Drawing from letters, scrapbooks, concert programs, and more, Deters tells this story with grace, the prose touched with music: “the shroud of her ordinary life melted away,” she writes, of Poling’s early touring with Chautauqua, so that the “bright warm light that radiated out from her core was able to shine.” Reconstructed dialogue at times might read as stiffly upbeat, but it matches the tone of quotations from Poling’s letters, such as the one celebrating “those moments in church when the whole chorus and congregation join in song, and you feel how connected you are to everyone, everywhere, all at once.”
Deters is frank about troubles in Poling’s marriage and how Poling challenged societal conventions, including in her romantic life. She also writes with warmth and insight about Poling as a mother, as a community fixture in Mankato, Minnesota, a convert to Christian Science, and as a tireless lover and creator of art, eager to get back to teaching and organizing recitals even after health scares late in her life. The result is a touching look at a life lived for music and rousing connections.
Takeaway: Touching biography of a bold midwestern opera singer and music teacher.
Comparable Titles: Paige Lush’s Music in the Chautauqua Movement, Marianne Monson’s The Opera Sisters.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
