Fabulous. I'm hazarding a guess that this may be the best book I'll have read for 2012.

Update:

It’s not often that I finish a book and actually caress the cover, but I found myself unconsciously doing that (while wiping away a tear) after turning the last page. First of all the cover of the galley is gorgeous and I hope the finished product has the same artwork and colors. Second of all, I did not want this story to end. The characters, the setting, and the prose were all magical and the stories told through each of the original and sometimes eccentric characters were all moving and compelling. James tells the story of his German immigrant grandparents who settle in a small town in Missouri in the early 1900s and once I got used to the narration suddenly switching from what seemed like third person to first person, the story flowed. Oh, and the music. I can’t forget the arias and the barbershop quartet harmonies that are woven throughout the book. It is all absolutely wonderful.

This is a very special novel and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to readers who have loved John Steinbeck’s EAST OF EDEN, Howard Fast’s THE IMMIGRANTS, or any generational novel with a sense of scope and history. This is also a great book for discussion groups.

And I have to add that I hardly ever think about reading a book twice (Little House on the Prairie series being an exception) but I will be recommending to our library's book group and am 100% willing to read it again. :)