Melodies & Memories
The Songs That Find Us by Andrea Darby is a beautiful contemporary novel that I never wanted to end.
The novel follows a family through an early dementia diagnosis. We ‘hear’ the action in the first person alternating between Dad Ed, Mum Lizzie and daughter Beck. Each one copes in different ways as the past catches up with the present.
There is power in music. “Music’s amazing… How it drops you right into a memory.” Music makes the years fall away, dropping us into a moment in time. Music helps people with brain injuries or impairments. Sufferers benefit from singing as we witness in the Melodies & Memories café sessions. Music lifts people beyond themselves. This resonates with me as my beautiful and dearly departed, Dad suffered a head trauma earlier this year. He could hardly string a sentence together but lay in his hospital bed singing, and with his fingers tapping out the melody on the table as if it were a keyboard.
Everyone in the family is struggling with something. Beck, as an adopted daughter wonders about finding her birth mum. She struggles with her father’s diagnosis. “What if one day I see Dad, like I have a million times before, and someone I don’t know looks back at me?” No one wants their dad to change. Beck is also dissatisfied with her life. She wants new ventures.
Ed has been hiding a secret for years. With his diagnosis, he brings it to light – and lives come crashing down as a result. He struggles with being molly coddled too.
Lizzie is protective of Ed, trying to help him. His big secret rocks the very foundations of their marriage. She is also grieving five miscarriages and a devastating diagnosis early in their marriage.
The Songs That Find Us is a novel that will sink into your soul. Many of the songs referenced will be familiar to the reader and evoke memories. Just the mention of Paper Roses (by Marie Osmond) sent me straight back to infant school where I walked around the playground with my best friend Linda, and we sang Paper Roses!
I can highly recommend this beautiful and heartfelt novel.
I received a free copy via Rachel’s Random Resources for a blog tour. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
JULIA WILSON
The Songs That Find Us
Lizzie thinks the difficult years are behind her.
She has a happy marriage, a career she loves, and a daughter beginning to find her place in the world. But when her husband Ed receives a devastating diagnosis, long-buried secrets surface – shattering everything Lizzie believes about their life together.
Now Ed is desperate to set things right before his memories slip away.
Meanwhile, their adopted daughter Beck is searching for answers of her own that could change the family forever.
After rediscovering her love of singing, Lizzie brings together a community where friendship, kindness and music forge unexpected connections — and perhaps a way back to one another.
Purchase Links
Author Bio –
Andrea Darby writes commercial women’s fiction with book club appeal, exploring emotionally engaging stories about family, relationships, resilience – and hope. Her stories are for readers who enjoy thought-provoking, uplifting novels with plenty to discuss. Andrea is a prize-winning journalist with more than 20 years’ experience as a writer and sub-editor on newspapers and magazines. Her articles have been published in regional and national titles, including Prima, Best, Take a Break, Prima Baby, Woman and Dogs Today. She plays several brass instruments, sings in a choir and teaches piano from her home in Gloucestershire – where she’s lucky to have very understanding neighbours. Ideas for writing often come while listening to music or walking Betty the cockapoo through muddy fields.
Book is called: The Husband Who Refused to Die.
Address: She lives in Alderton, near Winchcombe
Social Media Links –
Twitter – @ADarbyAuthor
Facebook – Andrea Darby author
Instagram @andreadarbyauthor
Website andreadarby.com
Giveaway to Win signed copy of The Songs That Find Us, luxury tea, luxury chocolate and William Morris pen (Open to UK Only)
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