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Searching for Jimmy Page
The unraveling of eighteen-year-old Luna Kane’s haunted past begins in the winter of 1988, when her dying great-grandfather, a self-proclaimed faith healer, claims he hears phantom owls crying in the night. “Them owls, like music. Can you hear the music?” he implores her in his final moments, triggering Luna’s repressed memory of her dead mother’s obsession with Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin’s legendary guitar wizard. Desperate to learn the truth about her mother’s suicide, to tease fact from family lore in order to weave her own personal narrative, Luna embarks on a pilgrimage from her family’s farm in the pines of eastern North Carolina to England, to search for the man whose music her mother held sacred, Jimmy Page.
270 pages, Paperback
Published October 20, 2021
5 people are currently reading
2707 people want to read
About the author
Christy Alexander Hallberg
1 book62 followersChristy Alexander Hallberg is the author of the award-winning novel SEARCHING FOR JIMMY PAGE (2021, Livingston Press). She is also the host of the first and only podcast on rock novels, ROCK IS LIT.
Christy is a Teaching Professor of English at East Carolina University, where she earned her BS and MA in English. She received her MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from Goddard College. She serves as Senior Associate Editor for NORTH CAROLINA LITERARY REVIEW.
Christy's short fiction, creative nonfiction, book reviews, and interviews have appeared in many literary journals. Her flash story “Aperture” was chosen Story of the Month by FICTION SOUTHEAST for October 2020. The editors of the BEST SMALL FICTIONS anthology series chose it for inclusion in their 2021 issue.
Christy is a Teaching Professor of English at East Carolina University, where she earned her BS and MA in English. She received her MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from Goddard College. She serves as Senior Associate Editor for NORTH CAROLINA LITERARY REVIEW.
Christy's short fiction, creative nonfiction, book reviews, and interviews have appeared in many literary journals. Her flash story “Aperture” was chosen Story of the Month by FICTION SOUTHEAST for October 2020. The editors of the BEST SMALL FICTIONS anthology series chose it for inclusion in their 2021 issue.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 13, 2021
Honestly I picked this book up because of the title. Of course I wanted to read a book about Jimmy Page - only this isn't a biography or a non-fiction book like I assumed. It is a beautiful book about a young girl growing up in North Carolina. Here's the blurb:
"The unraveling of eighteen-year-old Luna Kane’s haunted past begins in the winter of 1988, when her dying great-grandfather, a self-proclaimed faith healer, claims he hears phantom owls crying in the night. “Them owls, like music. Can you hear the music?” he implores her in his final moments, triggering Luna’s repressed memory of her dead mother’s obsession with Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin’s legendary guitar wizard. Desperate to learn the truth about her mother’s suicide, to tease fact from family lore in order to weave her own personal narrative, Luna embarks on a pilgrimage from her family’s farm in the pines of eastern North Carolina to England, to search for the man whose music her mother held sacred, Jimmy Page."
Luna's an interesting character. She faced hardship and loss early in life and her journey to find the answers to her questions is fascinating. I loved her determination to reach her goal, regardless of what she finds and the lengths she went to achieve it. I liked the nostalgic feel to the story and the lyrical writing. I could feel the music while I read with references to the Led Zeppelin songs bringing back memories.
Thanks to Livingston Press at the University of West Alabama through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on October 20, 2021.
"The unraveling of eighteen-year-old Luna Kane’s haunted past begins in the winter of 1988, when her dying great-grandfather, a self-proclaimed faith healer, claims he hears phantom owls crying in the night. “Them owls, like music. Can you hear the music?” he implores her in his final moments, triggering Luna’s repressed memory of her dead mother’s obsession with Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin’s legendary guitar wizard. Desperate to learn the truth about her mother’s suicide, to tease fact from family lore in order to weave her own personal narrative, Luna embarks on a pilgrimage from her family’s farm in the pines of eastern North Carolina to England, to search for the man whose music her mother held sacred, Jimmy Page."
Luna's an interesting character. She faced hardship and loss early in life and her journey to find the answers to her questions is fascinating. I loved her determination to reach her goal, regardless of what she finds and the lengths she went to achieve it. I liked the nostalgic feel to the story and the lyrical writing. I could feel the music while I read with references to the Led Zeppelin songs bringing back memories.
Thanks to Livingston Press at the University of West Alabama through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on October 20, 2021.
April 10, 2022
It is obvious the author is a Led Zeppelin fan and knows her trivia. "Searching for Jimmy Page" by Christy Alexander Hallberg had potential but ultimately did feel like fan fiction.
The portrayal of Mr. Page’s late wife who passed away last year was in poor taste and insensitive.
The portrayal of Mr. Page’s late wife who passed away last year was in poor taste and insensitive.
February 21, 2023
In the epilogue when Luna is doing a book reading and Jimmy Page supposedly appears in the back of the book shop - that is what I think the author was hoping for in reality, to gain his attention by writing this book.
