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Diamond Star Halo
In the summer that claimed the lives of Elvis and Marc Bolan, a new star is born - and this is his story. A tale of fate, loss and rock 'n' roll, 'Diamond Star Halo' shows what happens when a family and a farm become the breeding ground for fame.
- GenresFiction
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
8 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
About the author
Tiffany Murray
11 books28 followersTiffany Murray was born in South West Sussex and grew up in Wales. Her first novel Happy Accidents and her second, Diamond Star Halo were both short-listed for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Award. Tiffany's writing has appeared in The Times, The Telegraph, The Independent and The Guardian. She is Senior Lecturer at The University of Glamorgan.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
August 27, 2011
When I was in my late teens I was fascinated by a place in Wales where all my favourite bands came to record their albums. Could this be? I wondered. A place in Wales that does something that’s actually exciting? It turned out that it was true. And it was called Rockfields Studios. I used to read in the NME about Oasis decamping there, or Cast, or the Bluetones, I heard stories about the Stone Roses driving round the lanes with no lights on because they had been sucked into the countryside almost into non-existence whilst trying to make The Second Coming. I read about the keyboardist of The Charlatans getting killed in a car crash there when, soon after, they would put out the amazing Tellin’ Stories. I was also aware that Queen were there once recording one of the best album ever made (in my opinion); A Night At The Opera. And The Libertines were there too. In fact, pretty much every big band you can think of have been there.
A few years later I drove past a little sign on a road whilst on the way to the Rolls of Monmouth that said “Rockfield Studios” and I thought, I am going to have to go and check that place out one day. But I didn’t. One day I will go there though, especially having just read Tiffany Murray’s “Diamond Star Halo.” The novel is set in the fictional Welsh recording studio of Rockfarm but perhaps it’s more that just a coincidence that Tiffany Murray grew up in Rockfield Studios. She brings a bucolic creative setting to life in the first part of the book, establishing the layout of the farm and the main characters who occur throughout the book, over several decades. The place itself acts as a basin-like character into which everything falls back.
The story is about a girl called Diamond Star Halo living her life at Rockfarm. It centres around her familial relationships, especially with her adopted brother Fred, who happens to be the son of a famous musician. Halo falls for Fred and the novel examines that heart-breaking separation that springs up in life when you wish it wouldn’t. As the novel progresses the characters come to life on the page and the plot swings between being lovely and sad. At it’s heart I think the book is about a person struggling to face the real world because the world her childhood gave her was so magical. I think if people thought hard about things they would ask themselves: why exactly am I doing what I’m doing when I used to be happy. Maybe that’s just me but I would love to still be out in the woods building dens and climbing trees. Anyway, back to the book. As the years go by the saga of the Llewelyn family unfolds and I found myself willing Halo to get together with Fred, even though they are brother and sister. Does it happen? Well you’ve to read it.
It’s a really quite beautiful book, this. When you read it the images will all be at sunset with midgies hanging in the air. And it keeps you tuning the pages. The last hundred or so pages are just excellent as the author refuses to cut away from the most painful of scenes. You’re there with the characters, going through their trials with them when lesser novels paper over the things that are hard to write.
A few years later I drove past a little sign on a road whilst on the way to the Rolls of Monmouth that said “Rockfield Studios” and I thought, I am going to have to go and check that place out one day. But I didn’t. One day I will go there though, especially having just read Tiffany Murray’s “Diamond Star Halo.” The novel is set in the fictional Welsh recording studio of Rockfarm but perhaps it’s more that just a coincidence that Tiffany Murray grew up in Rockfield Studios. She brings a bucolic creative setting to life in the first part of the book, establishing the layout of the farm and the main characters who occur throughout the book, over several decades. The place itself acts as a basin-like character into which everything falls back.
The story is about a girl called Diamond Star Halo living her life at Rockfarm. It centres around her familial relationships, especially with her adopted brother Fred, who happens to be the son of a famous musician. Halo falls for Fred and the novel examines that heart-breaking separation that springs up in life when you wish it wouldn’t. As the novel progresses the characters come to life on the page and the plot swings between being lovely and sad. At it’s heart I think the book is about a person struggling to face the real world because the world her childhood gave her was so magical. I think if people thought hard about things they would ask themselves: why exactly am I doing what I’m doing when I used to be happy. Maybe that’s just me but I would love to still be out in the woods building dens and climbing trees. Anyway, back to the book. As the years go by the saga of the Llewelyn family unfolds and I found myself willing Halo to get together with Fred, even though they are brother and sister. Does it happen? Well you’ve to read it.
