Thank you to NetGalley and Touchstone Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. A lovely touching story about an important time in history. Although it moved slowly at times, it was an enjoyable read.

I honestly could tell by the writing of the first 2 chapters that it wouldn't be a good fit for our box and had to put it down. I may read it again in the future!

Lyrical and quietly reflective, Music of the Ghosts is a good if sometimes slow read. But I think, given the subject matter, it should be a slower read to allow readers to fully digest the questions the novel is exploring. And Ratner gives us plenty to contemplate. The narrative switching between Teera, the expatriate returning to her home country and confronting all of her painful memories, and the Old Musician, who is in some ways still trapped in the horror he experienced, really helps to flesh out all the ways survivors carry what has happened to them while still living day to day. There's a deep grief and a lot of pain in this book, but there is also hope and forgiveness.

As in her first book In the Shadow of the Banyan, Vaddey Ratner returns to the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia in Music of the Ghosts. As with In the Shadow of the Banyan, the imagery and the writing is visual and beautiful. At times though, this book seems to try too hard. I find myself caught up in the historical / political / philosophical point being made rather than being carried away by the story and being left with an understanding of the history. Nevertheless, I am a fan and look forward to seeing what Vaddey Ratner writes next.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2017/06/music-of-ghosts.html

Reviewed for NetGalley.

I had high hopes reading *Music of the Gods.* I just couldn't get into the plot and DNF'd it. Hope that many readers love it!

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is a beautifully written book. It is a slow story, but emotional. I did find it dragging in parts, but the overall story is good. Teera is a refugee from Cambodia that returns to her homeland in search of answers and atonement for her family. I learned quite a bit from this story and always enjoy reading something different.

This is one melancholy book, as it would have to be. Almost 40 years have passed since the genocide of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. Teera, who escaped with her aunt to the U.S. as a child, now returns to Cambodia, haunted by her past and struggling with grief after her aunt's death. A man called The Old Musician claims to have several instruments of her father's, and wants to return them. The novel weaves between their perspectives as both grapple with the past while trying to find hope and meaning in the present. While this is a melancholy novel, it's not a hopeless one. In her afterward, Ratner says that if In the Shadow of the Banyan is a story of survival, than this is a story of surviving. I did enjoy In the Shadow of the Banyan more because of how it weaved mythology into the narrative, but Music of the Ghosts is a strong follow up, and many will enjoy it more than her first.

3.5/5

[Will be featured in my Inbox/Outbox post on Book Riot Friday, May 5th]

I would rate this between a 4 to 4.5. A beautifully written but disturbing tale of life and survival during the Khymer Rouge rampage in Cambodia. I absolutely loved Ms. Ratner's first novel, In the Shadow of the Banyan, a novel based on her and her family's harrowing experiences during the Khymer Rouge time. I really liked this one, too,but did find it difficult to get through. It is not a page turner as it involves some very disturbing experiences suffered by so many during those horrible years and the overall debilitating and dehumanizing impact on the Cambodian people. It was harder for me to follow this plot than I did in her first novel but eventually it did come together. In some parts, it did seem a bit contrived as to the entanglements of some of the characters, and how they got together, but notwithstanding, you could feel the dehumanization and painful experiences of many of the characters. Ms. Ratner's writing made you feel right in the midst of all of this. Her prose style, although covering a troubled time to say the least, is like reading a beautifully written poem. Ms Ratner does an incredibly realistic job in providing a real life glimpse into the horrible suffering by many, largely the intelligentsia, but also people from all economic levels. What some thought would be an idealistic approach to a revolution turned into their worst nightmare where no one could trust anyone.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Ratner soon after she wrote her first book when she came to our book group. She is totally mesmerizing, articulate and passionate about her story and her country despite all the suffering she has endured in her life, with family loss and physical impairment just to mention a few.

A must read on the historical side but also to be witness to such beautiful writing.

3.5 upgrading to 4.

I didnt get in to the rhythm of the book til at least halfway through when I became really engaged.

After the death of her beloved aunt, Amara, Teera leaves America where she went as a child refugee--and returns to Cambodia. "She carries a letter from a man who mysteriously signs himself as “the Old Musician” and claims to have known her father in the Khmer Rouge prison where he disappeared twenty-five years ago.... Meanwhile, the Old Musician, who earns his modest keep playing ceremonial music at a temple, awaits Teera’s visit with great trepidation. He will have to confess the bonds he shared with her parents, the passion with which they all embraced the Khmer Rouge’s illusory promise of a democratic society, and the truth about her father’s end." And so the story really begins.

I was most entraced by the story of Tun, the Old Musician. The horrors he was subjected to. The tragedies of war and Cambodia in the early 1970s-1978. Everything from the war itself--bombings, mines, child soldiers, torture, fleeing, survival, to ghosts/memories, love, loss, class stratification, and more.

There is a lot going on--major and minor characters/stories. Of the former, the story of Teera and Narunn, the young "doctor" she meets, middling spoiler alert--predictable.

This book packs a lot in and is haunting, very powerful, and emotional. And yet, some of it is repetitive. At turns melancholy, bittersweet, fierce and horrific. Some of hte language packs a powerful punch but it's because of the subject matter. Ratner exorcises her ghosts well.

This is the authors second book, the first being: In The Shadow of the Banyan, about her own escape from the atrocities of the war in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge Regime.
Music of the Ghost is a novel which takes place in Cambodia before, during and after the Khmer Rouge regime, and is about the lives of certain characters, in present day and the aftermath of what happened to them and how they are dealing with their own guilt, sorrow, remembrances and a general longing to have that part of their lives make a bit of sense.
Teera, who made it out of Cambodia, with her aunt as a child to the USA, has come back to Cambodia for answers. Teera received a message from a person known as “The Old Magician” who claims to have known her father, in prison and has something for her.
The Old Musician, not only knew her father but her mother as well.
Another main character is a young Dr., Narunn who has been living at the monastery, where the Old Magician, is living and helps Terra over come a lot of her fears and trust issues and brings her the love and security she has wanted.
This is a wonderful story of renewal and appreciation for ones life and country.
Beautifully written, with detailed history of what went on in Cambodia, for so many long years.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Touchstone for the ARC of this book.
I cannot wait to read a new book by this author.

This is a beautifully written book with poetic descriptions, believable characters, and a sense of place that puts the reader into another country with a feeling so realistic it feels like you're there.

There is a great deal of political information in the book which, while interesting, tends to slow down the story. The story itself is almost mystical - there are hints of things that happened in the past, and the truth is obscured purposely so the reader often wonders what is real.

The excellent writing alone makes this a worthwhile book to read and savor.

Vaddey Ratner, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime of 1970s Cambodia, has penned an extraordinary tale in Music of the Ghosts. She writes with grace about “questions of responsibility, atonement, forgiveness, and justice in the more everyday settings in which survivors find themselves” (from the afterword). In exploring such questions, Teera, the Old Musician, and young doctor Narunn reflect on personal identity in the face of immeasurable loss. They have been shaped by survival, when so many of those whom they loved did not survive. Music of the Ghosts is a moving tale of resilience and reconciliation.

I have not read Ratner’s first book, In the Shade of the Banyan Tree, but I am certain this book must be a worthy successor. The first aspect of this book that struck me was the vivid prose. Ratner writes with a particular cadence that soothed me from the beginning, despite the subject matter. She does an excellent job at setting a scene. One small scene in particular stood out to me. She described two young monks practicing English at a temple, with a storm approaching. I could hear the sounds she described – rarely do I find prose that successfully reaches beyond the visual to the auditory for me.

The characters are what really gives life to the prose. I found Music of the Ghosts to be a deeply powerful and moving tale. Teera in particular tugged at my heartstrings and brought a few tears to my eyes. She felt like a real woman to me, not a stone cold caricature of a ‘strong’ one. I adored Narunn, a sincere man trying to do the best with what he has. These characters will draw out your compassion. Teera’s dealing with the complexities of survivor’s guilt moved me. In one scene, she wants to stop her car and give money to numerous beggars on the street, in a location so far from anything she can’t imagine how they’re surviving out there. I felt as Teera did in this moment – how can I have so much when others have so little?

The character’s past connections to the Khmer Rouge (as either perpetrators or victims) demonstrate how good and evil cannot be simplified to black and white. The lines between victim and perpetrator can blur. A person can easily shift from being one to the other. Partway through chapter three, I already found the story to be very intense in this manner. Later on in the book, I had a moment of, “Imagine if everyone listened.” What if we listened to voices other than our own? If everyone heard the voices that are too often silenced or ignored? Reading a good story, like this one, can so easily teach empathy to an open mind. Through reading, we can learn about what we didn’t know we didn’t know. This concept, I think, is part of the reason why reading own voices is so important.

