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The Music Shop

Rachel Joyce

3.83 · Rating details · 21,802 ratings · 3,608 reviews

A love story and a journey through music. 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.

It's 1988. The CD has arrived. Sales of the shiny new disks are soaring on high streets in cities across the England. Meanwhile, down a dead-end street, Frank's music ...more

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Hardcover, 325 pages

Published November 7th 2017 by Doubleday Canada (first published July 13th 2017)

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Jun 16, 2017 Amalia Gkavea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: british-literature, contemporary, england, favorites, netgalley-books, united-kingdom

‘’The silence at the beginning of a piece of music is always different from the silence at the end.’’

The blurb of this beautiful book contained two words that won me over on the spot. ‘’Music’’ and ‘’1980s’’. I was born in 1985, so technically, I am a child of the 90s, but I think that these two decades share the same spirit of a certain kind of innocence, before the coming of the new millennium and all the ‘’gifts’’ it brought (yeah, right…) I’m not a big fan of the music that conquered the ‘’The silence at the beginning of a piece of music is always different from the silence at the end.’’

The blurb of this beautiful book contained two words that won me over on the spot. ‘’Music’’ and ‘’1980s’’. I was born in 1985, so technically, I am a child of the 90s, but I think that these two decades share the same spirit of a certain kind of innocence, before the coming of the new millennium and all the ‘’gifts’’ it brought (yeah, right…) I’m not a big fan of the music that conquered the 80s, but when I happen to listen to a chart-hit of the era, I travel back to my childhood and the parties when we were 9-10 years old.

Joyce pays homage to the beauty of the vinyls, the nostalgia that is connected with them, before the shiny CDs took over. Personally, I never liked cassettes, although God knows we had more than we could count. In this story, we find ourselves in London, during the last years of the 80s and in a music shop that sells vinyls exclusively. Frank, the owner, is surrounded by a quirky set of characters who aid him in his struggle to keep the spirit of the neighbourhood alive against modernity. One day, a lovely young woman, wearing a green coat and with her hands hidden in gloves, faints right outside his shop. And his life begins to change.

Now, the blurb may make us think that this is going to be a light, carefree read. Essentially, a romance. It isn’t. Not entirely, at least. And most definitely, it is not a romance. It is a story that contains a heart-warming, tender, well-constructed relationship, but to call it a ‘’’romance’’ wouldn’t do it justice. In my opinion, this is Contemporary Quirky Fiction at its best. (...I just made up a genre in order to justify my silly definition, but anway…) Each character, from Frank to Ilse, to the various customers who have been helped by him, is integral to the story. There are personal stories of sadness and pain, of hope and joy and remembrance, people trying to soothe their wounds and keep the memories alive through music. This is what Frank regards as his mission.

The characters of Frank and Ilse are the best example of how an author can create a romantic relationship that will touch even the sworn enemies of anything romance-related (...that is moi…) Frank is loyal to his job, somewhat a loner in the extreme, and perhaps a bit too empathetic and stuck to the past. A realistic protagonist that you wish you had as your friend back in that day. Ilse is sensitive, bright, kind and with a heavy dose of mystery trailing behind her.Initially, I thought there would have been an element of magical realism in her, that’s how ethereal and mysterious she seemed. Father Anthony (loved him to piece, he is everything a priest is supposed to be), Kit and Maud consist Frank’s ‘’gang’’ and they are as sympathetic and weird as you can get. Maud wasn’t much to my liking, I didn’t have any sympathy for her attitude, but to each their own…I am a bit of a potty-mouth myself, but she seemed to be continually disrespectful

Joyce writes in a manner that is immediate, fresh and lyrical at the same time. She provides a treat for every lover of music. At the mention of every composer, every singer, every band, I could hear the notes partying (or waltzing or praying) in my head. I was reminded of all the extraordinary music creations the human mind has conceived. Even the quality pop-rock of the 1980s and the 90s...So it triggers a major level of nostalgia for an era when a singer didn't have to appear on stage, dressed only in the underwear or in a meat-dress in order to become famous or to make up for the lack of any talent. I give extra points for the reference to ‘’Beata Viscera’’, my favourite hymn to the Virgin Mary. Also bonus points for what I consider the most beautiful piece to come from Iceland, 'Heyr, Himna Smiður'.

