The Ensemble

It's the 1990s, and four up-and-coming musicians at a San Francisco conservatory decide to forgo solo careers in favor of forming a string quartet. For Jana, the driven and motivated first violin, it's the realization that she's always been most engaged and creatively challenged when playing with others. Henry, a childhood viola prodigy, is compelled by his loyalty and deep friendship with Jana. Brit, the sweet and sympathetic second violin, feels like she wasted her time attending a "regular college" instead of a music school. The cellist, Daniel, nearly 30, has been toiling laboriously, waiting for the stars to align. Gabel's first novel explores the ups and downs of their chamber group, the Van Ness Quartet, as their relationships and talents grow and mature. Each character is fully developed, each action and emotion is believable and relatable.