Prelude to Silence

After her mother committed suicide, Social Services placed Anne Marie Clark in foster care because she had no other family to turn to. There were rumors her grandmother gave up Anne's mother after testifying against a mob boss years ago, but she vanished without a trace, Anne went from one foster home to the next, constantly uprooted until she came to live with the Andersons. Her life changed when Joe Anderson bought a flute at a garage sale, thinking the troubled child they'd taken in should join the school band. Anne excelled beyond anyone's expectations and hoped to go on with her music, but didn't win the scholarship she desperately needed. Just when all seemed lost, a letter arrived in the mail notifying Anne she is the beneficiary of a generous trust fund, enabling her to further her education at the prestigious Lakeshore University School of Music. She arrives on campus in Chicago and makes friends with Emma Kowalsky. They stop for a burger and fries at a...