The first few chapters started strong but then the story lost its charm. Once Luna arrived in England, too many unbelievable coincidences occurred. Jimmy Page is judging a guitar talent contest and she just happens to get a VIP ticket? Then gets close enough to speak to him and hand him a letter? Even in 1988, that is a stretch to believe. She trespasses at Headley Grange and the benign homeowner just happens to let her, a complete stranger with dirty clothes and a Mohawk, into his home? When Luna receives a cease and desist letter from Jimmy Page’s attorney, I was almost happy since Luna had become so unlikeable at that point.
The promise of this novella could have been shored up by more professional editing and less use of a thesaurus. The book was published by a university press, so maybe this is only one step up from self-publication. I would have liked to read much more about Luna and her mother and less about Luna repeatedly getting drunk in England (including on whiskey stolen from Bonzo’s grave.) There was so much potential to be fleshed out in the relationship between Luna and Claudia, Claudia’s mental health, and Claudia’s obsession with Jimmy Page.
No it’s not fan fiction, but it’s only slightly above.
The first few chapters started strong but then the story lost its charm. Once Luna arrived in England, too many unbelievable coincidences occurred. Jimmy Page is judging a guitar talent contest and she just happens to get a VIP ticket? Then gets close enough to speak to him and hand him a letter? Even in 1988, that is a stretch to believe. She trespasses at Headley Grange and the benign homeowner just happens to let her, a complete stranger with dirty clothes and a Mohawk, into his home? When Luna receives a cease and desist letter from Jimmy Page’s attorney, I was almost happy since Luna had become so unlikeable at that point.
The promise of this novella could have been shored up by more professional editing and less use of a thesaurus. The book was published by a university press, so maybe this is only one step up from self-publication. I would have liked to read much more about Luna and her mother and less about Luna repeatedly getting drunk in England (including on whiskey stolen from Bonzo’s grave.) There was so much potential to be fleshed out in the relationship between Luna and Claudia, Claudia’s mental health, and Claudia’s obsession with Jimmy Page.
No it’s not fan fiction, but it’s only slightly above.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2021
I was given a digital arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Christy Alexander Hallberg and Livinsgston Press. This book will be published on October 20th 2021.
Set in Full River, North Carolina in the 1980s, Searching for Jimmy Page is the coming of age story of troubled teenager, Luna.
Luna’s mother, Claudia, committed suicide when Luna was still a child and Luna’s main memories of her revolve around a love of lavender incense and Led Zeppelin. She was convinced Jimmy Page was hiding messages to her in amongst the lyrics.
The author does a fantastic job of setting the scene and time in which Luna’s story takes place, weaving in mentions of Led Zeppelin songs and albums, tarot cards, magic mushrooms, tie dyed clothing, Formica tables and beanbag chairs to help you easily visualise the world she describes.
The other townspeople of Full River are religious and shocked by the fact Claudia committed the unforgivable sin of suicide. Luna has carried this societal prejudice towards her and her family alongside her bottled up grief, cutting herself and trying to cope with her feelings as best she can, eventually throwing herself into writing, which her mother had always said she was good at.
Luna discovers that Claudia attended a Led Zeppelin concert right around the time Luna was conceived and her friend Connie suggests that maybe Jimmy Page is Luna’s mystery father and that is why Claudia was so obsessed with him. Connie even thinks there is a resemblance. Luna has many questions she would like answered and embarks on a journey to London to find out the truth. She is dogged in her determination for answers and her need for closure. Through this experience she finds herself a family but it may not be quite what she was expecting.
Hallberg’s conversations between the teenage friends and between Luna and her grandmother and mother are believably realistic. Her lyrical prose is well-suited to her scene-building descriptive passages:
“The Full River Greyhound station is like every other small town bus station in America: cheap linoleum floors with scuff marks and gravel residue that crunches underfoot; crinkled potato chip bags stashed like footnotes under metal chairs, wads of gum stuck to the bottoms; dingy white walls, reminders of the days when travelers chain-smoked over Styrofoam cups of stale coffee while they waited for a bus to Anywhere But Here, the smell of Camels and Winstons lingering in the building’s brittle bones.”
Sometimes, however, I felt that the turn of phrase was too sophisticated for a teenager, albeit a budding writer who loves to read:
“I felt like an apostate come back to the fold, except the only divine inspiration I garnered derived from grandeur, not God—the ornate stained glass windows, coruscating in the feeble lamplight; the elegiac beauty of sepulchral chambers of kings and queens; Gothic arches, swooping upward like hands in prayer; Chaucer’s tomb and the stone slabs lodged in the floor of the Poets’ Corner memorializing writers I revered, and the sense of trepidation I felt at treading over them.”
I highly recommend this moving story to lovers of coming of age stories, troubled teens finding themselves despite complicated family situations, fans of Led Zeppelin music and ‘80s nostalgia.
Readers should be prepared for the following themes: suicide, teenage self-harm, cancer.
Set in Full River, North Carolina in the 1980s, Searching for Jimmy Page is the coming of age story of troubled teenager, Luna.
Luna’s mother, Claudia, committed suicide when Luna was still a child and Luna’s main memories of her revolve around a love of lavender incense and Led Zeppelin. She was convinced Jimmy Page was hiding messages to her in amongst the lyrics.
The author does a fantastic job of setting the scene and time in which Luna’s story takes place, weaving in mentions of Led Zeppelin songs and albums, tarot cards, magic mushrooms, tie dyed clothing, Formica tables and beanbag chairs to help you easily visualise the world she describes.
The other townspeople of Full River are religious and shocked by the fact Claudia committed the unforgivable sin of suicide. Luna has carried this societal prejudice towards her and her family alongside her bottled up grief, cutting herself and trying to cope with her feelings as best she can, eventually throwing herself into writing, which her mother had always said she was good at.
Luna discovers that Claudia attended a Led Zeppelin concert right around the time Luna was conceived and her friend Connie suggests that maybe Jimmy Page is Luna’s mystery father and that is why Claudia was so obsessed with him. Connie even thinks there is a resemblance. Luna has many questions she would like answered and embarks on a journey to London to find out the truth. She is dogged in her determination for answers and her need for closure. Through this experience she finds herself a family but it may not be quite what she was expecting.
Hallberg’s conversations between the teenage friends and between Luna and her grandmother and mother are believably realistic. Her lyrical prose is well-suited to her scene-building descriptive passages:
“The Full River Greyhound station is like every other small town bus station in America: cheap linoleum floors with scuff marks and gravel residue that crunches underfoot; crinkled potato chip bags stashed like footnotes under metal chairs, wads of gum stuck to the bottoms; dingy white walls, reminders of the days when travelers chain-smoked over Styrofoam cups of stale coffee while they waited for a bus to Anywhere But Here, the smell of Camels and Winstons lingering in the building’s brittle bones.”
Sometimes, however, I felt that the turn of phrase was too sophisticated for a teenager, albeit a budding writer who loves to read:
“I felt like an apostate come back to the fold, except the only divine inspiration I garnered derived from grandeur, not God—the ornate stained glass windows, coruscating in the feeble lamplight; the elegiac beauty of sepulchral chambers of kings and queens; Gothic arches, swooping upward like hands in prayer; Chaucer’s tomb and the stone slabs lodged in the floor of the Poets’ Corner memorializing writers I revered, and the sense of trepidation I felt at treading over them.”
I highly recommend this moving story to lovers of coming of age stories, troubled teens finding themselves despite complicated family situations, fans of Led Zeppelin music and ‘80s nostalgia.
Readers should be prepared for the following themes: suicide, teenage self-harm, cancer.
September 14, 2021
I won a copy of this Advance Reader Copy through Goodreads and when it arrived, I was happy to see that it came directly from the author! Also included were a bookmark and a delightful handwritten card from the author.
I'm going to preface this review with the following information about me: I'm not a Led Zeppelin fan. BUT I know who Jimmy Page is and I recognized the names of the songs sprinkled throughout the novel because Led Zeppelin is one of those bands whose music will never go away. And I wouldn't want it to because I do enjoy some of their music.
First of all, I felt like I was reading a piece of home. Any book that has the words "I swanny" (page 33 of my copy) gets a 1 star bonus just for that phrase. I know people who look at me funny when this falls from my lips. This was one of my grandmother's favorite colloquialism and I could see her saying it when I stumbled upon these words. You are a true southerner if you can use this word as it is intended.
Continuing: I enjoyed this novel and found it to be a fast paced read. The subject was interesting and held my attention. I thought the ending was one of those happy/sad endings that worked.
I'm definitely glad I won this book and hope good things for the author in the future.
I'm going to preface this review with the following information about me: I'm not a Led Zeppelin fan. BUT I know who Jimmy Page is and I recognized the names of the songs sprinkled throughout the novel because Led Zeppelin is one of those bands whose music will never go away. And I wouldn't want it to because I do enjoy some of their music.
First of all, I felt like I was reading a piece of home. Any book that has the words "I swanny" (page 33 of my copy) gets a 1 star bonus just for that phrase. I know people who look at me funny when this falls from my lips. This was one of my grandmother's favorite colloquialism and I could see her saying it when I stumbled upon these words. You are a true southerner if you can use this word as it is intended.
Continuing: I enjoyed this novel and found it to be a fast paced read. The subject was interesting and held my attention. I thought the ending was one of those happy/sad endings that worked.
I'm definitely glad I won this book and hope good things for the author in the future.
July 19, 2021
Our narrator Luna, wise beyond her 18 years, is indeed searching, not just for Jimmy Page. We have a story containing complicated family relationships and accompanying back stories, memories and dynamics. A hard-earned coming of age story for budding writer Luna as she grows and discovers what's most important to her.
Luna has an extensive vocabulary (remember, she's a budding writer!), whipping out thoughts like this: I imagined the devil and a cadre of sycophants dressed in ceremonial robes dancing around the tree to "Dazed and Confused" or "No Quarter," invoking tenebrous spirits, Jimmy Page ever vigilant from afar. The prose is quite beautiful and lyrical.
This is all told against a very realistic backdrop of an obsession with Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin. The title alone pulled me into this book and the author absolutely nails the various time periods, the looks, costumes, posters, the songs. Any misstep here would have taken any fan out of the story and this never happened. Hallberg really did her research.
My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
Luna has an extensive vocabulary (remember, she's a budding writer!), whipping out thoughts like this: I imagined the devil and a cadre of sycophants dressed in ceremonial robes dancing around the tree to "Dazed and Confused" or "No Quarter," invoking tenebrous spirits, Jimmy Page ever vigilant from afar. The prose is quite beautiful and lyrical.
This is all told against a very realistic backdrop of an obsession with Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin. The title alone pulled me into this book and the author absolutely nails the various time periods, the looks, costumes, posters, the songs. Any misstep here would have taken any fan out of the story and this never happened. Hallberg really did her research.
My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
July 14, 2021
Searching for Jimmy Page is a beautifully written book. It’s hard for me to describe how much I enjoyed reading the writing in this novel. It was poetic and lyrical, honest, at times bleak but still full of hope. I read it really fast as I was captivated by the plot. I loved the characters especially Luna who travels to London to find Jimmy page as the title suggests. It’s set in the 80s so there is a wonderful sense of nostalgia for 1980s London. You can almost hear the soundtrack to this book while reading it. If you are a led zeppelin fan you will adore it, if you are a literature fan you will love it. Trigger warnings include Cancer, Suicide,self harm, moderately explicit language.
September 8, 2021
I've learnt so much rock n' roll trivia because of this book that I must thank the author for making me curious enough to care about going on the internet to learn more about Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin and their contemporaries!
Christy Hallberg carefully crafts this tale about an 18-year-old trying to re-connect with her mother's past and hopefully finding her father. The novel an interesting blend of themes, where music & memories emerge as the most powerful elements.
You can read my full (and long) review at AbstractAF.in - https://abstractaf.in/searching-for-j...
Christy Hallberg carefully crafts this tale about an 18-year-old trying to re-connect with her mother's past and hopefully finding her father. The novel an interesting blend of themes, where music & memories emerge as the most powerful elements.
You can read my full (and long) review at AbstractAF.in - https://abstractaf.in/searching-for-j...
November 30, 2021
Review to come.
May 16, 2024
An engaging story novel wrapped as a memoir and coming of age story. Engaging atmosphere with well crafted characters. Takes a little while to get going, but had me reading for far longer sessions than normal because I enjoyed it so much. The final chapter, and the Coda chapter, worked very well. I look forward to reading more from this author.
March 19, 2022
It's easy to get absorbed in the suspense of Luna Kane's search in Christy Alexander Hallberg's novel SEARCHING FOR JIMMY PAGE. And the narrator Luna is so vividly drawn that her storytelling can easily eclipse the enormity of research Hallberg must have done in order to write this book. On a second read, I was much more able to admire the "rock trivia" and the details of Luna's traipse through London. Of course it's cliche to say there's something for everyone in a novel, but this book is a TOUR! From cover to cover the novelist deftly gives flesh to Luna's family history, her emotional trauma, and the momentum of her journey. The reader is given a clear and moving portrait of Luna's Appalachian family immediately in the first pages as she describes the death of her great-grandfather. Well into the middle chapters, Luna finally shares the private memory of her mother's suicide. Clearly this is an incredibly ambitious novel, balancing Luna's past with her forward momentum as she tries to unravel the secrets of her mother's life and her own legacy. When I started reading this novel the first time, I had no idea how Hallberg could possibly pull off her balancing act. She works narrative magic, stealthily putting us under the spell of music history. What a fabulous novel!
September 7, 2021
"Searching for Jimmy Page" is a beautifully written novel about a young girl's search for the truth. Luna is beset with confusing memories of her childhood, and begins an odyssey to discover the connection between her mother and Jimmy Page. Hallberg captures the magic and mysticism that surrounded Page and Led Zeppelin in the late 70's, while vividly painting a unique, endearing, coming-of-age story. Emotionally impactful and gripping from start to finish, I highly recommend this book!
September 23, 2023
Searching for Jimmy Page” is the first novel by author Christy Alexander Hallberg and I, for one, hope it will not be the last. This is a wonderful story that is part mystery, part family dynamics both past and present, part historical fiction, and a window into the world of music. It is one that should not be missed whether you are a Zeppelin fan or just a fan of excellent writing.
This is the story of 18-year-old Luna Kane and her emotional journey into the truth about her family’s past and her mother’s suicide. The book takes place during the 80’s and at the start, we meet Luna who is in her last year of high school and living in a small town in North Carolina with her grandmother. As her great-grandfather, a faith healer, is dying he asks Luna if she can “hear the music?” This, in turn, sparks memories in Luna of her mother’s obsession with Jimmy Page, the lead guitar player for Led Zeppelin. Luna’s mother suffered from severe depression and Luna remembers when her mother would have one of her bad periods, she would lock herself in a room and listen to the band’s music for days on end.
As more memories surface for Luna, she finds herself hearing in her head many conversations she had with her mother long ago as she tries to figure out what was truly bothering her mother and how it was tied to Jimmy Page. This time spent trying to understand her past and what happened leads Luna on a journey of self-discovery that goes from this small North Carolina town all the way to Europe in the hopes of finding some answers.
“Searching for Jimmy Page” is an amazing story that is incredibly well-written. Ms. Hallberg weaves the story together in such a perfect and, I must say, haunting way, and there is no chance that anyone, a fan of music or not, will not enjoy every single moment of the story. Luna is such an engaging character, and the author has made her very real to the readers. There is no way readers will not feel Luna’s pain and joy during her journey. This is a character who takes on a lot at a young age and alone, but it truly feels believable on every page, and I loved that part. In addition, the characters that do come into the story to support Luna on her journey are wonderful and such a perfect addition to the story and to Luna’s search for answers.
“Searching for Jimmy Page” by Christy Alexander Hallberg is a perfectly crafted novel, impressive for a first book, that I am sure will delight all readers. As we follow Luna and feel her heartbreak and her joy, we are taken on a riveting voyage into a different world, and it is one that is so well worth it. I would recommend this book to everyone and cannot wait to see what this new author has in store for us next time.
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Click to sSearching for Jimmy Page” is the first novel by author Christy Alexander Hallberg and I, for one, hope it will not be the last. This is a wonderful story that is part mystery, part family dynamics both past and present, part historical fiction, and a window into the world of music. It is one that should not be missed whether you are a Zeppelin fan or just a fan of excellent writing.
This is the story of 18-year-old Luna Kane and her emotional journey into the truth about her family’s past and her mother’s suicide. The book takes place during the 80’s and at the start, we meet Luna who is in her last year of high school and living in a small town in North Carolina with her grandmother. As her great-grandfather, a faith healer, is dying he asks Luna if she can “hear the music?” This, in turn, sparks memories in Luna of her mother’s obsession with Jimmy Page, the lead guitar player for Led Zeppelin. Luna’s mother suffered from severe depression and Luna remembers when her mother would have one of her bad periods, she would lock herself in a room and listen to the band’s music for days on end.
As more memories surface for Luna, she finds herself hearing in her head many conversations she had with her mother long ago as she tries to figure out what was truly bothering her mother and how it was tied to Jimmy Page. This time spent trying to understand her past and what happened leads Luna on a journey of self-discovery that goes from this small North Carolina town all the way to Europe in the hopes of finding some answers.
“Searching for Jimmy Page” is an amazing story that is incredibly well-written. Ms. Hallberg weaves the story together in such a perfect and, I must say, haunting way, and there is no chance that anyone, a fan of music or not, will not enjoy every single moment of the story. Luna is such an engaging character, and the author has made her very real to the readers. There is no way readers will not feel Luna’s pain and joy during her journey. This is a character who takes on a lot at a young age and alone, but it truly feels believable on every page, and I loved that part. In addition, the characters that do come into the story to support Luna on her journey are wonderful and such a perfect addition to the story and to Luna’s search for answers.
“Searching for Jimmy Page” by Christy Alexander Hallberg is a perfectly crafted novel, impressive for a first book, that I am sure will delight all readers. As we follow Luna and feel her heartbreak and her joy, we are taken on a riveting voyage into a different world, and it is one that is so well worth it. I would recommend this book to everyone and cannot wait to see what this new author has in store for us next time.
This is the story of 18-year-old Luna Kane and her emotional journey into the truth about her family’s past and her mother’s suicide. The book takes place during the 80’s and at the start, we meet Luna who is in her last year of high school and living in a small town in North Carolina with her grandmother. As her great-grandfather, a faith healer, is dying he asks Luna if she can “hear the music?” This, in turn, sparks memories in Luna of her mother’s obsession with Jimmy Page, the lead guitar player for Led Zeppelin. Luna’s mother suffered from severe depression and Luna remembers when her mother would have one of her bad periods, she would lock herself in a room and listen to the band’s music for days on end.