For me, the major question of the novel has to do with the strength of our principles. Frank refuses to go with the flow, if it means betraying his ideals and all he is living for.Why should modern times demand of someone to become an altogether different person? Why should we offend what we don’t agree with and look down on those we consider ‘’old school’’? This is very relevant in our current times with politics, religion, society in general. Some of us stick to certain values. If others consider it ‘’Ancient History’’ that’s all very well, but respecting different opinions should be a bidirectional thing. So, as you see, this book definitely gives you plenty to think about.

This is a book that will appeal to practically everyone. The music lovers, the fans of the 80s, the followers of the vinyls, the Londonphiles, the readers who wish for a contemporary read with something to say and themes we can all relate to. I even forgave the somewhat ‘’cheesy’’ ending:)

‘’I heard the things you told me. The birds and the storm and a dog barking. I heard a summer day.Thunder. I heard the wind. People slipping on ice, and then falling asleep by the fire.’’

Many thanks to Random House and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. ...more

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Feb 08, 2018 Julie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018

The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce is a 2018 Random House publication.

A quirky, but sweet love story wrapped inside a loving ode to music-

I love stories like this one where a group of people, from various walks of life, all of whom are misfits or eccentric in one way or another, but are kind and giving souls, converge to create a delightful and unique tale of friendship and love.

The music shop is the absolute perfect backdrop for such a story, reminding us of how important a role music, of all ki ...more

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Jan 29, 2018 Larry H rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I'm somewhere between 4 and 4.5 stars.

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent." —Victor Hugo

Music has always been one of my greatest passions, alongside my love of reading. I have the largest iPod Apple ever made, and it doesn't accommodate my entire music collection—how can I get rid of a song?

For me, music is such a trigger of emotion, and a specific song can easily transport me to a time, a place, a special memory. So why it took me so long to read Rac ...more

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Jun 05, 2017 Miriam Smith (A Mother’s Musings) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: twitter

What a delightful and enjoyable read "The Music Shop" by Rachel Joyce is!
It doesn't demand constant attention or keep you awake at night, it's just a lovely nostalgic story that makes you feel so happy when reading it, it's almost like you're floating through the pages (though the ending did have me in emotional goosebumps).
"The Music Shop" is a very character driven novel. Set in 1988 the story is about Frank who owns a music shop selling only vinyl records - don't mention Cd's!! He knows eve ...more

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Dec 04, 2017 Nenia ✨️ I yeet my books back and forth ✨️ Campbell rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction

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Here's the thing: the concept is great. Frank owns a record store in the 1980s, when records are beginning to be replaced by CDs. He holds fast to his beloved records, falls in love, and his favorite music becomes the soundtrack to his pursuit of the forbidden woman, interspersed with the memories of the music from his childhood, with his tempestuous, eccentric mother.

I think Rachel Joyce wanted to write the next HIGH FIDELITY, but she d ...more

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Jul 26, 2017 PattyMacDotComma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-adult, arc-netgalley-done, aa, kindle

4.5★

“‘I don’t care what anyone tells me. The future’s vinyl,’ he said.
. . .
‘Life has surface noise! Do you want to listen to furniture polish?’

Frank is a rumpled older fellow with a large, eclectic collection of vinyl records in a rundown shop in a rundown little side-street in a rundown part of London, which developers are eyeing for new housing.

Kit is the clumsy kid he’s taken under his wing to help out in the shop (when he isn’t breaking things), and there ae various side characters who also ...more

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May 24, 2017 Cheri rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, netgalley, 2017, 1980s, music-industry, music, british-author, england

!! NOW AVAILABLE !!

4.5 Stars

”There was once a music shop. From the outside it looked like any shop, in any backstreet. It had no name above the door. No record display in the window. There was just a homemade poster stuck to the glass. FOR THE MUSIC YOU NEED!! EVERYONE WELCOME!! WE ONLY SELL VINYL!!”

