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Mix Tape

Jane Sanderson

3.98 · Rating details · 2,653 ratings · 370 reviews

‘A lovely novel, delicately drawn, with characters that really linger in the mind and memory. A clever and compelling blend of realism and idealism - I got really swept up in it.’ Laura Barnett, author of The Versions of Us

You never forget the one that got away. But what if ‘what could have been’ is yet to come?

Daniel was the first boy to make Alison a mix

...more

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Kindle Edition, 411 pages

Published January 23rd 2020 by Transworld Digital

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Apr 25, 2020 Richard rated it really liked it

Shelves: current-lit-uk

Daniel is a Sheffield lad, lifelong Sheffield Wednesday fan and very much into his music. We first meet him in 1978 at his mate’s Christmas party - packed terrace house, cheap booze and Blondie and Elvis Costello blaring from the stereo. He’s with his new girlfriend Alison, sixteen, to his eighteen - she takes her music seriously too, wants to go to uni and become a writer. Alison has a troubled home life which she doesn’t like to talk about. It’s their first proper date and their first proper r Daniel is a Sheffield lad, lifelong Sheffield Wednesday fan and very much into his music. We first meet him in 1978 at his mate’s Christmas party - packed terrace house, cheap booze and Blondie and Elvis Costello blaring from the stereo. He’s with his new girlfriend Alison, sixteen, to his eighteen - she takes her music seriously too, wants to go to uni and become a writer. Alison has a troubled home life which she doesn’t like to talk about. It’s their first proper date and their first proper relationship. They spend the night together under coats in the spare bedroom.
Thirty three years later Alison and Daniel live on different sides of the world. They have settled down, both have families, friends and successful careers. Daniel a music journalist, Alison an author.
By chance, Daniel stumbles on Alison’s name on social media. Unable to find the right words, he sends her a link to a song, a song that meant a lot to them both back in 1978 .......
Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson is a book about relationships, awkward moral dilemmas and music - about a first love, so intense that echoes reverberate up through the years and about how certain songs create little bridges of memory, taking us back to the past, to people and places, to aching sadness and euphoria.
The story switches back and forth in time and explores the excitement and pain of youth and the people we become in later life, looking back over our lives, worrying over ‘what ifs’ and missed opportunities.
Although the book is about a relationship the writing is never cringy, cloying or sentimental and the descriptions of 1978/79 Britain with its red brick terraces, pubs, chippies, footie, homing pigeons, shepherds pie and wonderful music are spot on.
The cultural references and ‘feel’ of the period are also authentic - I’m the same age as Daniel and experienced several shivers of recognition :)
The songs mentioned throughout are subtle and well chosen - there’s even a playlist on Spotify to accompany the novel which is a lovely touch.
Mix Tape is realistically written and very moving. Much recommended! ...more

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Sep 08, 2019 Paromjit rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, netgalley, romance, family-drama

Jane Sanderson's novel is a huge nostalgia fest of a read with its central theme of how fundamentally music connects us to other people and so effectively evokes an era, personal histories, and past memories as if they happened just yesterday. Mix Tape succeeds in bringing back my past, of how I too made mix tapes to share with close friends, and some of them also made their own particular mixes. This novel takes the reader back to the late 1970s and the music I adored back then. Those mix tapes Jane Sanderson's novel is a huge nostalgia fest of a read with its central theme of how fundamentally music connects us to other people and so effectively evokes an era, personal histories, and past memories as if they happened just yesterday. Mix Tape succeeds in bringing back my past, of how I too made mix tapes to share with close friends, and some of them also made their own particular mixes. This novel takes the reader back to the late 1970s and the music I adored back then. Those mix tapes quintessentially captured an essential essence of who I and my friends were, with our differently flavoured collections of music, taking us back to what we were experiencing then and the intense feelings and emotions, and I still have many of those tapes. It is not surprising that this book resonated in so many ways for me.

In the present, it is 2012, and middle aged music journalist, Daniel Lawrence and novelist, Alison Connor live respectively in Edinburgh and Adelaide, Australia. Each is married, with their separate families, then Daniel sends a song via Twitter to Ali that immediately immerses her back to their shared past as teenagers. In 1978 in Sheffield, Dan and Ali got together with their love of music, but Ali had secrets, trauma and tragedy that cause her to disappear completely from Dan's life. She goes on to move to Australia with her partner, Michael, whilst Dan settles with Katelin in the beautiful historical city of Edinburgh. However, both feel a sense of vague dissatisfaction and an air of something missing in the lives they are living, and neither has forgotten the other. In a narrative that moves from the past and the present, with Dan and Ali's love be reawakened? Will they survive a path littered with obstacles and challenges to find each other again, and what will it cost each of them?

