The Music Shop: A Novel

The Music Shop: A Novel
Rachel Joyce
Random House (January 2, 2018), 320 pages
Kindle edition $13.99, Amazon hardcover $18.36

This highly regarded novel is the story of Frank, owner of a music shop on a dead-end street in London. He only sells vinyl and refuses to even consider stocking CDs. Frank has an amazing ability to understand exactly which album a person needs to turn his or her life around. It might be classical, jazz, or rock, but he finds for them exactly what they need.

Frank’s shop is surrounded by a tattoo parlor run by a grumpy woman, a religious gift shop run by a former priest, and pair of undertakers. There is a rundown pub nearby. Then there is Kit, Frank’s inept shop assistant. Much of the book involves the interaction among these folks.

More important, however, is the interaction between Frank and Ilse, a mysterious woman recently arrived from Germany. What happens between the two of them is what moves this novel forward.

The Music Shop is a quirky book, but the characters are engaging and the plot takes some interesting twists.