The Songs

(Paperback)

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From the bestselling author of Mr Toppit, a Richard & Judy Book Club pick, comes a riotous, darkly comic story of siblings searching for the truth about their musician father for fans of The Rosie Project, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Humans Iz Herzl, famed political activist and protest singer, has always said that you should concentrate on the future, not the past. Now aged eighty, a reclusive figure holed up in Muswell Hill, Izs refusal to reflect on his life leaves his teenage children, maths wunderkind Rose and her terminally ill brother Huddie, adrift in myth and uncertainty. Retreating into a secret world with Huddie, Rose could not feel more distant from her father. Iz doesn't talk about his other child, Joseph, a West End songwriter forty years older than Rose and Huddie. A single, disastrous meeting many years earlier set Joseph on a violent path to self-destruction. Now he tries to impose order on his chaotic world through rhyme, transforming traumatic events into snappy showbiz numbers. As the scattered children of Iz Herzl face darkness and isolation, each searches for answers in the ambiguities at the heart of their fathers life. From the stifling conventions of 1940s Godalming to the desperate cast of a stage flop, Charles Elton unerringly holds up a mirror to Britain. Skilfully weaving the story of an eccentric family across generations, The Songs is an exuberant, hilarious and heart-breaking tale of parenthood and fame, ambition and loneliness, and words and music.

Reviews

This is an extraordinary debut, not only for its confident storytelling but for its nerdish familiarity with such an eclectic range of subjects Dark, funny jangly with secrets * Sunday Times *
Elton has an arch wit, an engaging style and a sense of invention that recalls Jonathan Coe's What a Carve Up! * Evening Standard on Mr Toppit *
What begins as a robust comedy evolves into a dark, ironic family drama, a coming-of-age tale and an industry satire * Daily Mail *
Mr Toppit is miles ahead of most debut novels and makes an engrossing, moving and perceptive read Quite a ride * The Times *
A chillingly mingled hit of love, need and dread * Independent *
A masterly tale of quiet torment * Sunday Telegraph *
Partly Royal Tenenbaums-style saga of dysfunctional family part coming-of-age tale and part satire on the iniquities of celebrity and hype * Observer *
Poignant and engaging * Mail on Sunday *

Author Bio

Charles Elton was a director of the literary agency Curtis Brown before becoming an Independent TV producer in 1991. In 2000 he joined ITV as Executive Producer in Drama and left in 2010 when his bestselling first novel Mr Toppit was published. He lives in London and Somerset. The Songs is his second novel.