I have one mild criticism of the book. The story feels a bit dry at times. I wondered when Teera’s story would pick up again. I set the book aside for a few days, not feeling any rush to finish. But the haunting tale pulled me back as I wondered what the Old Musician would reveal to Teera.

The Bottom Line: On her website, Ratner notes that Music of the Ghosts address universally significant questions such as, “How do we account for the crimes we have committed knowingly, and for the suffering we contribute to perhaps without knowing? What does it take to atone? What is possible to forgive?” Music of the Ghosts clear and emotional take on these questions make it a read worth your time.

Vaddey Ratner’s Music of the Ghosts is the story of two parallel lives that were caught by the apocalyptic violence of the Khmer Rouge but managed to survive, albeit with deep psychological wounds. Music of the Ghosts moves back and forth between the late 1970s and the present day as these two people—a woman who fled to the United States as a child and an old man who fought with the Khmer Rouge—reveal their connections to each other and seek healing.

Suteera fled with her mother when the Khmer Rouge evacuated the entire city of Phnom Penh in 1975. Shortly thereafter, she and her aunt were helped over the border into Thailand. Thirty years later, Suteera receives a letter from the abbot of a Buddhist monastery in Phnom Penh. An old musician has a legacy for her from her father, who disappeared shortly before the Khmer Rouge takeover. When she reluctantly returns to Cambodia, Suteera finds herself awash in unexpressed grief and memories. The old musician, it turns out, knew her father from before the civil war and was imprisoned with him in one of the Khmer Rouge’s notorious prisons. Not only does the musician have a legacy to pass on, he also needs to confess what he did to survive to Suteera.

While Suteera copes with her past and present, the old musician gets to tell his story—from his decision to join the Khmer Rouge to his ultimate betrayal by the Organization. I found these parts harrowing but fascinating. I’ve never read anything, fiction or otherwise, about the Khmer Rouge. Given how terrifying and brutal the regime was, fiction was a soft landing for me. Music of the Ghosts gives us an ant’s eye view of those bloody years. Ratner’s characters do not try to explain much of the ideology of the Khmer Rouge. Rather, this book presents that time as chaotic, deadly insanity.

The old musician’s flashbacks are the most gripping part of this book. However, much of this book is about how he and Suteera have learned to make space in their psyches for those terrible years. They haven’t forgiven themselves or the Organization for what happened. I don’t blame them a bit, which is why I found the ending of this book too easy considering what the protagonists had been through. I’m not about to say what a survivor should feel; I know that I’m not a very forgiving person myself so my perspective is skewed. My problem with the way the book wrapped was that it was rushed.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.

Cambodia is a magical country full of beautiful images, people with beaming kindness, and traditions that are gloriously celebrated. Yet it is a land of unrest, tragedy, and violence. This seeming contradiction is laid at the feet of its brutal and grasping leaders. Vaddey Ratner, in her haunting novel, “Music of the Ghosts,” explores the mystery of this turbulence and the effect it has on the souls of its people.

Ratner, herself a survivor of the Khmer Rouge indignities, writes of a woman, Teera, who returns to the land of her birth carrying the ashes of her beloved aunt, dreading what she will find about her own family’s ruination during the Pol Pot scourge. She has a letter from Old Musician who tells her, “I knew your father.” What will she find out about her father’s life and death? The aged man is attended by Dr. Naruum who will become an intimate part of Teera’s life as she travels through a world of scrambled indignities and determined attempts at normalcy.

There is darkness and misery in this story along with great glimpses at history and culture. Sometimes the narrative gets didactic, overburdened, and overreaching, but I sensed a need in the author to fully get the reader’s attention, to present her own heartrending recollections; a child’s description of bombings, an old man’s visions from the depths of misery, and the unforgiving despair of a turbulent past on its citizens.

Ratner is a marvelous writer with visionary images that enthrall. The misery of war is handled with remarkable skill, as is the redemption the Cambodian people hunger for as they attempt to pull their lives together. This is a story to cherish and that gives permission to silently weep for its premise.

