“An unforgettable story of music, loss and hope. Fans of High Fidelity, meet your next quirky love story.”—PeopleNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE TIMES (UK) It is 1988. On a dead-end street in a run-down suburb there is a music shop that stands small and brightly lit, jam-packed with records of every kind. Like a beacon, the shop attracts the lonely, the sleepless, and the adrift; … attracts the lonely, the sleepless, and the adrift; Frank, the shop’s owner, has a way of connecting his customers with just the piece of music they need. Then, one day, into his shop comes a beautiful young woman, Ilse Brauchmann, who asks Frank to teach her about music. Terrified of real closeness, Frank feels compelled to turn and run, yet he is drawn to this strangely still, mysterious woman with eyes as black as vinyl. But Ilse is not what she seems, and Frank has old wounds that threaten to reopen, as well as a past it seems he will never leave behind. Can a man who is so in tune with other people’s needs be so incapable of connecting with the one person who might save him? The journey that these two quirky, wonderful characters make in order to overcome their emotional baggage speaks to the healing power of music—and love—in this poignant, ultimately joyful work of fiction.
Praise for The Music Shop
“Captures the sheer, transformative joy of romance.”—The Washington Post
“Love, friendship, and especially the healing powers of music all rise together into a triumphant crescendo. . . . This lovely novel is as satisfying and enlightening as the music that suffuses its every page.”—The Boston Globe
“Magnificent . . . If you love words, if you love music, if you love love, this [novel] will be without question one of the year’s best.”—BookPage (Top Pick in Fiction)
“Joyce has a knack for quickly sketching characters in a way that makes them stick. [The Music Shop] will surprise you.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Rachel Joyce has established a reputation for novels that celebrate the dignity and courage of ordinary people and the resilience of the human spirit. . . . But what really elevates The Music Shop is Joyce’s detailed knowledge of—and passion for—music.”—The Guardian
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What a charming and unique story! The prose is lovely, the characters imaginative and touching, and the setting of a vinyl-only record shop when CDs were taking over sets the stage for a story unlike any you’ve read!
Whether you love music or just love love, this is the book for you! There’s even a playlist for listening to all the wonderful pieces of music across genres that the main character provided for people, sort like a therapist might hand out a good idea for stress reduction. It was a good-hearted book. Highly recommended.
I didn’t finish this book, I got bored
The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce is a book that I bought from Book of the Month and then put off for FAR too long. I ended up deciding it would be an excellent idea to listen to this when I got sick after my second Covid shot, and while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this approach, it made for a very nice comfort read. I love music and I will listen to just about anything, so reading a book that involves a music shop and records is like a dream come true. There is a lot about the music, but this is also a story about overcoming adversity and learning to love again. There is a really sweet romance aspect that maybe I should have been expecting, but I wasn’t (ok there are secrets too), and reading this felt like wrapping a warm, cozy blanket around myself. I loved all of the quirky characters, but Frank was the one that had my heart. Even if he does in fact hate technology and refuse to acknowledge CDs.
As previously mentioned, I listened to the audiobook of The Music Shop and it was perfectly lovely that way. The narrator is Steven Hartley, and he makes for an excellent Frank while also doing justice to the other viewpoints as well. I think a female narrator would have been beneficial for this book, but be that as it may, I was very happy with Hartley. As run-down as Unity Street is, thanks to the music shop and the people on it, Joyce somehow made me wish I lived on that little dead-end street. I loved the imagery her writing brought to this story and the end had me smiling but I was also a puddle at the same time. The Music Shop is the perfect read for the music lovers out there, especially if you love vinyl, and it definitely made me want to read everything this author ever writes.
Her descriptions of how music FEELS are inspiring. I cannot only visualize her characters and the music shop but the musical pieces she describes.
The Music Shop, a quirky love story, was an unexpected delight! The characters were wonderful, including the unlikely hero and heroine—a shambling music geek and a mysterious shop visitor—along with several colorful sidekicks: an ex-priest, the doofus shop clerk and a tattoo artist. This unconventional romance pulled at my heartstrings with sweetness and tenderness, as the author intertwined music and healing to create an unpredictable, and yes, unconventional ending. As someone who doesn’t have a lot of time for reading until later at night, I would look forward all day to when I could settle in and get back to the story. I’m eager to read more of Rachel Joyce’s books!
I really liked this book a lot. It was inspirational and sad while at the same time quite uplifting. I did not want to put this book down. I would suggest this for any music lover out there but anyone can read this and enjoy and appreciate what is being written. I highly recommend it.
It was a slow start & took me a lot longer to get into it than most books. But once I did, boy oh boy! You’ll fall in love with the characters and feel like you’re really there, in the moment, with them.
I loved the setting of the book, the eccentric characters, and the whole story. Absolutely one of my newest favorite books.
Enjoyed this book.
The Music Shop is more than just a store; it is a community, where the shop owner is a musical matchmaker of sorts. Even if he just met you, he has an instinctive gift for knowing what kind of music will meet your needs. The book’s primary plot is the life story of shop owner Frank, with side stories about the individuals that make up the close-knit group of friends. The story weaves back and forth between Frank’s childhood with the bohemian mother who gave him his love of music but not enough love to himself, and the current time. It isn’t confusing, since the eras are well-delineated with chapters.
To me, the mark of a good fiction book is one in which you are emotionally invested with the characters. You hate them or love them, root for or against them, become frustrated or joyous with them, and sometimes want to shake some sense into them! This book certainly fits the bill.
There is a love story that is threaded throughout most of the book, with Ilse and Frank. The complication and irony are that Frank is a man who is much better at helping other people’s hearts to heal, than following the path that will make himself happy and whole. I won’t give away any spoilers, but the book is heartwrenching at times, and at others, I cried with joy.
I personally would have also enjoyed more examples of customers for whom Frank was a musical matchmaker, but still, I absolutely LOVE this book, and I would love to see a sequel, as well as a movie!
Such a lovely read. Rachel Joyce educates the music challenged by offering nuances of nostalgia in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus and Beethoven’s Fifth. Every music genre is mentioned as Frank “hears” what a customer’s heart needs at any given time. While raised by an unconventional mother, Peg instructs him in “feeling” music. This is a book I will keep and read again and again.
AMAZING!!
This is the best book I’ve read all year.
I snagged this audiobook in a two-for-one special on Audible a few months ago and finally got to it in my library. I’M SO GLAD I DID. I was hooked from the first few minutes. The deep, rumbling, sometimes honking voice of narrator Steven Hartley immediately animated this most endearing cast of characters: Frank, Maude, Saturday Kit, Father Antoni, and, of course, Ilse Brauchmann. Capturing the need for community, hope, and the embracing of vulnerability, this unlikeliest of love stories is a balm to the soul.
Read it. Just read it. You will laugh out loud. You will bite your lip and hang your head. And you will clasp this story to your heart.
A quirky but lovable main character who gets under your skin is at the heart of this charming love story. The author alternates the current day plot with reminiscences of his childhood and how his mother instilled a love of music in him. Together you have a most special book well worth a second read. I highly recommend listening to the music on YouTube as you read the book.
I couldn’t put this one down. Very original and captivating.
Quirky characters. Great story. Loved all the background info re music
What a wonderful, inspiring read! You fall in love with Frank and the motley crew of characters on his street, and cheer for them ALL the way. Highly recommend!
I absolutely enjoyed this book. Such a fresh look at themusic business when we went from records to cassettes to CD’s and back to vinyl again, a lovely simple romance and characters you fall in love with. I wanted all my friends to read it!
This was a charming book that really held my interest. I enjoy a well written book. This is a worthy and engaging book.