Sally is an incredible
singer but she sings only in her wardrobe where nobody can hear her.
She'd rather join a nudist colony than sing in public.That is until she ventures to New York where a wild and heady summer of love and loss changes her forever. No longer able to hide in the shadows, Sally must return home to London to fulfill a promise she cannot break - to share her voice.
But just as she's about to embark on her new life, a beautiful man turns up on Sally's doorstep bearing a sheepish smile and a mysterious hand-written message.
How did he find her? Why is he here? Does he hold the truth to what happened back in New York? And, with him back on the scene, will she still have the courage to step into the spotlight?
Comment: I got interested in this book in early 2015 because it had been in some "best-of" list of 2014. It has been in the pile for a long time but it was the chosen title for September in my buddy-read experiment with friend H. Despite not being as magical as I hoped, it was nevertheless a great read.
In this story we meet Sally Howlett, a young woman from a small English town who has always loved opera and singing but after a terrible first experience in a stage as a child and the opinions of her parents, she decides she will keep her singing in the wardrobe, where she feels secure.
Her best friend is her cousin Fiona, who has her own insecurities but together they are a good team and as grown ups they join the arts together, Sally as a dressmaker for the Royal opera House and Fiona with the Royal Ballet.
Things change for Sally when she and her friends/co-workers participate in a small tour in America with their company. She didn't expect to fall in love so easily despite her self-esteem issues and she also didn't count on returning to England so devastated and in need to fulfill a promise, which is why she has to try to be an opera singer at last...
This is a first person narrative told by Sally and we get to click with her rather easily because of this but thankfully - unlike other 1st person books - Sally is a likable character and she makes this story very compelling and a page turner. At least, for me it was difficult to stop reading when necessary and I was always thinking I had to go back to her story.
In fact, this was sounding quite a wonderful read until a certain detail happened and I got disappointed. It didn't ruin the book, nor the amazing details I liked and why I got invested in the plot but I couldn't help thinking the drama content could have continued without it so... annoying it was.
I liked the idea of Sally being so afraid to sing in public she decides to overlook her talent and just be part of the opera world a different way. I did feel Sally was realistic because if it was me I would probably behave just like her. I think her fear of changing things and keeping up with normalcy was well done and fit her personality.
I also think the characters around her were all well placed: her parents, who acted as a steady but uncompromising voice of reason, her reckless cousin Fiona who was such a contrast to her, her friends who were in the right moment when they had to and, of course, Julian, her love interest in America who proved she could still be humble and quiet but a success and respected.
The biggest conflict comes from a badly perceived situation and that shapes the rest of Sally's attitude. The story is told back and forth between the current moment and her time in America and although I don't tend to like shifting times novels that much, this author's writing felt convincing for how this situation was developing.
Sally, as expected, goes on an emotional journey through her past and present and it's no surprise that she needs to understand whatever she does, she has to do it for herself and that includes be confident to accept her feelings for Julian. What annoyed me in the book was how the author made things happen so that after what happened in America and Julian comes to England to be part of Sally's life, they can't be together. It was so frustrating and I would have preferred a different reason for their conflict.
This is a very emotional story, there are certain situations that are quite touching, others I think were exaggerated or, maybe, they weren't presented in the best way.
I liked Sally's experience a lot, how she went to something she feared and still found positive things. Perhaps some scenes weren't played as well as they could and, to be honest, the end was what I hoped for but a few details in how things got there weren't to my personal liking. After so many things to solve, to go through, I also expected an even more romantic HEA, or with a detailed epilogue. The end, faced with the pace of the book as a whole, felt rushed.
Despite the things I'd change, I still think this was a great read. I'm now curious about the other books by the author and I will most likely try them in the future.
Grade: 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment