Review: Claudette on the Keys

Claudette on the Keys by Joanne Culley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Inspired by true events, Claudette on the Keys is the story of Ida Fernley, whose stage name is Claudette, and her husband Harry, a Toronto-based duo piano team called the Black and White Spotters. They have made a name for themselves onstage and on radio, playing the latest tunes of the day by Irving Berlin and Cole Porter.
It is the winter of 1936 when the musical couple are laid off from their live weekly radio program due to a pullout by the sponsor, Shirriff’s Marmalade. After their home is re-possessed, desperation sets in.
When Ida plays free of charge for a charity concert at Shea’s Hippodrome, she happens to meet a British talent agent who is impressed by her virtuosic rendition of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” He invites her and Harry to come to London to work, where Ida experiences firsthand the rise of fascism there and in Germany. Whenever she finds herself in a tough spot, she draws inspiration from her movie-star hero Claudette Colbert.