In Debbie Burke’s Icarus Flies Home, Beauregard Sonski-Abbott, or Bo, begins making a jazz album to honor the music of his enslaved great-great uncle, Lymus Abbott. His relative was never emancipated from the plantation in Georgia, but this did not stop him from writing music. Using some lyrics written by Lymus, Bo worked on creating an album to honor his long-lost relative.

As the bass player and de facto leader of his band composed of old school friends, Bo encounters an array of challenges in completing this project. He discovers a Broadway playwright is claiming rights to the music from his great-great uncle. This sets off a legal battle over the copyright of the music between Bo’s family and the playwright who is claiming ownership of Lymus’s lyrics. The problems do not end there; there is an aggressive woman that keeps making romantic advances on Bo that are unwanted. With perseverance and the support of his wife, Margret, Bo pushes forwards to reach for his ambition.

Icarus Flies Home is a touching story of the determination of one man who is trying to do right by his disenfranchised musical lineage, all while facing the mounting odds against him. These obstacles affect his personal and professional lives and his musical life respectively. Facing each obstacle injects a tension that slowly builds throughout the narrative, causing headaches for Bo, and well-managed stress and excitement for the reader. Despite the building suspense of upcoming conflict over many chapters, the build-up fizzles out and never materializes.

Icarus Flies Home is a suspenseful African American historical fiction novel. It perfectly captures the element of hope which grows within Bo and enables him to face the trials he faces on the road to his musical catharsis. Music’s ability to evoke emotions can be a difficult thing to accurately describe in prose, but with music being a huge focus of the text Burke does an excellent job of representing the effect music has on her characters, lending poignancy to many moments of the text.

Pages: 178 | ASIN : B08QQJRWGD