As she prepares dinner for her husband and
their extended family, Suzanne hears on the radio
that a jetliner has crashed and her lover is dead.
Alex Elling was a renowned orchestra conductor.
Suzanne is a concert violist, long unsatisfied with
her marriage to a composer whose music turns
emotion into thought. Now, more alone than
she’s ever been, she must grieve secretly. But as
complex as that effort is, it pales with the arrival of
Alex’s widow, who blackmails her into completing
the score for Alex’s unfinished viola concerto.
As Suzanne struggles to keep her double life a
secret from her husband, from her best friend,
and from the other members of her quartet, she
is consumed by memories of a rich love affair
saturated with music. Increasingly manipulated by
her lover’s widow and tormented by the concerto’s
many layers, Suzanne realizes she may lose
everything she’s spent her life working for.
A story of love, loss, sex, class, and betrayal,
this psychologically compelling novel explores
the ways that artists’ lives and work interact, the
nature of relationships among women as friends
and competitors, and what it means to make a life
of art.

2. If you were in Olivia's position, would you want to meet Suzanne? If you were Ben, would you rather know or not know about Suzanne and Alex?
3. Suzanne and Ben are aware of Petra's drinking problem, and do their best to minimize its affect on Adele. However, throughout the course of the novel, they don't encourage her to quit or seek help--at one point Suzanne offers to buy Petra a bottle of wine. Why do they enable her drinking? What would you have done in their place?
4. Petra, Suzanne and Ben struggle with the right course of action for Adele. Ben argues that a deaf lifestyle would be better for her, and Suzanne fears that Adele would never be fully hearing or fully deaf, but something in between. Ultimately Petra decides to go ahead with the operation; whom do you agree with?
5. When did you first know that Petra and Ben were having an affair? Do you believe Petra when she tells Suzanne that it was really about trying to get closer to her?
6. Should Suzanne tell Ben about Alex? Has the opportunity to tell him (when he revealed his affair with Petra) passed her by? The novel ends without us knowing for sure if she confesses - do you think she did?
7. There is a great deal of musical description in Unfinished Score. How did reading the passages that described the experience of hearing music affect you? Were you able to imagine the music?
8. When did you first realize that Olivia, and not Alex, had written the score? What, if anything, tipped you off?
9. Blackwell tells us only Suzanne's perspective. If you could pick a different character to view the events of Unfinished Score from, which would you choose?
10. Did you find Suzanne easy to sympathize with? How did you feel about her behavior throughout the novel? Which character did you sympathize with the most, and why?
11. Did you like the ending of the book (Ben, Suzanne, and Adele in Paris)? If not, how would you have changed it?
12. The characters in the novel are deeply involved with classical music. Discuss your own favorite musical genre (or musician, composer, or band). Are there songs that define particular moments in your life the way that Harold in Italy defines Suzanne's relationship with Alex?

This book is on these lists:

• April 2013 Indie Next List
• March 2013 Indie Next List
• February 2013 Indie Next List