As more memories surface for Luna, she finds herself hearing in her head many conversations she had with her mother long ago as she tries to figure out what was truly bothering her mother and how it was tied to Jimmy Page. This time spent trying to understand her past and what happened leads Luna on a journey of self-discovery that goes from this small North Carolina town all the way to Europe in the hopes of finding some answers.
“Searching for Jimmy Page” is an amazing story that is incredibly well-written. Ms. Hallberg weaves the story together in such a perfect and, I must say, haunting way, and there is no chance that anyone, a fan of music or not, will not enjoy every single moment of the story. Luna is such an engaging character, and the author has made her very real to the readers. There is no way readers will not feel Luna’s pain and joy during her journey. This is a character who takes on a lot at a young age and alone, but it truly feels believable on every page, and I loved that part. In addition, the characters that do come into the story to support Luna on her journey are wonderful and such a perfect addition to the story and to Luna’s search for answers.
“Searching for Jimmy Page” by Christy Alexander Hallberg is a perfectly crafted novel, impressive for a first book, that I am sure will delight all readers. As we follow Luna and feel her heartbreak and her joy, we are taken on a riveting voyage into a different world, and it is one that is so well worth it. I would recommend this book to everyone and cannot wait to see what this new author has in store for us next time.
Share this:
Click to sSearching for Jimmy Page” is the first novel by author Christy Alexander Hallberg and I, for one, hope it will not be the last. This is a wonderful story that is part mystery, part family dynamics both past and present, part historical fiction, and a window into the world of music. It is one that should not be missed whether you are a Zeppelin fan or just a fan of excellent writing.
This is the story of 18-year-old Luna Kane and her emotional journey into the truth about her family’s past and her mother’s suicide. The book takes place during the 80’s and at the start, we meet Luna who is in her last year of high school and living in a small town in North Carolina with her grandmother. As her great-grandfather, a faith healer, is dying he asks Luna if she can “hear the music?” This, in turn, sparks memories in Luna of her mother’s obsession with Jimmy Page, the lead guitar player for Led Zeppelin. Luna’s mother suffered from severe depression and Luna remembers when her mother would have one of her bad periods, she would lock herself in a room and listen to the band’s music for days on end.
As more memories surface for Luna, she finds herself hearing in her head many conversations she had with her mother long ago as she tries to figure out what was truly bothering her mother and how it was tied to Jimmy Page. This time spent trying to understand her past and what happened leads Luna on a journey of self-discovery that goes from this small North Carolina town all the way to Europe in the hopes of finding some answers.
“Searching for Jimmy Page” is an amazing story that is incredibly well-written. Ms. Hallberg weaves the story together in such a perfect and, I must say, haunting way, and there is no chance that anyone, a fan of music or not, will not enjoy every single moment of the story. Luna is such an engaging character, and the author has made her very real to the readers. There is no way readers will not feel Luna’s pain and joy during her journey. This is a character who takes on a lot at a young age and alone, but it truly feels believable on every page, and I loved that part. In addition, the characters that do come into the story to support Luna on her journey are wonderful and such a perfect addition to the story and to Luna’s search for answers.
“Searching for Jimmy Page” by Christy Alexander Hallberg is a perfectly crafted novel, impressive for a first book, that I am sure will delight all readers. As we follow Luna and feel her heartbreak and her joy, we are taken on a riveting voyage into a different world, and it is one that is so well worth it. I would recommend this book to everyone and cannot wait to see what this new author has in store for us next time.
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September 6, 2021My blurb for this: “Searching for Jimmy Page is an intoxicating journey into the secret world that lies hidden inside certain songs, a place of illicit promises, shifting identities, and unlikely personal connections. Hallberg’s story unfolds with lyrical poise and thrums with the feral heart of the best rock and roll.”
September 22, 2021
In her debut novel, Searching for Jimmy Page, author Christy Alexander Hallberg immerses readers into a beautiful blend of memory and music. Jam along with Hallberg as she reminds readers of the power of music in our lives as seen through the life the main character, a young teen, caught up in the mystery of her own birth.
A well written novel and a good read!
A well written novel and a good read!
September 11, 2024
A Road I Loved Winding Down
Luna, a young girl uncertain of the identity of her father, is led to believe that her mother had an intimate relation with Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. Now a senior in high school, she decides that she must meet Jimmy Page to determine if this is true. Leaving her only friend and her ailing grandmother behind, she flies to London hoping to find him.
Searching for Jimmy Page is broken into segments based on Zep song titles. The first segment is Four Sticks. Luna is introduced to the song by her mother, Claudia. The song fits her to a T. A couple articles I read about this song describe it as 'trance like' and 'otherworldly', both qualities describing Claudia perfectly. A bit of a hippie and rebel, she insists that Luna call her by her name, and not mother.
