The Melody Girls

November 1, 2010
At the close of WWII, Lorna Fernie, a clerk in the local post office, enters a talent competition with her tenor saxophone. Shes a runner-up and only wins five pounds, but Luke Riddell, the bandleader of a Glasgow orchestra, is in town and likes what he hears. He offers her a job with his orchestra, playing halls for crowds of people looking to dance. Shes only one of three women in the entire orchestra and making a lot less than the men, and after Lorna talks with the other women in the orchestra, decides she wants to start an all-female band. Lorna manages to scrape together the capital, the rehearsal space, and enough girls to form her orchestra, the Melody Girls, and soon theyre very popular. But Lorna still feels as though theres something missing and has to search her heart to find it. Douglas latest novel is an uplifting story of love, music, and the strength of women.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)