The Music Shop: An uplifting, heart-warming love story from the Sunday Times bestselling author

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

A story about the triumph of a quiet hero. And how music can bring us back to life. The exquisite and perfectly-pitched new novel from the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. From the author of the world-wide bestseller, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry- ' A beautiful novel, a tonic for the soul and a complete joy to read.' Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep. 1988. Frank owns a music shop. It is jam-packed with records of every speed, size and genre. Classical, jazz, punk - as long as it's vinyl he sells it. Day after day Frank finds his customers the music they need. Then into his life walks Ilse Brauchmann. Ilse asks Frank to teach her about music. His instinct is to turn and run. And yet he is drawn to this strangely still, mysterious woman with her pea-green coat and her eyes as black as vinyl. But Ilse is not what she seems. And Frank has old wounds that threaten to re-open and a past he will never leave behind ... 'Hits all the right notes...a love story that's as much about the silences between words as what is said - the spaces between people that can be filled with mystery, confusion and misunderstanding as well as hope." Observer RACHEL JOYCE'S NEW NOVEL, MISS BENSON'S BEETLE, IS OUT NOW.

Reviews

"Frank in The Music Shop has taken my love of vinyl to a much higher level. He introduced me to music I've never heard before and has given me a new way of listening to all music. Rachel paints her odd ball bunch of characters with a delicate deftness of touch. You cannot help but love them all." -- Johnnie Walker, MBE "The Music Shop tells us that our drum beats may well be different, but we can still dance to a harmonious and funky rhythm. Rachel Joyce is a genius with words and full of soul. This is another uplifting and utterly heart-enlarging novel." -- Bel Mooney "The Music Shop is wonderful - a tender and moving love story which captures brilliantly the healing, redemptive power of music and its ability to console, empower and reassure. I adored it." -- Laura Barnett, author of The Versions of Us "Rachel Joyce tells wonderful stories. In her hands, ordinary lives are given dignity and triumph. She is a champion of humanity, and The Music Shop is no exception. It is a joyous love song that pulses with hope and benevolence and laughter. For me, her work is the best antidote to cynicism and intolerance." -- Sarah Winman, author of When God Was a Rabbit and The Tin Man

Author Bio

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop and a collection of interlinked short stories, A Snow Garden & Other Stories. Her books have been translated into thirty-six languages and two are in development for film. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Rachel was awarded the Specsavers National Book Awards 'New Writer of the Year' in December 2012 and shortlisted for the 'UK Author of the Year' 2014. Rachel has also written over twenty original afternoon plays and adaptations of the classics for BBC Radio 4, including all the Bronte novels. She moved to writing after a long career as an actor, performing leading roles for the RSC, the National Theatre and Cheek by Jowl. She lives with her family in Gloucestershire.