by Rachel Joyce
First published 2017
Frank owns a cramped record shop in 1988, stocked floor to ceiling with vinyl of every genre. He knows exactly what music each customer needs before they ask. Classical, jazz, punk records fill his world completely. Then Ilse Brauchmann walks through his door. She wears a pea-green coat and has eyes dark as the vinyl Frank sells. Ilse wants Frank to teach her about music. Every instinct tells Frank to refuse and run. Something about this quiet, mysterious woman unsettles him. Yet he finds himself drawn to her strange stillness. As Frank begins teaching Ilse, he discovers she harbors secrets. Her request awakens old wounds he thought buried forever. His own past threatens to surface, bringing pain he has spent years avoiding. Frank must choose between the safety of his solitary world and the risk of opening his heart again. Music connects them both, but it may also tear them apart.
Genres: fiction, romance, literary-fiction, contemporary, music
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-growth, found-family, second-chance
Setting: 1988
Period: 1980s
336 pages · Hardcover · Transworld Digital