing. Both are talented singers, and they both dream of a career in the music industry.
But now their meetings in The Midnight Forest must come to an end. The two young sweethearts profess their love and make a commitment to remain loyal to each other. They pledge to come together, when the timing was right, and after that, nothing would ever separate them again...
Isaac Samuel Miller's love story, The Music Within Your Heart, takes place against a backdrop of racial tension in 1960s America. A terrible homicide marks the beginning of the story, and it ends with the reunion of long-lost lovers.
Despite spanning over five decades, the fast-paced narrative of the novel prevented it from feeling overly long. Told in the first person, the reader is given an invite into the life of Sophia, and then later on in the novel, her daughter. The novel's writing is geared more towards young adult readers, but I felt it could benefit from more sensory detail. I also felt that the story was being told to me, rather than allowing me to be in the room with the characters — I felt that I was on the outside, looking in. Although the writing style was a little underdeveloped, I still thought the story was intriguing and enjoyable.
Miller delves into the intricacies of living in a predominantly racist society. Sophia's childhood innocence is overshadowed by the violence and intimidation she witnesses and hears about. And yet, Sophia and her brother continue to try to cross the racial divide — neither believes a person’s skin colour has any bearing on whether a person is good or not. Discrimination is a daily occurrence for Sophia, and even taking the bus highlights the extent of racism during this era. The threat Sophia and her family are facing is frightening, but not to the point of scaring the intended audience of this book. I thought Miller did an admirable job handling this theme.
Although there are multiple antagonists in the story, they all belong to the same group known collectively as The Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The novel depicts the KKK as being very confident in their belief of white supremacy. This novel portrays their infiltration into every area of society, including law, order, and justice. Their depiction was particularly distressing, especially when it came to their treatment of children of colour – there is one very distressing scene where Sophia and her brother are chased. In this novel, the KKK's malevolence is mitigated solely by the benevolence of their victims. In my opinion, Miller handled this horrifying theme with great care and consideration. While some scenes are graphic, the author avoids isolating his target readership — as the focus is ultimately on romance, not terror. Despite this, he faces head-on the horrible treatment that people of colour endured during this period.
The book's love stories reflect the time it's set in and highlight Sophia’s vulnerabilities. Sophia demonstrates a predisposition of being far too trusting in several situations. She also has a strong tendency to prioritise her own desires, which is particularly evident in her relationship with her mother. Which means that some of the decisions she makes have devastating consequences. Despite all the challenges, Sophia manages to hold onto her happy disposition. Sophia was a character I liked reading about, and I was hoping she would get her well-deserved happy ending.
Another character that I found intriguing was Kyle. Kyle has a devastating backstory that really demonstrated the cruelty of the KKK. Initially I found his character a little overbearing, and I think Sophia did too. But I think he meets Sophia at a very emotional time in her life, and for a time he promises her something that no one else has ever given her – stability. I thought his character was very well drawn.
The Music Within Your Heart by Isaac Samuel Miller is a book that I really enjoyed reading. I shall certainly look forward to reading more books by Miller in the future.
I recommend.
Review by Mary Anne Yarde
The Coffee Pot Book Club
Isaac Samuel Miller loves written poetry and he performs as a spoken word artist. He is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana but resides in Houston, Texas. He has won two national book awards for nonfiction and self-help.
He has over seventeen years of experience as an entrepreneur along with a body of nonfiction and fiction works: Who’s Going to Teach Us?, Just Get Up: And Manifest Your Inner Genius, Against the Grain, and many more.
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