When Luna claims that she is just like her, Claudia tells her to take it back. Claudia commits suicide, and Luna is left grieving. Her grandma and a well meaning aunt and uncle would prefer that she forget about her mother and the music she loved.
As the story progresses, Luna reopens her mind to both her mom, and the music. She meets people and experiments with things that until now have held no interest for her. Her voyage to London is at times humorous and at other times frustrating. She meets new friends along the way and learns that regardless of whether or not she meets Jimmy Page, there's someone more important for Luna to find. Herself.
Christy Alexander Hallberg weaves in a some lyrical references and Zep lore that really enhance the tale. At times, it feels as if it could have really happened. Despite the disclaimer on the title page, at one point I wasn't thinking very highly of Mr. Page. I found the ending very satisfying.
It must be difficult writing fiction with a living real life celebrity playing a prominent role in the plot of the story. Well done!!
Luna, a young girl uncertain of the identity of her father, is led to believe that her mother had an intimate relation with Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. Now a senior in high school, she decides that she must meet Jimmy Page to determine if this is true. Leaving her only friend and her ailing grandmother behind, she flies to London hoping to find him.
Searching for Jimmy Page is broken into segments based on Zep song titles. The first segment is Four Sticks. Luna is introduced to the song by her mother, Claudia. The song fits her to a T. A couple articles I read about this song describe it as 'trance like' and 'otherworldly', both qualities describing Claudia perfectly. A bit of a hippie and rebel, she insists that Luna call her by her name, and not mother.
When Luna claims that she is just like her, Claudia tells her to take it back. Claudia commits suicide, and Luna is left grieving. Her grandma and a well meaning aunt and uncle would prefer that she forget about her mother and the music she loved.
As the story progresses, Luna reopens her mind to both her mom, and the music. She meets people and experiments with things that until now have held no interest for her. Her voyage to London is at times humorous and at other times frustrating. She meets new friends along the way and learns that regardless of whether or not she meets Jimmy Page, there's someone more important for Luna to find. Herself.
Christy Alexander Hallberg weaves in a some lyrical references and Zep lore that really enhance the tale. At times, it feels as if it could have really happened. Despite the disclaimer on the title page, at one point I wasn't thinking very highly of Mr. Page. I found the ending very satisfying.
It must be difficult writing fiction with a living real life celebrity playing a prominent role in the plot of the story. Well done!!
June 11, 2024
Kind of a specialized 5 star where I loved this book due to a shared childhood obsession with Led Zeppelin and appreciation with how life can be viewed through that connection to the point of feeling like they are family, remembering the way the took the stage at Madison Square Garden, how that must have felt to be them or be in the crowd. On top of that this is yet another effective new way to write grief stories At times it felt like the Page arc was a distraction to the grief arc but o also think that’s part of the point, inherent to the structure.
November 15, 2022
I purchased this book for my husband. He's a huge Zep fan. Me? Honestly not so much. But I peeked, got hooked, and refused to turn it over until I had finished reading. Now he's reading it and loving it, and I'm left pondering the larger tale. Sure, the band... but not really. Part coming of age, part mystery, part historical fiction... certainly cross genre and beautifully written; the story is also slightly haunting in the best possible way. Highly recommended.
September 3, 2023
I was intrigued by the title of the book when I saw it in a journal. I loved this beautifully written book! In 1985, I also went to Windsor to look for Jimmy Page. I wrote an essay about how the music of Led Zeppelin, especially Physical Graffiti, saved my life after I was orphaned at age eighteen. Glad to know that I'm not the only woman who felt inspired to write due to Led Zeppelin.
November 26, 2022
Even the casual Led Zeppelin fan will love this novel, and the connections to North Carolina was a great touch.
November 1, 2021
I would rate this book at 4 1/2 stars out of 5
I did not know what to expect from this book when i first to read it but it did not take long to draw me in and find out what happens in the end like any good book should. Be forewarned there are some triggers in this book dealing with depression and suicide whether on purpose or by accident leave that up to you to decide. This take places in the 1980's around the senior year of high school for Luna Kane in a small town with her grandma and really only one friend, she has a lot to deal with and process first with her great- grandfather and the suicide of her mother who obsessed with Led Zeppelin and more so with Jimmy Page the bands well known lead guitarist. When Lunas mother would have one of her episodes she would lock herself in here room light candles and listen to Led Zeppelin music sometimes for days. Luna goes back and forth revisiting conversations that she had and time spent with her mother to try and discover what was troubling her mother and what the ties with Jimmy Page may have just been. This exploration eventually finds Luna on another search to find answers for herself in Europe. This book is haunting at times as Luna tries to find the answers and this is a really good book I do not think you will be disappointed. Thank you to Netgalley and Livingston Press for an ARC for a fair and honest review.
