Editorial Content for Songs of No Provenance
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Lydi Conklin's debut novel (they previously published an award-winning short fiction collection) is unusual in a number of ways. The first is its plot structure. Unlike many novels, which build up to a moment of crisis and/or a day of reckoning, that's where SONGS OF NO PROVENANCE starts.
Its protagonist, Joan Vole, is a rapidly aging songwriter and musician who is beloved by her small but dedicated group of fans. She's at a club in New York City, ready to play yet another gig. In the bar is Paige, a fellow musician with whom Joan has a long and complicated relationship. Unlike Joan, Paige is on the verge of making it big, and Joan is looking forward to recording a verse for Paige's second album.
"SONGS OF NO PROVENANCE [is] fascinating to read and discuss or debate. It also has plenty to say about the process of art making, the sometimes soul-sucking work of building a life as an artist, and the role of mentorship in an artist's career."
But Paige has some bad news: she's retracting her offer to Joan. Joan realizes in that moment that even though she long considered herself Paige's mentor, now "Joan was unworthy to sing with her for 25 seconds." Her embarrassment and self-doubt travel with her on stage, where --- when confronted with an overly enthusiastic fan --- she engages in a too-spicy-for-this-review sex act on stage.
That brings us to the second unusual aspect of this book. Joan's particular fetish is one that I personally have not encountered in mainstream fiction. Other than the power dynamic at play in her on-stage behavior (more on that below), there's nothing particularly shameful about her kink, but readers should be aware that much of the novel explores and celebrates this facet of her personality.
After Joan comes to her senses and accepts what she has done, she figures she needs to flee town before news (and the inevitable cell phone videos) of her indiscretions makes it to social media. So she speedily vacates her Coney Island apartment, belatedly remembering that she has a standing offer to serve as a songwriting teacher for a teen summer arts program in Virginia, which starts the very next day.
To call Joan ill-prepared for this teaching gig is a vast understatement. At first, her summer goals are solely about collecting her stipend and hiding out from public opinion. Whether the students learn anything is not even on her radar. But despite herself, Joan starts to recognize their individuality and promise. With them, she explores the songs of the book’s title: songs that, if it's possible to do so, can be appreciated and understood apart from their creators' messy flaws.
Joan's surprisingly tender entrée into teaching is interspersed with glimpses of her earlier years in New York City and the foundations of her relationship with Paige. Along the way, she comes to terms not only with what happened on that critical night on stage, but with her whole complicated musical history, especially her one moderately successful song. For years, she allowed her fans to misconstrue and subsequently champion it as a lesbian love anthem, even though it's about a guy.
It's likely that some readers won't be able to get beyond the non-consensual sex act with which the book opens, or the various ways in which Joan initially rationalizes that behavior. But that complexity also makes SONGS OF NO PROVENANCE fascinating to read and discuss or debate. It also has plenty to say about the process of art making, the sometimes soul-sucking work of building a life as an artist, and the role of mentorship in an artist's career.
Teaser
SONGS OF NO PROVENANCE tells the story of Joan Vole, an indie folk singer forever teetering on the edge of fame, who flees New York after committing a shocking sexual act onstage that she fears will doom her career. Joan seeks refuge at a writing camp for teenagers in rural Virginia, where she's forced to question her own toxic relationship to artmaking --- and her complicated history with a friend and mentee --- while finding new hope in her students and a deepening intimacy with a nonbinary artist and fellow camp staff member.
Promo
SONGS OF NO PROVENANCE tells the story of Joan Vole, an indie folk singer forever teetering on the edge of fame, who flees New York after committing a shocking sexual act onstage that she fears will doom her career. Joan seeks refuge at a writing camp for teenagers in rural Virginia, where she's forced to question her own toxic relationship to artmaking --- and her complicated history with a friend and mentee --- while finding new hope in her students and a deepening intimacy with a nonbinary artist and fellow camp staff member.
About the Book
A suspenseful, wildly engaging debut novel by the award-winning author of RAINBOW RAINBOW, following a musician spiraling in self-doubt and self-searching after a night --- and a relationship --- gone wrong
SONGS OF NO PROVENANCE tells the story of Joan Vole, an indie folk singer forever teetering on the edge of fame, who flees New York after committing a shocking sexual act onstage that she fears will doom her career. Joan seeks refuge at a writing camp for teenagers in rural Virginia, where she's forced to question her own toxic relationship to artmaking --- and her complicated history with a friend and mentee --- while finding new hope in her students and a deepening intimacy with a nonbinary artist and fellow camp staff member.
A propulsive character study of a flawed and fascinating artist, SONGS OF NO PROVENANCE explores issues of trans nonbinary identity, queer baiting and appropriation, kink, fame hunger, secrecy and survival, and the question of whether a work of art can exist separately from its artist.
Audiobook available, read by Kristin James