It’s a really quite beautiful book, this. When you read it the images will all be at sunset with midgies hanging in the air. And it keeps you tuning the pages. The last hundred or so pages are just excellent as the author refuses to cut away from the most painful of scenes. You’re there with the characters, going through their trials with them when lesser novels paper over the things that are hard to write.
April 3, 2012
I loved this book......
I love music so it had me hooked straight away, the first couple of chapters i read with a silly grin on my face because i was already falling in love with the eccentric characters! the hippy vibe and the freedom, i loved that they prayed to God AND a bunch of dead rockstars =) "Dear God and Otis Redding"
I liked the way it was written, loved the colourful characters, the storyline and all the musical references....it made me want to live on Rockfarm! it made me laugh out loud and i shed a few tears too.
A lovely book and one i will probably be re-reading at some point =)
I love music so it had me hooked straight away, the first couple of chapters i read with a silly grin on my face because i was already falling in love with the eccentric characters! the hippy vibe and the freedom, i loved that they prayed to God AND a bunch of dead rockstars =) "Dear God and Otis Redding"
I liked the way it was written, loved the colourful characters, the storyline and all the musical references....it made me want to live on Rockfarm! it made me laugh out loud and i shed a few tears too.
A lovely book and one i will probably be re-reading at some point =)
April 4, 2010
A fantastic read, I didn't want it to end. I fell in love with Halo and Fred, and Dolly and Ivan, and their rock and roll world. Welsh magical realism and a beautiful love story, too. A beautiful consideration of the human condition. It is going to stay with me for a very long time.
August 11, 2021
A beautifully written story. The characters are colourful and unique. I loved this book.
August 12, 2025
Best book I’ve ever read! And by that I mean maybe not the best book ever written but it made me feel that it was the best book for my soul at the time that I read it, in fact I thought it was so good I messaged the author over fb about it and let her know what I thought and she was so damn nice!
September 9, 2013
This was a good read. I really liked some of the imagery and I found the setting of Rockfarm very inspiring. There is a good set of characters, each with a clear, defined personality, but some of the elements of magic realism grated on my nerves a little. (I don't hate magic realism, in general, I just didn't think it was developed very well, that's all.) The only criticism I have is that the book is narrated in the first person for the most part, and sometimes the narrator presents us with details that they couldn't possibly know. As there are some passages where the narration changes to 3rd person, it maybe would have been best to insert these details in those paragraphs. But perhaps this only really bothered me because I am currently paying special attention to different types of narrators. All in all, I probably wouldn't reread it a second time but I enjoyed my first read very much, with a strong preference for the first couple of parts in the book that chart Halo's childhood and teenage years.
June 2, 2013
I really loved the calm pace of Murray's narrative: told through the voice of Halo, a girl born on the edge of Wales and England and the edge of controversy in terms of music, her family's way of life, and her own emotions, we meet characters who are at once charming and unnerving. Rockfarm is its own moment in time; it has its own rules, its own cosmos and, as a reader, you are lucky to be let into this for just a peep, ten year at a time.
The first 'part' is the hardest read, where we meet all the characters that will be important, and learn about them - their odd ways, their quirks, their history. Part two has new fluidity and we are able to follow the gentle telling of a difficult story - a 'crazy love' that can never be...
The first 'part' is the hardest read, where we meet all the characters that will be important, and learn about them - their odd ways, their quirks, their history. Part two has new fluidity and we are able to follow the gentle telling of a difficult story - a 'crazy love' that can never be...
July 28, 2011
Anexcellent book, very well written. All the way through the book I wondered if I was enjoying it so much because it is an amazing story, or if it was because I could identify with the author; being Welsh, spending days when I was young in the same places as the author, remembering specific events and years. A very easy book to relate to, and does identify some of the events of the past 35 years (the deaths of Elvis and Princess Di, David Bowie gig in Finsbury Park). If you like music, enjoyed 'Cider with Rosie', then this is definitely a book you will enjoy.
March 22, 2014
This was a wonderful surprise. I wasn't expecting much because I picked it up as a cheap Kindle read knowing nothing about it, but I loved it.
Halo is a girl named after a line from Marc Bolan's Get It On, growing up with her brother, sister and a 'cuckoo in the nest' foster brother who has star quality, on a Welsh farm converted into a rock music recording studio. Since Tiffany Murray grew up at Rockfields studio herself, there's no end of convincing detail, but there's much more to it than that. It has great depth and I found it both funny and heartwrenching.
Halo is a girl named after a line from Marc Bolan's Get It On, growing up with her brother, sister and a 'cuckoo in the nest' foster brother who has star quality, on a Welsh farm converted into a rock music recording studio. Since Tiffany Murray grew up at Rockfields studio herself, there's no end of convincing detail, but there's much more to it than that. It has great depth and I found it both funny and heartwrenching.