I did not know what to expect from this book when i first to read it but it did not take long to draw me in and find out what happens in the end like any good book should. Be forewarned there are some triggers in this book dealing with depression and suicide whether on purpose or by accident leave that up to you to decide. This take places in the 1980's around the senior year of high school for Luna Kane in a small town with her grandma and really only one friend, she has a lot to deal with and process first with her great- grandfather and the suicide of her mother who obsessed with Led Zeppelin and more so with Jimmy Page the bands well known lead guitarist. When Lunas mother would have one of her episodes she would lock herself in here room light candles and listen to Led Zeppelin music sometimes for days. Luna goes back and forth revisiting conversations that she had and time spent with her mother to try and discover what was troubling her mother and what the ties with Jimmy Page may have just been. This exploration eventually finds Luna on another search to find answers for herself in Europe. This book is haunting at times as Luna tries to find the answers and this is a really good book I do not think you will be disappointed. Thank you to Netgalley and Livingston Press for an ARC for a fair and honest review.
December 30, 2021
I’m a fan of music novels. Christy Alexander Hallberg’s Searching for Jimmy Page is a new favorite. To bring music alive via a silent, two-dimensional space isn’t an easy thing to do, but Hallberg does it well with this story. It’s fast-paced and palpable, and at the same time it’s dreamlike, ethereal. In this, the novel is itself like a Led Zeppelin song—or maybe like an album of previously unreleased Zeppelin tracks.
Luna Kane is a believable and engaging character, coming of age in a recognizable world that is fuller of pain than of joy, fuller of questions than of answers, and yet fuller of mystery than of misery. Hers is a world in which the living and the dead wield equal influence—or at least attempt to do so. It would be a lot for a young woman to navigate alone, but she receives significant support and grounding from Full River Connie and London Peter, both vivid characters.
Searching for Jimmy Page is a rewarding reading experience. I began it as a “car read,” a world I would enter when waiting here or there (a drive-thru, for example), but by the time Luna left Full River on the bus, I took the book from the car and was all in for the ride to the end.
Luna Kane is a believable and engaging character, coming of age in a recognizable world that is fuller of pain than of joy, fuller of questions than of answers, and yet fuller of mystery than of misery. Hers is a world in which the living and the dead wield equal influence—or at least attempt to do so. It would be a lot for a young woman to navigate alone, but she receives significant support and grounding from Full River Connie and London Peter, both vivid characters.
Searching for Jimmy Page is a rewarding reading experience. I began it as a “car read,” a world I would enter when waiting here or there (a drive-thru, for example), but by the time Luna left Full River on the bus, I took the book from the car and was all in for the ride to the end.
October 20, 2021
Searching for Jimmy Page is not fan fiction, though it is a must-read for Led Zeppelin fans. It's also a must-read for followers of literary fiction, a coming-of-age novel that is grounded in a real world but heeds omens and takes fanciful flights. It's a beautifully written book that doesn't quote Zeppelin lyrics but inhabits them, that takes its essential spirit from them, from owls that cry and rivers that run dry, and explores what it means to discover who you are after a long search full of painful questions and doubt. It is difficult to transcribe one art—visual or musical—into another, especially for a writer, who is always tempted merely to describe, but Christy Alexander Hallberg captures the spirit of the music that compels Luna Kane to search not just for her father but also the mother she lost much too young—the spirit of longing, of the unrequited, and of the need to leave that the lyrics of rock and country music nearly always express—here specifically the music of Led Zeppelin and Jimmy Page, in this haunting novel that is one of the most exciting small press books to be released this fall. I loved it.
January 20, 2022
Christy Alexander Hallberg’s Searching for Jimmy Page is the most propulsive work of fiction I have read in a long time, perhaps ever. The novel seizes you in the opening pages and doesn’t let go until the end. Luna Kane is the fatherless daughter of woman who has been obsessed all her life with Led Zeppelin, especially with the band’s famous founder, Jimmy Page. Claudia implies to Luna that Jimmy Page is Luna’s father from a tryst once when she met the band. After Claudia’s horrifying suicide in front of Luna, her obsession becomes Luna’s. Luna passionately believes that connecting with Jimmy Page will bring stability to her out-of-control life. Set in the mountains of Eastern North Carolina (steeped in the mountains) with travel to the UK, the compelling novel tracks Luna’s desperate quest to find the man who she’s convinced is her solution and salvation.
April 4, 2025
Music is a hard thing to write about, for some reason--for so many of us it's crucial to our daily lives, but how do you put sound into words? Christy Alexander Hallberg manages to create a very vivid and alive central character, Luna Kane, and then puts us so inside Luna's head that we can hear the music the way Luna does, and understand the ways that music helps Luna see the world.
I came into this a Zeppelin obsessive, I confess, but you don't need to be in order to understand Luna, and to eagerly follow her on her journey for answers.
I came into this a Zeppelin obsessive, I confess, but you don't need to be in order to understand Luna, and to eagerly follow her on her journey for answers.
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