Laurel Mae Hislop

F-holes of Melancholia Laurel Mae Hislop

Katya Sadilov is a former child prodigy violinist turned farmwife--a woman plonked into the wrong life in rural Saskatchewan. Her new husband, George, must instruct her in the most basic domestic skills--how to cook, work the stove, and milk the cow. Survival in this harsh world depends on know-how.

Long before medical people coined the term Bipolar, Katya's mania followed by melancholia, tortures her and rankles her husband. The tight-minded citizens in town shun her. The harsh prairie landscape deflates her. Loki, a barnyard crow, is her sole confidant. Her only advocate is her father, Vasili. But, music resonates brilliantly from the f-holes of Katya's violin. Can she trust that the strength of songs can overcome her plight and crippled mind?

This story explores a father's love for his daughter and the trials he suffers to protect her. The family copes with hardship, tragedy, and the diatonic scale of mental collapse. Still, the music lingers. It fills Katya's days, embracing and hypnotic, and whispers through the wheat stalks in sweet, sibylline tones.