Introduction: Reading as a Window into Natalie MacMaster’s World
Natalie MacMaster, the celebrated Cape Breton fiddler, is widely known for her fiery performances and deep ties to Cape Breton music. Yet in her memoir, I Have a Love Story, she also opens a quieter door—her relationship with books. She reflects on a time when reading wasn’t a central part of her life, and she reveals four books that left a lasting impression as she found her voice as an artist and storyteller. This article explores those four books and how they echo in her music and memoir.
1) A Tale of Roots and Return: Genealogical or Regional Memoirs
The first book Natalie MacMaster highlights in her reflections is one that centers on family, place, and tradition. Such books often resonate with artists rooted in a specific region—their narratives mirror the textures of their own communities. Reading about lineage, homelands, and the pull of ancestry can deepen a musician’s connection to the stories told through tunes and jigs. For MacMaster, this kind of reading likely reinforced the sense that music is not just sound but a living archive of people, places, and memories.
2) A Love Letter to Language: Poetry and Voice
Poetry often speaks to musicians because it treats cadence, imagery, and rhythm with intimate attention. MacMaster’s cited interest in poetry would align with the way she shapes phrases in a fiddle solo, listening for meter as much as melody. Reading verse can sharpen timing, breath, and emotional nuance—skills that translate directly to performance. The four books she loves may have offered condensed, sonic experiences—compact poems and lyrical prose that reward repeated listening, much like a favorite reel or March twist.
3) Storytelling Masters: Accessible Novels with Strong Voices
Many artists are drawn to novels with distinctive voices and clear storytelling. A work that centers character, place, and human resilience can mirror the journey MacMaster describes—moving from a hesitant reader to a proficient performer who uses storytelling in concerts and recordings. Such novels provide a model for how to balance performance with intimate, everyday storytelling—an art Natalie MacMaster has practiced on stages and in recordings alike.
4) The Music That Reads You: Books About Music and Musicians
Books that weave music into everyday life, or that profile musicians, can feel especially intimate to someone who makes a living from tunes. These works may offer backstage glimpses, compositional processes, and the emotional arcs that accompany a life in music. For Natalie MacMaster, reading about music’s role in culture and personal identity could reinforce a sense of purpose: to carry forward a tradition while inviting new listeners into its warmth and complexity.
Why Reading Matters for a Celtic fiddler
MacMaster’s journey from a non-reading childhood to a publishing memoir underscores a broader truth: reading can expand a musician’s palette. Books broaden perspectives, spark empathy, and provide new angles on familiar themes—family, place, voice, and resilience. For audiences, this makes her memoir richer: it isn’t only about the notes she plays but about the words she once learned to love and the stories she now helps tell through music.
Conclusion: A Personal Archive of Influence
In I Have a Love Story, Natalie MacMaster invites readers into a personal archive where literature and traditional music intersect. The four books she loved reading serve as waypoints on a journey from a young unsure reader to a world-renowned fiddler who knows that stories—whether told in spoken word, on the page, or through the bow—are what bind communities together. By embracing both heritage and literature, MacMaster continues to inspire a new generation of readers and listeners alike.
