Rhapsody
Love, Music, and the Making of an American Classic
About the Book
One evening in 1924, Katharine "Kay" Swiftâthe restless but loyal society wife of wealthy banker James Warburg and a serious pianist who longs for recognitionâattends a concert. The piece: Rhapsody in Blue. The composer: a brilliant, young George Gershwin.
Kay is transfixed, helpless to resist the magnetic pull of George's talent, charm, and swagger. Their ten-year love affair, complicated by her conflicted loyalty to her husband and the twists and turns of her own musical career, ends only with George's death from a brain tumor at the age of thirty-eight.
Awards & Recognition
Critical Acclaim
"Kaplan's vivid novel takes you deep into the heady, entrepreneurial New York City scene of the Jazz Age. A fascinating portrayal of the birth of the Broadway musical... a moving story of love, loss, racial inequality and the price of genius."
â Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
""Kaplanâs sweeping novel, spanning the years 1917 to 1937, portrays the life of Kay Swift, one of Broadwayâs first female composers, extracting her from the shadow of her colleague and lover, George GershwinâŚKaplanâs propulsive style imparts a momentum of its ownâŚinteresting and important."
â Kirkus Reviews
"Mitchell James Kaplan pens a lilting, jazzy ballad as catchy as a Gershwin tune, bringing to vibrant life the complicated relationship between classically trained composer Kay Swift and free-wheeling star George Gershwin."
â Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author