THE SIREN AND THE STAR

Two girls living centuries apart are connected by music—and something more mysterious.

In 2025, 17-year-old Lula is attending the New England Conservatory of Music after being home-schooled by her mother, who aggressively supports her dream of becoming a famous singer. Lula struggles to find her footing, even as she forms friendships with her roommate and classmates, including a boy she develops romantic feelings for. When she begins a research project for her History of Music class, she’s inexplicably drawn to Barbara Strozzi, a prolific but often-overlooked Italian composer of the baroque era. An invitation to join an ensemble that will compete at a music festival in Venice feels like a breakthrough for Lula, but a sudden, traumatic act of violence threatens everything she’s worked for. In 1635 Venice, Barbara is a sharp-witted servant girl with a gift for music. When some powerful men make a condescending wager on whether she can become an accomplished musician, she seizes the opportunity, determined to defy the odds and forge her own path, even as she grapples with sexism and injustice. Moving between the girls’ lives, this dual-timeline novel gradually reveals the bond that connects them. Told in evocative verse, this skillfully crafted and emotionally resonant story explores ambition, resilience, identity, trauma, and the reclamation of women’s voices across history. The main characters are cued white; there’s some racial diversity among secondary characters.

Dreamy and thoughtful.