Music Shop (Joyce) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Warmhearted, unusual and romantic, Rachel Joyce evokes the emotional power of your favorite record while underlining the importance of that forever-threatened little shop down a side street where music happens.… Joyce’s gift is in using simple language to convey profound observations on human nature.
Times (UK)


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.
Guardian (UK)


The Music Shop is an unabashedly sentimental tribute to the healing power of great songs, and Joyce is hip to greatness in any key.… [The novel] captures the sheer, transformative joy of romance—"a ballooning of happiness." Joyce’s understated humor … offers something like the pleasure of A. A. Milne for adults. She has a kind of sweetness that’s never saccharine, a kind of simplicity that’s never simplistic.… I wouldn’t change a single note. Rachel Joyce, if music be the food of love, write on!
Ron Charles - Washington Post


This lovely novel is as satisfying and enlightening as the music that suffuses its every page.
Boston Globe


Joyce has a knack for quickly sketching characters in a way that makes them stick.… This is a touching, sometimes funny book about surviving change, the power of music and the importance of having a community—wacky or not. As with all of Joyce’s books, it will surprise you.
Minneapolis Star Tribune


An unforgettable story of music, loss and hope. Fans of High Fidelity, meet your next quirky love story. Vinyl fans, hold on to your turntables—Joyce’s latest is a buoyant homage to the healing power of music well-played.
People
 

Magical.… Joyce has a winner in this deceptively simple love story.… Joyce’s odes to music … and the notion that the perfect song can transform one’s life make this novel a triumph.
Publishers Weekly


[Joyce] continues to enchant and break hearts with her lovable misfits trying to survive in a modern world determined to pass them by. Irresistible. —Beth Andersen, formerly with Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI
Library Journal


Whether on foot, as in her novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, or track by track, on this unlikely musical odyssey, Joyce excels in enveloping readers in epic journeys of lost connections and loving reunions
Booklist


Joyce sets up a charming cast of characters, and her spirals into the sonic landscapes of brilliant musicians are delightful, casting a vivid backdrop for the quietly desperate romance between Frank and Ilse. From nocturnes to punk, this musical romance is ripe for filming.
Kirkus Reviews