Sanderson gives us a great sense of varied locations and time in this well written story of love, friendship, family, rape, alcoholism, being a parent, and the integral theme of the power of music, I found myself getting engaged with Dan and Ali and their life stories. There is some unevenness in the novel, and it did inspire occasional feelings of unease, but overall its a great read. Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC. ...more

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Aug 21, 2019 Ceecee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is the story of the love between Daniel Lawrence and Alison Connor who meet in Sheffield in 1978 aged 18 and 16 respectively and their later lives with their partners from 2012. They are united when they first get together by a love of music, in fact Dan goes on to be a music journalist. Alison leaves Sheffield suddenly a few months after meeting Dan, meets Michael in Spain and marries him, setting with him in Australia. She becomes a successful novelist. Dan meets Katelin in South America This is the story of the love between Daniel Lawrence and Alison Connor who meet in Sheffield in 1978 aged 18 and 16 respectively and their later lives with their partners from 2012. They are united when they first get together by a love of music, in fact Dan goes on to be a music journalist. Alison leaves Sheffield suddenly a few months after meeting Dan, meets Michael in Spain and marries him, setting with him in Australia. She becomes a successful novelist. Dan meets Katelin in South America and they settle in Edinburgh.

Initially this story did not grab me as I found the switches of time from 1978 to 2012 did not flow well in the first part of the book, it felt a bit ‘clunky’. However, this story is a bit of a slow burner and I feel it got better and better as it went along. I really like the music references- Elvis Costello, Blondie, Buzzcocks and Human League, a Sheffield band. In fact, I admit to rather fancying Phil Oakley 😂! Dan makes a mix tape of music for Alison, hence the title! I like the depiction of the ‘70’s period the good and the bad, this is much prejudice as one of the unpleasant characters Martin clearly demonstrates. One of the sections I like the most is when Alison and Dan go to Hillsborough to watch Sheffield Wednesday play Arsenal which is famous for the fans throwing snowballs at Pat Jennings (Arsenal and NI goalie- huge hands- one of very few goalies who score a goal!). This is a very vivid scene and well described. I think the ‘70’s scenes work better than the later ones but that could partly be due to my dislike of Michael, Ali’s husband. His character is well portrayed but he is very arrogant, partrician, snobbish and domineering and around him Ali is almost obedient and certainly concedes to most of his wishes.

The settings are really good too. I joined Dan walking through glorious Edinburgh and wished I was in the Cessna with Ali and her daughter as they flew over a stunningly beautiful Australia. The houseboats in Little Venice is a nice setting too.

There are some lovely characters and a special mention should go to Beatriz, Sheila and Dora in Australia who are so kind to Ali and Stella - Ali’s daughter. Alison’s brother Pete is also a really nice character who always put Alison first, party because their mother is an alcoholic. Dan’s father is a delightful character too who develops a lovely bond with Alison who shows interest in his passion for racing pigeons. In London, Lisa and Frank the two aging hippies who are so kind to Dan, are especially likeable.

Overall, a really good read. The love and bond between Dan /Alison and Alison/Pete is heart warming. There is a lump in the throat scene where Pete and Alison meet up again after many years apart. I like the theme as music does so much that is positive and can transport you to a different time, place and a younger you! It evokes moments, memories and unites people in a shared love of a genre or group.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC. ...more

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Nov 18, 2019 lazybookconqueror rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, 2020books, second-chance-romance

A wonderful and nostalgic experience of love, loss, fear & acceptance - all enveloped by music.

description

Dan and Alison's story is a difficult one. Separated in two timelines over 30 years apart we first meet them in the beautiful rock'n roll haze of the late 70's. In the basement of Kev's house, the impossibly beautiful and mysterious Alison captivates the cool and popular Dan. Their connection is undeniable, and this is written with such a gentle and careful style that it's inconceivable not to feel lik ...more

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Jan 18, 2020 Mark rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I loved the premise of this book, late 70’s/early 80’s and mix tapes ( you had to be there ) and Daniel and Alison ‘refinding’ each other after many years

In practice it was long, drawn out, repetitive and indulgent of their previous lives and I felt sorry for their now ( pretty decent, non horrifying ) life partners and families who suddenly are thrown into this pairs revisited teenage love!

I DID love the retro parts, the feel and atmosphere of that era was brilliantly voiced and the fact that D ...more

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Dec 04, 2019 Kristine rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Oh, this had potential, but I ended up severely disappointed. Some stars for a believable love story, real emotion and a lovely concept about communicating through songs.

BUT, this story had a massive deal breaker for me. There is always an acceptable and adult way of going about reconnecting and choosing your first love even after decades of living the rest of your life. Once Daniel and Alison made their decisions, I couldn't stay with this. I finished it, but I wasn't happy. The protagonists we ...more

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Apr 11, 2020 Beth rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-reads, nope, stand-alone, lgbtqa, mental-health, 2-stars

2 Stars

Trigger Warning: Alcohol Abuse, Attempted Suicide, Homophobia

O.W.L.S - Career Auror
Herbology - Book that starts with M

I don’t even know how this happened. It started off so well, I was honestly having so much fun going between past and present and learning about the lives of Daniel and Alison. I was thinking to myself this is going to be a 4 star read this is great and then disaster hit.

The basis of this book is following two different characters in the past and present and they are Alis ...more

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Aug 21, 2019 Jacqueline rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-arc, favourite-books-of-2019

I absolutely loved this one.

It's a second chance story at its heart, but not an easy path. I got the feels but it was challenging too.

Ali and Dan met as teenagers in late 1970s Sheffield then lose touch. Thirty years later they reconnect through their shared love of music. As times have changed, twitter and spotify have replaced the function of the custom mix tape, but its purpose still holds true.

It started a little slow, but it gradually grew into a beautifully poignant story. What I loved tho ...more

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Jan 14, 2021 Pekka rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I'm such a sucker for books like this. The minute I laid my eyes on Mix Tape in the shop, I knew I'd love it. Like Nick Hornby writes in The Polysyllabic Spree (about another excellent book, The Fortress of Solitude), "it wasn't just up my street; it was actually knocking on my front door and peering through the letterbox to see if I was in." And yes, I did love it! ...more

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Mar 20, 2020 Adele Shea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book actually made me cry at one point.
You can’t help but fall in love with Daniel and Allison. Childhood sweethearts, that lose each other through events out of their control.

Will they ever get together or will they always be “The One That Got Away”?

Brilliantly written by Jane Sanderson and so easy to read. 4.5*

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Jan 15, 2020 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-are, netgalley-reviews

I had been looking forward to reading Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson for a while before it finally came up in my schedule. I am of an age when mix tapes were common. I’d be listening to the radio on my boom box on a Sunday evening, a blank tape in the cassette deck, waiting for the Top 40 to start, with my fingers on the ‘play’ and ‘record’ buttons, poised to catch the opening bars of the whatever song I was hoping to record. We played mix tapes at parties, traded them among friends, and shyly gifte I had been looking forward to reading Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson for a while before it finally came up in my schedule. I am of an age when mix tapes were common. I’d be listening to the radio on my boom box on a Sunday evening, a blank tape in the cassette deck, waiting for the Top 40 to start, with my fingers on the ‘play’ and ‘record’ buttons, poised to catch the opening bars of the whatever song I was hoping to record. We played mix tapes at parties, traded them among friends, and shyly gifted them to our boyfriend/girlfriend. I still have two or three of those tapes, though I no longer have anything to play them on.

Moving between the past and the present, this is the story of Daniel and Alison, who meet as teens in Sheffield, England in 1978. Their romantic relationship is brief, but intense, ending abruptly when Alison is compelled to flee her harrowing home life. Alison’s journey eventually leads her to Australia, and in 2012 she is a bestselling novelist, married with two near-adult daughters, when Dan, a music journalist whose home base is in Scotland with his wife and college bound son, receives a tweet from an old friend directing him to the profile of @AliConnorWriter. When Dan finally reaches out to the woman who has haunted his dreams for decades, he does so with a music video that speaks to a seminal moment in their relationship, ‘Pump It Up’ - Elvis Costello and the Attractions, 1978.

“No words, no message. Only the song, speaking for itself.”

Mix Tape is unapologetically a love story, a tale of soulmates forcibly parted, and then reunited after a separation of thirty years.

Sanderson wonderfully captures the intensity of Daniel and Alison’s connection as teenagers. Dan, sweet and steady, is infatuated with the beautiful and enigmatic Alison. Alison, whose home life is chaotic and neglectful, basks in Dan’s admiration and returns his desire. When she leaves they are both devastated, aware they have lost something special.

When Dan and Ali reconnect decades later, they initially communicate only by trading songs via Twitter that remind them of their relationship, and then songs whose lyrics speak to their growing desires. I’m in my mid forties so I wasn’t particularly familiar with a fair amount of the music referenced in Mix Tape, and I found myself having to stop and search through YouTube on occasion to listen to the song to understand its significance. It’s a delightful idea though, a modern take on those not so subtle cassette mix tapes declaring love

Without sharing a word, despite all the time that has passed, the physical distance between them, and being married to other people, Dan and Alison rekindle the flame. Here is where Sanderson lost me a little, because while the idea of a love that cannot be denied is romantic, that it comes at the expense of others, even if neither of their spouses are particularly likeable, is uncomfortable for me. Still the inevitable reunion is epic, and to the author’s credit I wanted it to happen.

Mix Tape is unapologetically a love story, but it’s also about heartache, nostalgia, loss, forgiveness, and the music. While my feelings about it remain a little mixed, it has its charms.
...more

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Mar 27, 2020 Emma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this one - ok, it helped that some of the book is set in Sheffield, where I am from, but that withstanding, it is a great book. Most of the reviews explain the synopsis, so I will concentrate on how it made me feel... I cried with sadness and happiness throughout the book and really recommend it to those of a certain age who either made mix tapes, or had them made for them... those were the days!

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Aug 22, 2019 Paula White rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

4.5*

I could not put this book down. I found myself taking every opportunity to read it. I loved the way as a reader we got to see Alison and Dan’s lives in the present, how their relationships were. We got to know them today and with the flashbacks we get to know who they were. Their connection was strong and Alison had a very difficult upbringing and some horrible experiences but Dan was her safe place and then she disappeared on him.

Loved Dan - he was so strong and new what he wanted. Alison w ...more

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Sep 09, 2019 Michelle rated it liked it · review of another edition

I have mixed feelings about this book by Jane Harper. I loved the premise of the story with Allison and Dan and Dan instead of telling her of his feelings he makes Allison a mixtape to show her how he feels. Also, the relationship that she has with his parents, it was kind of sweet. Then twenty years later he sends links to songs that they once listened together was different to anything that I have read. They still had things in common.
Even though this book was written well. This book left me ...more

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Apr 13, 2020 Linda Harris rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Found this book soooooo long drawn out ,actually skimmed through it. Nothing new . Will they ,won't they ? Really didn't care by the end . . Read this for a change .... Think I'll stick to my thrillers 😆 ...more

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May 17, 2020 Tamsin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 2020

oh my gosh I got so many feels reading this book! It brought back so much nostalgia of the mix tape era of my youth (to be fair even today i'll make the modern day version of digital playlists)and is basically a story of a first love that ended suddenly and reignites many years later whilst our 2 main characters are on opposite sides of the world. Loved this so much I think i'll probably be rereading this again soon! ...more

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Jan 18, 2021 Dana A. O'Dea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I discovered this title on one of the many “Best Books of 2020”. I wasn’t familiar with it so I decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did. I only wish I had listened to the mix tape songs as I was reading the book.

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Feb 11, 2021 Kara McMillan rated it liked it · review of another edition

Meh, it was a fine read. It would have been better had I been drinking cocktails in the sun on holiday though.

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Jan 24, 2020 Bryony Indecisive Reader rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-books

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy of this book for review.

Okay, maybe I didn’t appreciate this book because I’m not from the right generation. I didn’t feel nostalgic for the music or the places or the way of living. But I don’t think this was the case at all.
I actually really enjoyed the past in the book: it was a vibrant and fleshed out grimey city, filled with the music of thousands of people. We, the reader, were fed glimpses of Sheffield in the 80s, between lives from Australia and Sc Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy of this book for review.

Okay, maybe I didn’t appreciate this book because I’m not from the right generation. I didn’t feel nostalgic for the music or the places or the way of living. But I don’t think this was the case at all.
I actually really enjoyed the past in the book: it was a vibrant and fleshed out grimey city, filled with the music of thousands of people. We, the reader, were fed glimpses of Sheffield in the 80s, between lives from Australia and Scotland 30 years later. It was this part of the story that I felt a connection to first. Sheffield in the past was filled with people good and bad, lives that were perfect and ones that were hidden.
The present was much less nuanced. (Admittedly, Australia was vibrant and descriptive, but it wasn’t nuanced.) Like any romance of missed opportunities, we are told to believe that where people are at the start is not their happy ending. They may be playing happy families in a marriage with children and a comfortable house, but we’re supposed to see the cracks. We’re meant to accept that half the couple is unhappy...
...and it doesn’t matter that the other half is happy.
I couldn’t get over the fact that we were meant to be okay that Ali and Dan broke up their happy relationships because they were “meant to be with each other”. It’s not the finding each other again that I had a problem with, it was the ruining everyone else’s happiness for the chance. Maybe I’m the romance grinch (in fact, I’m sure I’m the romance grinch), but I think one romance shouldn’t be at the cost of other people’s unhappiness.
I also couldn’t ignore the fact that we were being encouraged to forget the unhappiness because we were being told how not good the partners were. Michael (Ali’s husband) genuinely seemed good, just not good for Ali. He cares about her and their family, but he just does it a little forcefully. Yes, he’s stubborn at times and yes, he refuses to listen to her, but she also fails to communicate with him. Likewise with Katelin (Dan’s wife? partner?), she gets obsessive and doesn’t stop asking questions after Dan tells her he cheated on her, but that’s *because* he cheats on her; who wouldn’t be upset and want to know what they did wrong? And then we just gloss over their reactions, say, “yeah they won’t stop calling” and move on.
What I did like about this book were the relationships the characters had with others (that they weren’t married to). Or the relationships Ali had at least. They were rocky at times and filled with secrets and betrayal, but her relationships seemed genuine; I’m very glad she found her brother and met Dan’s father again at the end.
I also appreciated the music part of it. Whilst I didn’t feel nostalgia towards it, I could appreciate what it did and how it played a huge part in the identity of Ali and Dan. Maybe my listening experience would have been improved by listening to the songs whilst I read. ...more

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Feb 12, 2020 Lynn Brown rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I chose to read this book as the title was a blast from the past for me and reminded me of the many mix tapes I used to make. I wasn't really prepared for what I went on to read; thinking the book was going to be just a straightforward lighthearted retro look at the 1970s.

Alison was Daniel's girlfriend in Sheffield in the late 1970s - their ages were similar to my own, all the music they listened to was my music - apart from Daniel's favourite band the Comsat Angels who seem to have passed me by ...more

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May 21, 2020 Elizabeth rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, misc, 2020-releases-still-to-read

Book 21 of 2020 - Mix Tape (Contains some spoilers)

"There they go, at the beginning of it all, their younger selves, walking through the dark, winter streets of Sheffield: Daniel Lawrence and Alison Connor. He’s eighteen, she’s sixteen, it’s Saturday night and they’re heading together to Kev Carter’s Christmas party, and nothing much has been said since he met her from the bus, but each is achingly conscious of the other. Her hand in his feels too good to be only a hand, and his presence, by her

...more

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Dec 02, 2019 Michelle Claypot_Reads rated it really liked it · review of another edition

3.5-4 stars for me

This one was a slowburn with a lovely nostalgic feel to it. Do you ever forget your first love? What happened to them? Are they happy? These questions are answered with a phone message and a song link. The way the story was written with the musical references was a nice change of pace. I did have some issues with the flow of the book and enjoyed the "then" moments more than the "now". Overall it was a great read.

I received an arc of this book ...more

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Oct 25, 2019 Karen Barber rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an unexpectedly entertaining read.
Alison Connor has a pretty miserable life as a student in Sheffield. She finds herself a boyfriend, Dan Lawrence, and their shared love of music is just one thing they have in common.
Unfortunately Alison’s life is far from good, and on the day some of the worst things you could imagine happening take place she leaves Sheffield.
Years later she’s married, a successful author and living in Australia. Dan is a music journal ...more

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Aug 14, 2020 Bianca rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

I went into this expecting a light & fun Chick Lit, but was given so much more. It grabbed me at the outset with the premise of “what if your first love was the one that got away” plus the added nostalgia of mixed tapes and music’s ability to transport us back to a time and place. But top this all off with it being (partially) set in my home town of Adelaide, I was in!

You won’t find light-hearted romance and sentimentality though, Mix Tape traverses some tough subject matter of alcoholism, suici ...more

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Oct 08, 2020 Sara Eames rated it did not like it

Shelves: did-not-finish

Could not get into this at all - a pity because it has some good reviews.

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Feb 14, 2021 Nikki rated it liked it · review of another edition

Thought I was going to love this, but it wasn't for me.

There was a large emphasis on music, which I unfortunately didnt know. Also I didn't take to the main character. ...more

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May 02, 2020 Helen Costello rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 500-books-before-50, 2020-reads

Lovely read - not a light and fluffy as I imagined. Dan and Alison met as teenagers but lost touch - will they ever see each other again? They both have families, Dan now in Scotland and Alison in Adelaide.