The shop was difficult to navigate with boxes packed in everywhere one looked; every nook and cranny had records, although none were classified. There were two booths for listening with turntabl ...more

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Jun 24, 2019 *TUDOR^QUEEN* rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was a lovely book spanning a twenty-one year period about a stretch of shops in London with the address of "Unity Street." This turns out to be a metaphor for the way the various shop owners band together to support each other through personal and financial challenges. There are twin brothers with a funeral parlor, a female tattoo artist, a Polish baker, a religious store run by an ex-priest, and the music shop. These business establishments face a row of apartments opposite that have seen This was a lovely book spanning a twenty-one year period about a stretch of shops in London with the address of "Unity Street." This turns out to be a metaphor for the way the various shop owners band together to support each other through personal and financial challenges. There are twin brothers with a funeral parlor, a female tattoo artist, a Polish baker, a religious store run by an ex-priest, and the music shop. These business establishments face a row of apartments opposite that have seen better times, along with a corner bomb site that was never redeveloped.

The main character in the book is Frank, a staunch devotee of vinyl records with a knack of advising customers of what music they need. They might come into the shop thinking they want Chopin and walk out with Aretha Franklin instead...and be thankful for it. Frank had a wealthy and eccentric mother named Peg (and wanted to be called as such by Frank) who relentlessly taught him a wide array of music along with the personal stories of their composers. It was a fervent passion for Peg which she passed along to her son. Unfortunately, in her eccentricity she deprived Frank of a normal childhood and destroyed the most serious romantic relationship of his young life. These experiences reverberate through Frank over the years along with the music. It lands Frank into his music shop business surrounded by his coterie of interesting workers/friends.

Then one day an attractive young woman in a pea green coat peers into the music shop's window and everything changes for Frank. A real estate development corporation is pressuring the shop owners to sell, the record company reps are coming down on Frank because he won't sell CDs or cassettes, and Frank is battling strong feelings for the mysterious German girl that wandered into his shop months ago.

I once read another book by author Rachel Joyce called "Perfect" which I enjoyed very much...which is why I wanted to read this. This is a very different storyline from that book, and almost as engaging. Joyce is also famous for the award winning "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" and "The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy" (both waiting to be read in my kindle library).

Many thanks to the publisher Random House who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley. ...more

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Nov 23, 2017 Liz rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

It’s 1988 and Frank sells vinyl records on a small street in a depressed part of town. He refuses to sell CDs even when the distributors all threaten to drop him. He loves music and is able to match a person with the music they need. What he doesn’t think he needs is love.

There’s a dry wit to the book. The characters are a group of misfits and oddballs and there’s humor in their dialog and activities. It’s also a well written book. A book that makes you think. When Peg discusses how music is ab ...more

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Jan 28, 2018 Susanne Strong rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

3.5 Stars* (rounded down).

A quirky, sweet, easy read.

Frank has always loved music, it was a gift from Peg, his mother. He is a music shop owner who only sells Vinyl records. The year is 1988. Everyone under the sun wants him to start selling CD’s but Frank refuses. For him, Vinyl is where its at. Frank has a gift - he can feel what music a person needs to hear. The person could be a stranger or a friend. They might come in asking for a specific record or just asking for a song or a type of music ...more

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Aug 29, 2017 Phrynne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is one of those books where I want to use the phrase "I liked it but I didn't love it." In other words it was nice but not as good as I had hoped. The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy still remains my favourite book by this author by far.
I liked the setting in the run down music shop in an even more run down area of town. I really liked the time period and I enjoyed several of the characters especially Frank himself and the accident prone Kit. It was unfortunate that I also liked the Sing ...more

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Jan 23, 2021 Dolors rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Music lovers

Shelves: read-in-2021

Music has always played an important role in my life. Memories of certain moments always go hand in hand with the books I was reading and the music that put a soundtrack to whatever was happening to me at the time.
That is the reason why I thought this novel would suit me. The idea of a lonely person in his forties who loves and respects music up to the point of going bankrupt to defend his ideals appealed to me.
Frank, the owner of a vinyl store, has the gift of healing people through music. Wit Music has always played an important role in my life. Memories of certain moments always go hand in hand with the books I was reading and the music that put a soundtrack to whatever was happening to me at the time.
That is the reason why I thought this novel would suit me. The idea of a lonely person in his forties who loves and respects music up to the point of going bankrupt to defend his ideals appealed to me.
Frank, the owner of a vinyl store, has the gift of healing people through music. With barely a glance to the casual passersby who wander into his shop without knowing what they expect to find, he produces the name of a song that solves their quandaries. Until the day a foreign woman called Ilse passes out in front of his shop and disrupts his uncomplicated life.

