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The Music Shop

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About this listen

Random House presents the unabridged downloadable audiobook edition of The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce, read by Steve Hartley.

From the author of the world-wide bestseller, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, a new novel about learning how to listen and how to feel; and about second chances and choosing to be brave despite the odds. Because in the end, music can save us all ...

1988. Frank owns a music shop. It is jam-packed with records of every speed, size and genre. Classical, jazz, punk – as long as it’s vinyl he sells it. Day after day Frank finds his customers the music they need.

Then into his life walks Ilse Brauchmann.

Ilse asks Frank to teach her about music. His instinct is to turn and run. And yet he is drawn to this strangely still, mysterious woman with her pea-green coat and her eyes as black as vinyl. But Ilse is not what she seems. And Frank has old wounds that threaten to re-open and a past he will never leave behind ...

 Contemporary Contemporary Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Feel-Good Heartfelt

Critic reviews

Rachel Joyce tells wonderful stories. In her hands, ordinary lives are given dignity and triumph. She is a champion of humanity, and The Music Shop is no exception. It is a joyous love song that pulses with hope and benevolence and laughter. (Sarah Winman, author of When God Was a Rabbit and Tin Man)

Her speciality is writing with empathy on the quirkier aspects of life...[The Music Shop] has the feel of a summer hit: warm-hearted, unusual and romantic, with a sense of hope pervading all manner of misfortunes...

Joyce's gift is in using simple language to convey profound observations on human nature.

(Will Hodgkinson)
The Music Shop is wonderful - a tender and moving love story which captures brilliantly the healing, redemptive power of music and its ability to console, empower and reassure. I adored it. (Laura Barnett, author of The Versions of Us)
Rachel Joyce hits all the right notes with her love letter to vinyl… This is the most beautiful ode to music, community and love, that overflows with charm and warmth. (Jane Craddock)

[Joyce] writes with unquestionable charm and and with her considerable heart never far from her sleeve.

Joyce's charm and good-heartedness remain undiminished, as does her ability to create a highly appealing, semi-magical world... and to make us root for her characters all the way.

(James Walton)
Rachel Joyce deploys all her trademark charm… on a journey of redemption, of confronting the demons from the past and of healing.
I love any novel by Rachel Joyce, whose The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was a huge success. Now she has created another Pied Piper of the heart in Frank, the proprietor of the music shop. Frank's individually chosen records can heal the soul - and this bewitching love story sings out the unique beauty of every human being, leaving you uplifted. (Bel Mooney)
A beautiful novel, a tonic for the soul and a complete joy to read. (Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep)
Nobody writes with quite that mixture of clear eyed humanity and downright authorial mischief that Rachel Joyce brings to The Music Shop (Patrick Gale)

The Music Shop tells us that our drum beats may well be different, but we can still dance to a harmonious and funky rhythm.

Rachel Joyce is a genius with words and full of soul. This is another uplifting and utterly heart-enlarging novel.

(Bel Mooney)
All stars
Most relevant
loved it from the first few minutes. beautiful characters, emotional plot lines and music. what more could you want?

emotional

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I got this book without much thinking as I am a music lover and generally enjoy reading about it and listening to it. But never have I imagined anything like this! With every piece of music mentioned I tried to recover the feelings it brought up for me and compared them to the author's narrative, many times it brought a smile on my face , sometimes sadness, always leaving me wanting to listen to it again.
The characters are so well drawn I felt I know them all by the end and could talk to them about my favourites. Story is so simple yet with so deeply described feelings of loneliness, abandonment, uncertainty and loss battling with hope, love, longing and happiness.
Wonderful to listen to the narrator's deep voice and humming here and there, I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook and will be coming back to it for times to come!

For all music lovers and good story lovers

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It is tempting to think this is a conventional love story but it is more than that. Imaginative & unexpected plot twists plus interesting protagonists. Might have benefited by further editing to shorten some of the chapters. If I were being pedantic I would say the narrator mispronounces some words and mixes up different accents - but he does convey the warmth and humanity of the author’s view, and is able to convey the different genders, ethnicities and quirks of the main characters. Recommended.

Unexpected & entertaining

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Characters that will live with you long after you’ve finished reading. Brilliantly narrated. A must.

Exquisitely written

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I enjoyed it very much . I will read another book of Rachel Joyce.
Good narrator.

Transported me to my teenage years in record shop

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