Kate and the Composers by Joanne Culley

Kate and the Composers by Joanne Culley is a charming historical novel that skillfully evokes the world of creatives in a previous time, with all its pressures and promise. A careful blend of fact and fiction, Culley was inspired by a sheaf of music scores written by her great-grandfather that she discovered in her father’s basement, including music for several flute trios. Culley learned that her great-grandfather was a well-known musician in his day, performing as a member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra as well as teaching and founding the Toronto Musician’s Union. Culley has skillfully reconstructed Toronto at the turn of nineteenth century and the contributions made to its cultural life by her ancestors.

Culley has skillfully reconstructed Toronto at the turn of nineteenth century and the contributions made to its cultural life by her ancestors.

The delightful main character Kate is an Irish immigrant, and we follow her progress and that of her family as they struggle to survive as new Canadians. Against the backdrop of Toronto’s strong anti-Irish sentiment of the time, and Kate’s father had difficulty securing regular work at a fair wage. Instead, the family fortunes were dependent upon Kate’s mother, who although she had “married down,” establishes herself as a piano teacher with an over-full roster of music students. Despite these efforts, her mother’s income is not sufficient for the family’s needs, and Kate is placed in service.

A quite innocent and naïve young woman, Kate is sexually assaulted by her wealthy and influential employer. Determined to break free of his control, she seizes the opportunity when it arises to move into a position boxing greeting cards, and soon after that convinces her employer to give her a trial as a proof-reader. Kate is increasingly frustrated by British patriotism and the ill will still engendered towards the Irish. She reads widely and is determined to find her way as an independent “New Woman.”

In a moment of daring, Kate responds to a newspaper advertisement:

Widower and respectable gentleman, aged twenty-eight, employed, Anglican, wishes to marry.  The lady must be refined and possess a love of music.  All inquiries will be attended to promptly in the strictest confidence.

When Kate meets the widowed Teck Caldwell, she discovers that he is a gifted flautist and composer, and although he is British, decides that their mutual love of music will stand them in good stead. Despite her father’s initial objections, they marry and the two attempt to live a musical life while balancing competing interests and claims upon their time.

Culley’s own relative Frederick Bevan was the composer of the song “The Flight of Ages” which was very popular during the era, and this music threads it way as a motif throughout the narrative. Kate’s endeavour to find fulfillment while also realizing her own creative gifts as a writer is a vividly described timeless struggle. Recommended.

Joanne Culley is an award-winning writer and documentary producer whose previous books are Love in the Air: Second World War Letters and Claudette on the Keys. Her work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Peterborough Examiner, Legion Magazine, Canada’s History, and Our Canada; in anthologies, as well as on CBC, Bravo Network, and TVOntario. She received the “In Celebration of Women” media award. She has an MA in English Literature from the University of Toronto and a Certificate in Creative Writing from the Humber School for Writers. She grew up in Toronto and now lives in Peterborough, Ontario.

Publisher: Friesen Press (August 22, 2025)
Paperback 8″ x 5″ | 282 pages
ISBN: 9781038347114

Lucy E. M. Black

Website

Lucy E.M. Black (she/her/hers) is the author of The Marzipan Fruit Basket, Eleanor Courtown, Stella’s Carpet, The Brickworks and Class Lessons: Stories of Vulnerable Youth. A Quilting of Scars will be released October 2025. Her award-winning short stories have been published in Britain, Ireland, USA and Canada. She is a dynamic workshop presenter, experienced interviewer and freelance writer. She lives with her partner in the small lakeside town of Port Perry, Ontario, the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island, First Nations.