I was searching for a light, entertaining novel, a love story that would keep me awake at the wee hours, a story with well-developed characters that I would end up caring about, sort of what David Nichols always manages to do, but I am afraid I got lost somewhere along the way. Frank and Ilse weaved a path that sounded trodden to death by Hollywood movies and TV series, there was no quirky twist or humorous undertone to give a special flavor to their particular story, so I just swallowed it down like one does with a standard burger, not really savoring, or even enjoying it.

To be fair though, even if many of the quoted songs could be found in any “greatest hits of the 80s” collection, I did enjoy Joyce’s descriptions of certain pieces like Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” or Pérotin’s “Beata Viscera”. It also made me unbury some of my long forgotten playlists that have been keeping me company these past few days while I do the house chores, so I will save you all the aspects that disappointed me of this book and focus on the effect it had on me: it reminded me of the therapeutical qualities of music and what a terrible place this world would be without it. So keep the music on in your lives, no matter what! ...more

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Jun 29, 2019 Connie G rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, music, england, romance

This heartwarming story takes us back to 1988 when Frank owns a music shop that sells only vinyl records. He has a special gift in being able to select the perfect record that a person needs to help them at that point in their life. Frank's shop is located in a rundown building on an older street where the shopkeepers form a supportive, quirky community. A real estate company is interested in buying up the older buildings, and is pressuring people to sell.

Frank's life is changed when a mysteriou ...more

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Aug 28, 2017 Tucker rated it liked it · review of another edition

Rachel Joyce is a master at writing about ordinary people and their often hidden struggles, and celebrating their courage and resilience in the face of those struggles. In “The Music Shop” she once again writes about those “ordinary” people in a clear-eyed, unsentimental, and inspiring manner. The book focuses on a group of seemingly unremarkable people who have businesses on Unity Street. At the center of those shops and of the story itself is Frank and his music shop. Frank has an unusual and ...more

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Jan 10, 2018 Heather rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction

4 stars

Overall a very heartwarming, beautiful story about friendship, love & a neighborhood full of amazing shop owners. If your a big music fan, this book is for you.
The whole book centers around a vinyl record store and the owner loves music and often reflects on some of his favorite bands and memories associated with music.

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Feb 05, 2018 Sherri Thacker rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star-books-that-i-loved

The Music Shop is not just about a music shop - it’s a love story unlike any other. I was undecided whether to give this book 4 stars or 5 stars but when I got tears in my eyes at the end, that decided for me! A FABULOUS book!!

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Jul 30, 2017 Rachel Hall rated it did not like it · review of another edition

DNF at 50%

I won this novel courtesy of a Goodreads Giveaway and although my regular reading material is crime fiction, I am not averse to some of these whimsical novels with quirky characters and a sense of optimism that often make for a genuinely feel-good read. I loved both The Rosie Project and Effect, for example, but have never found myself drawn to the work of Rachel Joyce despite the many rave reviews I have read.

Sadly, I found The Music Shop to be so interminably slow that at 50% I had t DNF at 50%

I won this novel courtesy of a Goodreads Giveaway and although my regular reading material is crime fiction, I am not averse to some of these whimsical novels with quirky characters and a sense of optimism that often make for a genuinely feel-good read. I loved both The Rosie Project and Effect, for example, but have never found myself drawn to the work of Rachel Joyce despite the many rave reviews I have read.

Sadly, I found The Music Shop to be so interminably slow that at 50% I had to put this novel down. Maybe as I reader of largely crime fiction and thrillers, I demand more action and momentum in a plot, but this was not so much as a meander as like wading through treacle. I won’t describe the plot as other readers, who I suspect will have enjoyed this more, will do so, but so very little happens and Rachel Joyce manages to drag it out to a soul destroying length. An entire one-hundred-pages is devoted to pondering on a woman with an accent and a green coat who faints outside of Frank’s music shop. Joyce begins her novel in 1988 and lonely Frank with his awkward and unusual upbringing is devoted to serving his customers and giving them the music they need in order to solve their many dilemmas in life. Frank learnt all of his music knowledge through his non-conventional mother, Peg, and there is a huge amount of repetition in this novel as first Joyce shows Frank learning from Peg, before Frank then goes on to deliver the same lesson to a customer.

I think the most irritating aspect of Joyce’s writing is that she is so acutely aware that she has captured the niche end of charming contemporary fiction that she deliberately serves up awkward characters with common problems with the intention that there will be something within the pages that strikes a chord with every reader. The problem with doing this, however, is that it entails contrived characterisations and necessitates an overload of saccharine sweet schmaltz to complete the setup.

The literary equivalent of pulling teeth. I shall not be reading anymore of Rachel Joyce’s work although I have no quibbles about her writing, just the genre. On a positive note (!), I did learn some very interesting facts about classical music and I suspect if I had continued to the end, I would have learnt about the more modern classics too. Clearly the background of this novel has been well-researched.
...more

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Jul 26, 2017 Brenda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-release, arc, net-galley, contemporary-fiction, own-read, read-on-kindle

Frank was wandering with no particular purpose in mind when he saw the abandoned old shop with the for sale sign in front. He knew without a shadow of doubt that this was what he wanted – a quiet street, other small shops around – the shop was a mess, and Frank wasn’t that handy. But it wasn’t long before Frank’s music shop was filled with records; vinyl only – no tapes or CDs (trashy stuff!) – his records had customers coming to his door. Frank found them the music they needed, much to their as ...more

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Nov 24, 2017 Celia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: first-to-read, 2017-read

I am a sucker for books about music. And music as therapy: even more so. (Did you know you can obtain a college degree in music therapy? Well, you can).

So… about The Music Shop

There is a music store on a dead end street in England somewhere owned by Frank. “Frank could not play music, he could not read a score, he had no practical knowledge whatsoever, but when he sat in front of a customer and truly listened, he heard a kind of song. And that’s how he helped people.”

Frank not only helps strang ...more

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Jun 08, 2017 Michael rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: best-of-2017, five-star-books

Ever since Harold Fry went on a walk across the UK in Rachel Joyce's 2012 debut novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, I like many readers the world over have been enthralled by the author's ability to represent ordinary people with grace and dignity.

This is something that continues in what is Rachel's fourth novel. Set in the late 80's in recession hit England, Frank runs a record store. Not only does he have a love for vinyl and will staunchly resist pressure from record companies that w Ever since Harold Fry went on a walk across the UK in Rachel Joyce's 2012 debut novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, I like many readers the world over have been enthralled by the author's ability to represent ordinary people with grace and dignity.

This is something that continues in what is Rachel's fourth novel. Set in the late 80's in recession hit England, Frank runs a record store. Not only does he have a love for vinyl and will staunchly resist pressure from record companies that want him to stock the new in thing "CD's", but he also has the uncanny ability to find a customer exactly the tunes they need to cure their blues.

Frank also fits in perfectly with the shop owners of Unity Street, who are a motley bunch of disenfranchised souls. There is the Tattooist Maud, Religious paraphernalia seller Father Anthony, Baker Mr Novak, funeral parlour owners the Williams brothers and Frank's hapless assistant Kit. Together they are a family that although have all faced adversity, thanks to Frank are happy.

Time though, they are a changing with Unity Street under threat. A local development company has their eyes on the land and wants to demolish all the shops and homes and put up new housing. The shop owners themselves face a battle to maintain customers and are starting to look favorably at the incentives the developer is offering them.