This is a great look back at teenage love and how music was such an important part of our lives (mainly because Netflix didn’t exist then!)

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Jun 14, 2020 Kirstie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

Listened to this on audio and loved it. Helped that j love the Australian and the accent

Brilliant story of young love and how a split decision can send you a certain way

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Jan 02, 2020 Alison rated it really liked it

Shelves: angst-angst-angst, annoying-siblings, contemporary, arc, english, irritating-seniors, historical, over-40, second-chance-romance, 2020-read

Back in 1978 Daniel Lawrence and Alison Connor go on their first date, to Kev Carter's Christmas party. It's first love in Sheffield to the accompaniment of a fantastic soundtrack of music (Elvis Costello, Blondie, Jilted John).

Switch to present day 2012, Daniel is now Dan, living in Edinburgh with his partner Katelin, son Alex and dog, Dan is a music writer. Alison is now Ali, a writer, married with two daughters and living in Adelaide, Australia. Then Kev Carter sends Dan a tweet about Ali an Back in 1978 Daniel Lawrence and Alison Connor go on their first date, to Kev Carter's Christmas party. It's first love in Sheffield to the accompaniment of a fantastic soundtrack of music (Elvis Costello, Blondie, Jilted John).

Switch to present day 2012, Daniel is now Dan, living in Edinburgh with his partner Katelin, son Alex and dog, Dan is a music writer. Alison is now Ali, a writer, married with two daughters and living in Adelaide, Australia. Then Kev Carter sends Dan a tweet about Ali and all the memories come flooding back. But how do you reach out to your first true love after over 30 years? When words seem too trite why not send a link to a musical memory from your shared past, in this case Elvis Costello and The Attractions' 'Pump It Up'. Dan and Ali continue to send each other links to music that resonates with them, music from their shared past and music from a time when they were no longer together.

Told in two alternating timelines we see Daniel and Alison fall in love despite their differences in class: Alison and her older brother struggling to cope with an alcoholic mother while Daniel leads a charmed life with a cosy loving middle-class family. In the present day Dan deals with his partner's contempt for his profession and his best friend's infidelity, Ali deals with her youngest daughter's surprise pregnancy and her husband's arrogant belief that the family will do whatever he decrees.

What happens when Twitter gives two people a chance to reconnect, to look back at their past and to think about what might have been? Is the grass always greener on the other side? What caused them to separate so completely 30 years ago?

After reading this book all I really wanted was to download this playlist and play it over and over again, that's how invested I got into the characters and their musical love letters to each other across the world. I just loved taking this journey with Daniel/Dan and Alison/Ali, reliving the agony and ecstasy of first love and seeing the adults they became.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Bumped for release. ...more

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Jan 23, 2020 Grace J Reviewerlady rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Oh, I didn't know what I was letting myself in for with this book; it's one of those magical stories which leaves you feeling absolutely privileged to be let in to a secret!

Alison and Dan are first loves in their teenage years, but circumstances tear them apart. Dan was always into music, and made up a mix tape for Alison, the only thing she kept of his. Many years later, living separate lives on different continents Alison is contacted by Dan in the language he knows best - that of music. And a ...more

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Jane Sanderson

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Jane Sanderson was born in South Yorkshire in 1962. She studied English at Leicester University, then after graduating she became a journalist. After a series of jobs with local newspapers she joined the BBC where she worked as a producer for Radio 4, first on the World at One, and then on Woman's Hour. She lives with her husband, the Independent journalist and author Brian Viner, and their three ...more

Books by Jane Sanderson

The Brain Health Cookbook: Easy and Delicious for Weight Loss Fast, Healthy Living, Reset your Metabolism - Eat Clean, Stay Lean with Real Foods for Real Weight Loss

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33 Sweeping Multigenerational Family Dramas

Why not focus on some serious family drama? Not yours, of course, but a fictional family whose story you can follow through the generations of...

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“...he didn't know how lucky he was to have a family as this one; a family to get irritated with, to depend upon, to be loved by and to love. He took them for granted - my parents are right where I left them - but it was a lifetime's abundance of love that informed this casual complacency, the rock-solid security, the unshakable assumptions about the permanence of familial love and support.” — 0 likes

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Preview — Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson

Mix Tape

Get A Copy

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Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About Jane Sanderson

Books by Jane Sanderson

News & Interviews

Trivia About Mix Tape

Quotes from Mix Tape

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