The Music Shop is a wonderful book.    It is a story about ordinary people who strive for dignity and their guru is Frank who provides musical therapy in the form of albums selected to match each person’s needs.    Joyce introduces us to a series of characters who are touched by Frank’s caring and his vinyl music shop becomes a hidden haven for a few.   But,i t is also a love story about two lost people bound by a shared interest in music.   The plot evolves in an ironic twist and a satisfying ending.    Highly recommended – 4.8 out of 5.0 stars4.8

I had read another book by Rachel Joyce, Miss Benson’s Beetle, and I was pleasantly surprised by the book.   Another earlier book The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was nominated for the Booker Prize and she won the National Book Award as the new writer of that year.     I will be reading more of her books.

Stocking only vinyl in his London music shop, Frank Adair has the ability to select the perfect song to ease each customer’s spiritual crisis.

The son of a music-obsessed mother, Frank grew up learning about Beethoven’s silences, Vivaldi’s funeral, Bach’s eyes, and Miles Davis’ sly sense of humor. By the time he was a teen, he was teaching his mother, Peg, about João Gilberto, Joni Mitchell, and Van Morrison. After Peg’s death, Frank opens his store in a small cluster of shops. Defying land developers and CD–pushing record reps, Frank eschews alphabetical and genre-based organizational systems in favor of delightfully placing Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” ABC’s “The Lexicon of Love,” and Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” in the same bin—after all, each is a concept album. He’s a musical therapist, dosing heartache with Aretha Franklin and fussy babies with the Troggs. With his exuberant assistant manager, Kit, and fellow shopkeepers—including Maud, the tattoo artist; Mr. Novak, the baker; the Williams brothers, funeral directors; and Father Anthon, who has left the church to run a religious souvenir shop—Frank is part of a cozy, quirky community, well-insulated from the risks of falling in love…until Ilse Brauchmann faints in front of his store. Immediately smitten with each other, Ilse and Frank realize they are star-crossed when Ilse admits not only that she has a fiancé, but also—even worse—she doesn’t listen to music. Yet she asks Frank to describe music to her; thus begins a journey into the emotional terrain charted by “The Moonlight Sonata,” “Ain’t it Funky Now, Parts 1 and 2,” and even “God Save the Queen,” the Sex Pistols’ version. Joyce (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, 2016, etc.) sets up a charming cast of characters, and her spirals into the sonic landscapes of brilliant musicians are delightful, casting a vivid backdrop for the quietly desperate romance between Frank and Ilse.

From nocturnes to punk, this musical romance is ripe for filming.  Kirkus Reviews

As their encounters multiply, the reader becomes impatient for the couple to acknowledge the inevitable. But, excruciatingly, Joyce keeps the suspense going; she strings out the romance/non-romance, piling on missed opportunities, misunderstandings, missed connections with Shakespearean brio … In this instance, love, friendship, and especially the healing powers of music all rise together into a triumphant crescendo, which, like Frank’s gaze, makes the reader feel ‘charged with a whoosh of light.’ This lovely novel is as satisfying and enlightening as the music that suffuses its every page.   Boston Globe

• And, the best review – The Music Shop – Review in the Guardian

An audiobook excerpt: