THE MUSIC STALKER

Berger offers a novel about healing a troubled past with the power of family and faith.

Kayla Covo is a piano prodigy whose gift for interpreting music pieces has won her international acclaim. As a teenage virtuoso, she travels the world, leaving audiences spellbound by the beauty of her performances and by her own personal charm. But behind her warm smile lie secrets that haunt her sleep. Her mother’s schizophrenia, which Kayla inherited, resulted in a childhood full of confusion and fear. Now, Kayla’s own worsening mental illness leads her down a path of paranoia and isolation, deepening a rift between her and her brother, Max, whose jealousy threatens to tear their relationship apart. Struggling to cope with the pressures of stardom, Kayla finds the line between reality and hallucination getting increasingly blurred, and she believes that a nightmarish man with malevolent intent is pursuing her. She flees the career she’s built and finds solace in her Jewish faith, surrendering herself to a local Chabad—an Orthodox Jewish community—and seeking protection from demons without and disquiet within. Berger’s work is occasionally frightening, but it’s ultimately about finding the strength to accept others, and ourselves, as we are. Much of this emotional story is told in the form of a candid letter from Kayla’s brother, Max, to his estranged children, in which he effectively captures the legacy of the previous generation and welcomes his twins into the loving Covo home. Although Berger’s work is replete with depictions of life with mental illness, it’s never reductive or one-dimensional. Instead, it immerses readers in the lives and perceptions of those with psychological differences. It’s also about the power of family members to pull loved ones back from isolation and distress, even when they’re suffering themselves.

A tale that shines a light on the redemptive power of religion and relationships.