Some titles of books make you wonder why they were chosen to portray the essence of the novel.Not with Music of the Ghosts...One would be hard pressed to find a novel that is so evocative ,the words playing like the strings of a harp, conjuring up poetic images that you want to scoop in your hands and swallow sweetly. Ratner herself is a child of the Khmer, escaping Cambodia, and filled with conflicted memories. She brings this visceral reality to the novel, living between the ghosts of yesteryear and the reality of living in the US. One foot in two worlds...
In this particular novel,Suteera,a 37 year old former Cambodian child is living in the US and returns to her country with mixed feelings after she receives a letter from a man known as the "Old Musician". He claims to have known her father in prison and has instruments that he feels are her rightly possession. After much agonizing she returns to her homeland while the former ghosts reach out and taunt her as she begins the process of accepting and co existing with the melodies of the past.If some of the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge are difficult for the reader to bear, how difficult it must be for one who has had to bear its reality.Luckily for us, Ratner helps to iron out the wrinkles as Suteera gracefully comes to terms with the riches that remain.

In a continuous effort to read internationally this fit the bill. A book about Cambodia by a Cambodian American author. In retrospect, I probably should have read the author's debut instead, a semi autobiographical tale of her and her mother's survival of the Khmer Rouge regime. It seems closer in line with the sort of story I'd be into. In this book she revisits similar themes, namely the horrors of the aforementioned Khmer Rouge regime, which, of course, was horrific enough to merit any number of stories. I knew about it, but in fairly vague terms...another strikingly botched attempt at communism, holocaust, etc. This book has educated me considerably on the hows and whys, including the US involvement, and the subsequent ramifications and repercussions for modern day Cambodia. Much like with any sort of civil war, the lines between the right and wrong can and did get pretty blurry at times, resulting in a country where victims must live side by side with their tormentors and so on. This is a story of survivors, the protagonist, who fled the country as a refugee, before it became such a dirty hated word, and settled in the US, only to return back to her native land decades later to find out what happened to her father and meet those who stayed behind, trying to make it in a war ravaged country. The author's affection and compassion for her characters is evident in every chapter, every word. It is, after all, a subject so near and dear to her heart. And her writing has a sort of poetic beauty to it, juxtaposed with the horrors and atrocities she describes, it works to a great effect. Can't say I loved the book, though. Liked it, appreciated it, but there was a sort of emotional disconnect owning either to my mood or to the language, which lovely as it was, was also over descriptive and too heavily narrated at times. The alternating timelines, integral as they were for the plot, distracted too with their suddenness. It's a very heavy read as one might expect from a story about Cambodia, so prepare for bleakness, though somehow infused with a sort of optimism and hope and light, which frankly I'm not sure how one finds in a country with such tragic history occurring so recently, but it's there and, if it's reflective of the actual attitudes of the Khmer and not just visitors, more power to them. Overall, this was very enlightening, albeit somewhat plodding read. The author's talent is evident and she conveyed the story with great empathy, finding humanity and kindness in the unlikeliest places, showcasing the striking resilience of spirit. For any student of world history specializing in the particularly ugly sides of it, this is a must. Thanks Netgalley.

This is an amazing story! I have been interested in the history of Cambodia and the Khmer regime since the reading the book and seeing the movie "The Killing Fields". I was thrilled to have the chance to read this title. This book is historic fiction that is not based on a real story, but is well documented and researched to be an accurate description of the political exploitation and genocide of the Cambodian people following the U.S. bombing and subsequent civil war.
The focus of the book isn't only on devastation and torture, but also the redemptive quality of acceptance and forgiveness. The characters have the opportunity to make peace with the ghosts of the past, hence the title. Secrets come to light and new families are created with love as their family tie. This is a lovely story that I recommend highly. You will want to share with all your reader friends.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title.

This is truly an extraordinary book. It addresses fundamental issues of guilt, regret, the importance of memory and remembering, love in all its forms, and much more, set in the turbulence and horrors of the last 40 or so years of Cambodia. What sets this book apart from other excellent novels that tackle these issues, regardless of their setting, is the poetic beauty of Ms Ratner's writing. I began highlighting her lovely, poignant, heartbreaking phrases early in the book but abandoned that strategy when I realized that I was highlighting more text than I was leaving blank. Bravissima to Ms Ratner for this tour de force.