LOVE IN A DIFFERENT KEY

by Marjorie France ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 24, 1983

The love of an unconvincing concert-pianist for an unconvincing paranoid schizophrenic--in a thin, sappy story that short-changes both music and mental illness. Neenah, 17, has just moved to a Chicago suburb with her parents; and now, after years of putting her piano studies ahead of a social life, she's determined to have pals, fun, and a boyfriend. So Neenah is ready to fall in love at first sight with handsome classmate Michael Gideon, a sweet, likable guy who also happens to be a talented musician, playing jazz at a local club. There are gentle, happy times together, squeezed in between Neenah's daily practices and weekly lessons in Chicago. But then, after a few warning signs (Michael sleeps little, seems suspicious of people), this perfect new sweetheart collapses into a dubious mixture of paranoia and catatonia--winding up in the mental hospital. Neenah is crushed, of course; her music suffers. Over her stage-mother's objections, she visits Michael in the hospital--leading to a bad recital performance and a confrontation: ""if the choice is between music and Michael,"" says the increasingly unselfish Neenah, ""I choose Michael."" Finally, however, as Michael slowly recovers, there's a teary Neenah/mother reconciliation, Neenah's triumphant return to music, and cautious optimism about her future with Michael. (""And she knew, with a mixture of feelings both sad and sweet, that neither of them would ever be that young again."") Franco (So Who Hasn't Got Problems?) writes nicely about teenage-girl chumships--Neenah befriends insecure, noisy Lenore--and provides a few engaging touches in the supporting cast. But Neenah is a flat character whose music-making is lifelessly, sketchily detailed. And the half-baked portrait of ""psychotic"" Michael verges on the irresponsible, with a quick, casual reference to biochemical imbalance. Even by the standards of the teen-fiction world, where mental illnesses proliferate like measles: shaky and superficial, though some readers will respond to the sentimentality of Neenah's noble devotion.

Pub Date: Oct. 24, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1983

Categories: FICTION