The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce FIC Joy

When I finished this book the first word I thought of was quirky. A quirky story with quirky characters.  The story begins in 1988 in a little dead-end street in London. The area is home to a variety of little shops whose owners have bonded over the years as they try to survive.  The most unusual of the shops belongs to Frank - he sells vinyl records. No cassettes or CDs for him.  Frank has an unusual ability to talk someone and some how he knows what music they need to listen to.  Normally it is not a record that the person would ever listen to - and yet it makes a difference in their lives.

One day a very attractive woman comes into the store.  Strangely Frank cannot “read” her.  Her name is Ilse and she asks Frank to teach her about music.  He has never done anything like that but he is drawn to her and so it begins.  He knows fun facts and stories about many of the composers or artists but it is his ability to talk about the feelings of the music that make his gift special.   Frank has a lot of sadness in his soul and is wary of ever getting involved with someone but over and over again she draws him in.

I loved the book!  The descriptions of music made me want to listen to Beethoven or Aretha Franklin from a different perspective!

The Music Shop is an out-of-the-box book.  I highly recommend it if you love character books.

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