Amongst all this chaos along will come into Frank and the rest of the Unity Street communities lives a mysterious German woman in a green coat, who faints outside Frank’s shop. Ilse will slowly make her mark on the residents and Frank in particular as her presence will force him to embrace his past, even if it is to his detriment.

At the heart of this beautiful novel is the themes of people, community, and music. With musical stories that range from Vivaldi to Aretha Franklin and the Sex Pistols, it is not hard to be swept up in the exquisitiveness of a story that at its purest is a love story that celebrates the silence between words.

...more

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Jan 17, 2018 Jennifer Blankfein rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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I picked up The Music Shop at the perfect time! So enjoyable, I laughed - I cried- it touched me.... review to come! ...more

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Nov 09, 2017 Fictionophile rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: random-house, general-fiction, favorites, netgalley-read

A heartwarming novel that makes you smile while reading it.

"He was perfectly fine with emotions,
so long as they belonged to other people."

We meet Frank, a gentle bear of a man. Forty and single, his unorthodox upbringing has made him LOVE music, fear intimacy, and know how to listen. He is very patient, and he has boundless empathy. His late mother, Peg, left her house and all her estate to strangers. To Frank, she bequeathed her extensive record collection and her Dansette Major record player.

" ...more

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Dec 17, 2017 Karen R rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I highly recommend this quirky and charming book, especially for music lovers. Within the bigger picture is a love letter to music masters that will touch your heart.

It is 1988 and Frank’s world is changing. He is the owner of a dying vinyl record store located on a run-down street soon to be demolished in the name of ‘progress’. The music world is also changing but Frank is digging in his heals, refusing to move on to the new craze of cds and cassette tapes. I loved Frank’s steadfast dedication ...more

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Dec 14, 2017 Malina Skrobosinski rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, highly-recommend

"Bon appetit"

I devoured this enchanting tale created by Rachel Joyce. It was captivating, enlightening, moving, and even exasperating at times. It's not the kind of novel that is overly gratifying... at least not at first... that's where the exasperation comes in, but in the end, I found it to be very rewarding.

Meet Frank... Frank is a 40 year old single man that owns a music shop. "I'm going to help people find music." Frank could not play music, he could not read a score, he had no practi "Bon appetit"

I devoured this enchanting tale created by Rachel Joyce. It was captivating, enlightening, moving, and even exasperating at times. It's not the kind of novel that is overly gratifying... at least not at first... that's where the exasperation comes in, but in the end, I found it to be very rewarding.

Meet Frank... Frank is a 40 year old single man that owns a music shop. "I'm going to help people find music." Frank could not play music, he could not read a score, he had no practical knowledge whatsoever, but when he sat in front of a customer and truly listened, he heard a kind of song. Frank was committed to music, but love... that was something he was never going to consider again. "I'm done with all that. My shop is all I need." Yes, Frank was content with spending the rest of his days in his music shop selling vinyl records and helping people find music. Only fate had other things in store for him... times were changing. Vinyl was no longer being sought after, CD's have become the new way to listen to music. Music reps are encouraging Frank that if he wants to make it in the business, he's got to sell CD's, but Frank's not budging. As if this wasn't enough frustration for Frank, a mysterious German woman faints in front of his shop, leaving him and everyone in the community stunned. She returns later to thank Frank for helping her, and it's then that Frank realizes that he can't "hear" this woman... she has no song, she's completely silent to him. Silence was where the magic happened.

The story between Frank and Ilse Brauchmann is so unconventional... it's really like nothing else. It's not a classic love tale that you would hope for. It's complicated... but isn't all love? What's so great about this story is that they come together through a love of music. Only they're both broken and with each others help, they find a way through. The cure is in the disease.

I really enjoyed the character development in this novel despite the fact that many of the characters were not given very robust roles or titles in the novel. The overall sense of the community on Unity Street really makes the novel come alive with warmth and... well... unity. There was something unique about each character, I enjoyed Maud's feisty and snappy dialogue. Kit, and his clumsy, can't do anything right, but always wanting to get it right attitude. The waitress... such a simple character in the novel, but yet she added so much in those chapters I felt. Those are just to name a few, but the community really does come alive.

I'm going to have to check out some of Rachel Joyce's other work. This was such a fun and quick read. I realize it probably won't be for everyone, but if you love music and enjoy a simple (okay, maybe not so simple) love story, then I say give it a chance.

I'd like to thank NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Rachel Joyce for allowing me the chance to read this novel in exchange for my review. I really, really enjoyed it! ...more

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Jan 17, 2018 Julie Durnell rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: england-uk

Rachel Joyce's books are so well written for "modern novels". I enjoyed this slow romance between Frank and Ilse and music of all genres. There is even a playlist on Spotify to accompany the story's musical threads! ...more

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Oct 14, 2017 Suad Shamma rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: own, 2017

I'm really disappointed with this one. It had such great potential, and it started off really well too, but as the story went on...it seemed like it was going nowhere. The twists and turns were not exciting. The characters never developed past your first impression. There was no depth, no great reveal, no climax. I wanted to love it so much, but I just couldn't. I wanted it to play out like one of those amazing musical pieces that Frank would sit and describe to Ilse Brauchmann, starting out qui I'm really disappointed with this one. It had such great potential, and it started off really well too, but as the story went on...it seemed like it was going nowhere. The twists and turns were not exciting. The characters never developed past your first impression. There was no depth, no great reveal, no climax. I wanted to love it so much, but I just couldn't. I wanted it to play out like one of those amazing musical pieces that Frank would sit and describe to Ilse Brauchmann, starting out quiet and slow, then picking up the pace, then reaching that shattering crescendo until we're back to a peaceful lull trailing off into the distance. There was none of that.

Frank, a music shop owner, who only sells vinyl and nothing else, has a gift. He can heal people with music. How? We never find out, and perhaps we don't need to find out. It's just one of those things. He can 'listen' to people and know exactly what piece of music they need to listen to in order to heal them. Something like that.

The story keeps going back and forth between present time and the past in which we meet Frank's mom, Peg, who insists he call her by her first name and has zero maternal instincts. She teaches him everything there is to know about music, and nurtures his love for vinyls. Now, we come to understand that something terrible happened to Frank and he's decided to never love again because of it. We never seem to understand what that thing was? His mom is a constant topic that crops up, making me assume that perhaps his mom's passing is what broke him? That makes no sense to me though, because all he's ever wanted was to be separated from his mom in order to have a "normal" life. Yes, they were close. But so close that he was never able to love anyone else ever again? I never got that sense from the story.

We never understand when this "gift" of his started though. When did he find out that he had this special skill of listening to people and hearing their pain and struggles? Who was the first person he experienced it with? So many gaps, so many loopholes.

So he meets Ilse Brauchmann who passes out in front of his store, and then runs away. She keeps coming back though. He keeps warding her off, knowing she's going to be trouble for him. They can't seem to stay apart though, and when she asks him for music lessons, he agrees. So their music sessions begin in which he teaches her everything he knows about different types of music. Those parts of the story were interesting.

As a backdrop to this story, is the story of all the other business owners on the street, who are being pushed out of their homes for a new development to take their place. Frank, who is basically going bankrupt, is fighting for them to remain where they are. One night though, everything that means anything to him comes crashing down.

And then we skip 20 years into the future.
What?

That's when things REALLY started getting silly for me. I almost wanted to stop reading at that point, but I made myself go on, and I wish I hadn't. Very cheesy and silly ending to an already disappointing story.

It is nothing like her previous books. Books that really delve into the characters' lives, develop them and create profound connections, with insane twists and turns, and make us root for them and care for them and really take us out of our comfort zones. Nope. Nothing like that. ...more

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Sep 05, 2017 Marianne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

“He played the whole record, side one and then side two. As he listened, Frank smoked and danced in the cramped space behind his turntable, rolling his shoulders and swinging his hips – watching him, even Maud began to sway – while Kit did something that was possibly the funky chicken, but could equally be to do with his new shoes hurting his feet”

The Music Shop is the fourth full-length novel by best-selling British author, Rachel Joyce. Frank would only sell vinyl. It didn’t matter that this w “He played the whole record, side one and then side two. As he listened, Frank smoked and danced in the cramped space behind his turntable, rolling his shoulders and swinging his hips – watching him, even Maud began to sway – while Kit did something that was possibly the funky chicken, but could equally be to do with his new shoes hurting his feet”

The Music Shop is the fourth full-length novel by best-selling British author, Rachel Joyce. Frank would only sell vinyl. It didn’t matter that this was 1988, cassettes were still popular, CDs were the in thing; vinyl was what Frank knew and loved. The shop was in Unity Street, a dead-end street with a parade of run-down shops, a pub and houses opposite.

“Frank could not play music, he could not read a score, he had no practical knowledge whatsoever, but when he sat in front of a customer and truly listened, he heard a kind of song. He wasn’t talking a full-blown symphony. It would be a few notes; at most, a strain. And it didn’t happen all the time, only when he let go of being Frank and inhabited a space that was more in the middle. It had been this way ever since he could remember.” Frank had a talent for knowing what his customers needed.

Frank’s equilibrium (and that of his friends, the neighbouring shopkeepers, customers and residents) is upset when Ilse Brauchmann, newly arrived in the country, peers into his shop window. A developer seems intent on destroying this little corner of England and Frank galvanises the street into resisting, but is distracted from his campaign by the music lessons he has promised to give this strange but charismatic lady.

Joyce gives the reader a cast of quirky characters, some of whom definitely qualify as eccentric: the alcoholic (but dry) ex-priest who runs the religious gift shop; the teenaged assistant who bubbles with enthusiasm over every project; the bad-tempered tattooist; the hand-holding twin brothers running the funeral parlour; the grumpy waitress in the tea shop; and, of course, Frank, forty, single and living above his music shop, whose very unconventional mother had taught him about music: “…if you listen, the world changes. It’s like falling in love. Only no one gets hurt”

Joyce is wonderfully skilled at characters and their interactions, using vignettes to give their backgrounds and anecdotes to illustrate their social ineptitude, their awkward courtship, their miscommunications. There are plenty of wise words: “There is no guarantee that just because you are ready to go back and claim something, it will be there”, and there is, obviously, a lot of music, music of all genres, some of which is bound to arouse nostalgia.

For readers of a certain vintage, all sorts of memories will be invoked by this: “You ease the record from its cover. It’s years since you’ve held one but you do it without thinking. Slide your fingers inside the sleeve, careful not to touch the vinyl. Draw it out. Hear the rustle of paper. Balance it in the span of your palm, the outer rim on your thumb, the label on the tip of your middle finger. As it brushes your wrist, feel the soft static kiss of it. Smooth as liquorice and twice as shiny. Light spills over it like water. Breathe in the new smell.” Sweet and funny and moving.
...more

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Dec 28, 2017 Ron Charles rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romantic-comedies, novels-about-art

Cue up Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration” because Rachel Joyce has written a new novel, which means there’s a party goin’ on right here.

“The Music Shop” is an unabashedly sentimental tribute to the healing power of great songs, and Joyce is hip to greatness in any key. Her novel’s catalogue stretches from Bach to the Beach Boys, from Vivaldi to the Sex Pistols. Crank up the turntable and let these pages sing.

The story’s hero is “a gentle bear of a man” named Frank who owns a run-down music shop on ...more

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May 02, 2018 Jennifer Tam rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A truly amazing and beautiful and healing book for anyone who has ever felt like life wasn't going there way! And for this not very musical and sad to say not very into music reader, I felt like I was getting a beautifully orchestrated (see how I did that?😜) music through history course - and I won't give it away but I love that at the end (in the afterwords by the author) there's a nice little treat 😀

I am not a "this book should be made into a movie" person but this book SHOULD be made into a ...more

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About Rachel Joyce

Rachel Joyce

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Rachel Joyce has written over 20 original afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4, and major adaptations for both the Classic Series, Woman's Hour and also a TV drama adaptation for BBC 2. In 2007 she won the Tinniswood Award for best radio play. She moved to writing after a twenty-year career in theatre and television, performing leading roles for the RSC, the Royal National Theatre, The Royal Court, and ...more