January 20, 2012
Even though she borrowed elements from Wuthering Heights, Tiffany Murray wove them into the story with a modern twist, thus giving the novel a very refreshing tone. The surprising magical realism dose in it is very entertaining and so is the entire wacky Llewellyn family. Fred too is one crazy character who wrecks havoc, wrecks hearts and defends his unconventional love for his entire family in the most twisted way you can ever imagined! A must read!!!
April 14, 2013
A book really to my liking. You follow Diamand Star Halo - or just Halo or LoLo - as she grows up on a farm with a recording studio. Her life changes a lot when a young girl arrives, Jenny. She brings Fred Connor into her life, a boy who will play an important role.
This book is a pleasure to read. It tells the tale of a family, it tells the tale about love, life, making choices, making music - and the grandmother in the book reminded me a lot of my mum ;-)
Loved every page of it!
This book is a pleasure to read. It tells the tale of a family, it tells the tale about love, life, making choices, making music - and the grandmother in the book reminded me a lot of my mum ;-)
Loved every page of it!
June 15, 2012
Tiffany Murray has an excellent ear for storytelling language. I especially enjoyed the character of Nana, and the backstory of Halo's parents, which contains wonderful imagery, and is emotionally pitch-perfect. I wasn't particularly smitten with the turn of events (which I won't spoil here) late in the novel, but I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and look forward to Tiffany Murray's next offering!
February 4, 2013
This book was definitely unique and that is meant in the most positive of ways, I enjoyed the Quirky characters, and all of whom I grew to love. yes all of them. I was faced with unexpected plot twists, some of which I Still can't quite believe. this book was great, and one that I would willingly read again .
March 18, 2015
I liked the beginning the most when its set in the 70s, but didn't really enjoy the rest. I think there was maybe too much in here and Fred was a bit of a stereotype. The style of writing wasn't to my taste either. Feel a little sad as thought I was going to enjoy this one.
September 15, 2012
A beautifully written book about growing up in a world where music and love are the most important things.
May 5, 2013
I loved this book! Easy to read, no shitty-ness (I love a good story with no shitty-ness)
well realised characters,believable, just gorgeous.
well realised characters,believable, just gorgeous.
June 21, 2013
Why did I like this so much? Isn't it chick-lit?
Perhaps it's because it's set in Wales and I also had seen the road sign to Rockfield.
Perhaps it's because it's set in Wales and I also had seen the road sign to Rockfield.
June 24, 2013
This was a really strange book.....but I loved it!!
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January 11, 2023Über einen Zeitraum von dreißig Jahren erzählt Halo ihre Geschichte: von ihrem Leben auf der Rockfarm mit ihren Eltern, Geschwistern, und der exzentrischen Großmutter, von den Musikern, der bei ihnen ihre Songs aufnehmen und von ihrem jüngsten Bruder und seiner ungewöhnlichen Geschichte.
Man kann Halo beim Erwachsenwerden zusehen, während sie ihre Geschichte erzählt. Es beginnt mit einer Band aus Amerika, die ihnen ein besonderes Geschenk dalässt: einen kleinen Jungen. Er ist der Sohn der Leadsängerin, die an einer Überdosis gestorben ist. Er füllt die Lücke, die der Tod eines der älteren Brüder von Halo hinterlassen hat. Was genau passiert ist, habe ich erst im Lauf von Halos Erzählung erfahren. Je älter sie wird, desto mehr setzt sie sich mit ihrer Vergangenheit auseinander und erkennt Dinge, die sie so nicht gesehen hat, als sie jünger war.
Auch wenn die Geschichte vor kuriosen Begebenheiten nur so strotzt, hat das Buch auch nachdenkliche Untertöne. Halos Familie lebt ein ungewöhnliches Leben und wird von den Leuten im Dorf oft schief angesehen. Aber die Ereignisse der Vergangenheit haben sie geprägt. Trotzdem haben sie ein inniges Verhältnis, das auch über den Tod anhält.
Ein zauberhaftes Buch, das mich von der ersten bis zu letzten Seite berühren konnte.
Man kann Halo beim Erwachsenwerden zusehen, während sie ihre Geschichte erzählt. Es beginnt mit einer Band aus Amerika, die ihnen ein besonderes Geschenk dalässt: einen kleinen Jungen. Er ist der Sohn der Leadsängerin, die an einer Überdosis gestorben ist. Er füllt die Lücke, die der Tod eines der älteren Brüder von Halo hinterlassen hat. Was genau passiert ist, habe ich erst im Lauf von Halos Erzählung erfahren. Je älter sie wird, desto mehr setzt sie sich mit ihrer Vergangenheit auseinander und erkennt Dinge, die sie so nicht gesehen hat, als sie jünger war.
Auch wenn die Geschichte vor kuriosen Begebenheiten nur so strotzt, hat das Buch auch nachdenkliche Untertöne. Halos Familie lebt ein ungewöhnliches Leben und wird von den Leuten im Dorf oft schief angesehen. Aber die Ereignisse der Vergangenheit haben sie geprägt. Trotzdem haben sie ein inniges Verhältnis, das auch über den Tod anhält.
Ein zauberhaftes Buch, das mich von der ersten bis zu letzten Seite berühren konnte.
April 26, 2018
I’ve had this on my kindle for years and finally decided to give this a read! In short, it was a strange book but the storytelling was gripping and different from anything I had read before. I found myself reading “one more chapter” then another, and another! It’s very well written and you feel like you’re there at Rockfarm meeting all the musicians.
I liked the eccentricity of the characters and all the stories that came with them, like how Ivan and Dolly met. The songs were pretty cool too, though I feel I sing them in my head different to how they probably should be sung!
I liked the eccentricity of the characters and all the stories that came with them, like how Ivan and Dolly met. The songs were pretty cool too, though I feel I sing them in my head different to how they probably should be sung!
August 9, 2022
This book was very special to me, being a musician and someone who loves Wales. These are two important elements in this beautiful and touching book. But more important are the characters, who are so deftly drawn and realistic that you feel like you know them personally. The prose in the book is lyrical and the music references are spot on. I loved this book and did not want it to end.
October 13, 2016
A wonderful mix of Dodie Smith and Marilynne Robinson's characters, intensity, feelings and charisma will swept off his feet any reader, opening this book. Funny, yet profoundly sad, the story of family, love, passion, and music is written by a deeply feeling author, brave enough to dive into the murky waters of emotions, many prefer to not explore. The way words flow is beautiful, and it is an icing on the cake of this story.
March 4, 2010
On the cover theres a blurb from Mark Radcliffe(bbc dj)thats says "Cider with Rosie with an impeccable soundtrack" I'd say this was more A Rock'n'Roll, 'I Capture the Castle'.Like that book its got an eccentric family living in a remote country House, with a young narrator that grows up as the story moves along,and the arrival of some Americans changes everyones lives.This is a coming of age kind of book, with every conceivable rock reference thrown in, from the Johnny Cash worshipping Granny, to the familys prayer to all the dead Rock stars.But behind all the knowing references, theres a good story with an engaging narrator.
June 4, 2011
I liked the 'hippy' like atmosphere which could have been nauseating, but managed to stay funny and endearing. The book had me in tears at time, and I did love the quirky yet believable characters. Though by the end, the father's and Fred's wanderings were too much for me and lost a few stars as a result.
November 21, 2011
I had the pleasure of meeting Tiffany at the Hay Festival In Jalapa Vercruz this last October. It was great hearing her speak about the book, she spoke with such enthusiasm that I was thrilled that I was able to buy right then and there a copy of her book.
I enjoyed it immensely, that crazy Llewelyn family is so lovable, the rock and roll flows out of the book
I enjoyed it immensely, that crazy Llewelyn family is so lovable, the rock and roll flows out of the book
August 19, 2013
I enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected. It was very odd and felt quite dream-like, skipping through time and flashing back, filling in the blanks at random times, and there was some odd magical bits that I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to take to be true, or part of Halo's imagination. It doesn't matter though I suppose, it added to the fairytale aspect of it.
December 26, 2013
It's a weird story and it felt as though it took place in Texas, whereas it was actually Whales.
The beginning was tough to get through but after a while it got better and sweeter and wiser.
In hindsight, this was probably the intention of the writer, as it's a coming-of-age story the beginning was told in rather fast, unfocused way and got more mature to the end.
The beginning was tough to get through but after a while it got better and sweeter and wiser.
In hindsight, this was probably the intention of the writer, as it's a coming-of-age story the beginning was told in rather fast, unfocused way and got more mature to the end.
April 12, 2013
The story of how fragile life is. A lacklustre start gives way to a slight but intense story. Well written with off centre characters inhabiting the world of rural Wales and rock music.. Read and enjoy..
May 27, 2010
A nice book! Not normally my sort of thing but it was funny and sad and had such a light, Welsh lilt and melody to the language. Can see why it is up for Wodehouse Prize for comic writing.
April 16, 2011
This was a fun novel with vivid characters and a great soundtrack! Brilliant, really. I met the author at a conference, and she was fantastic -- I'd say it was a must-read!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews