Scan barcode
horsley123's review against another edition
5.0
Cas Wheeler sets aside a day to listen to the songs that she made as a successful artist, each song bringing back memories of her life. She relives the trauma of her early years when her mother deserted her and her father, her father's retreat into grief and her discovery of music. Her failed marriage and the tragedy of her daughter's life cause her continued pain as she blames herself for her child's demise.
As Cas recalls her life she thinks of more recent events; how she has fallen in love but has pushed the man away, and she fears it is too late to reconcile. Listening to her music is a healing process and by the end of the process she seems ready to move on. As the reader I was willing her on to make the right move, and wishing her a happy ending. This brilliant book keeps up the suspense right to the end - a top read.
As Cas recalls her life she thinks of more recent events; how she has fallen in love but has pushed the man away, and she fears it is too late to reconcile. Listening to her music is a healing process and by the end of the process she seems ready to move on. As the reader I was willing her on to make the right move, and wishing her a happy ending. This brilliant book keeps up the suspense right to the end - a top read.
sianw1992's review against another edition
3.0
I absolutely adored The Versions of Us and was very much looking forward to Greatest Hits. It started off well but I struggled to like Cass and often found myself rolling my eyes when she made the same mistakes over and over again. There weren't many likeable characters and the book was one miserable event after another. However, it was well written and I enjoyed how the back would jump from present day to the past.
blondeturtle's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
burnsreadsbooks's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
suebarsby's review against another edition
5.0
Laura Barnett's The Versions of Us still sits on my TBR pile but I was interested in the idea of her second novel, especially when it was announced that Kathryn Williams would be providing an accompanying soundtrack.
Greatest Hits is the story of Cass Wheeler, a retired folk-pop singer-songwriter from the 1970s who takes a day to listen to her back catalogue and choose 16 songs to represent her life and work. As she does so, the story of her life emerges and we find out more about why each was written and what Cass has gone through to get to where she is, isolated and alone, but about to emerge with an album of new material.
Each chapter starts with a song and charts a part of Cass's life, from her entrance into the world as the daughter of a vicar who christens her Maria because he feels she should, leaving Cassandra as her middle name. Cass's mother has depression and leaves her husband and daughter to run away to Canada when Cass is a young girl. This act changes Cass's life - emotionally in ways she takes years to recover from, and physically as she moves from her devastated father to live with her aunt and uncle. It is there that she takes her first real steps to a musical career.
Told purely from Cass's point of view, the book is nevertheless a clear-eyed account of the mistakes we make as we get through life, and is unskimping on the details - the drug taking, drinking, domestic abuse. This is a novel about consequences, how we live with them, and about the elusive second chance.
Greatest Hits is the story of Cass Wheeler, a retired folk-pop singer-songwriter from the 1970s who takes a day to listen to her back catalogue and choose 16 songs to represent her life and work. As she does so, the story of her life emerges and we find out more about why each was written and what Cass has gone through to get to where she is, isolated and alone, but about to emerge with an album of new material.
Each chapter starts with a song and charts a part of Cass's life, from her entrance into the world as the daughter of a vicar who christens her Maria because he feels she should, leaving Cassandra as her middle name. Cass's mother has depression and leaves her husband and daughter to run away to Canada when Cass is a young girl. This act changes Cass's life - emotionally in ways she takes years to recover from, and physically as she moves from her devastated father to live with her aunt and uncle. It is there that she takes her first real steps to a musical career.
Told purely from Cass's point of view, the book is nevertheless a clear-eyed account of the mistakes we make as we get through life, and is unskimping on the details - the drug taking, drinking, domestic abuse. This is a novel about consequences, how we live with them, and about the elusive second chance.
portybelle's review against another edition
5.0
I looked up Weidenfeld and Nicolson, the publishers of this book, on Twitter and they say they 'specialise in exceptional fiction and non-fiction'. I think it is fair to say that Laura Barnett's Greatest Hits comes into the category of exceptional fiction. I loved the author's debut work, The Versions of Us, but think I may like this one even more.
Retired and reclusive singer Cass Wheeler is putting together songs for a Greatest Hits album. As she listens to her songs as she tries to select them, she looks back on her career and reflects on her life. She has written hundreds of songs, had a eventful life, experienced love and loss and stopped singing ten years ago after a personal tragedy struck.
Each of the chapters of the book begins with the lyrics of one of Cass's songs and mentioned when it was written, which album it appeared on (if any) and who was involved in the production. An album of the songs will be released at the same time as the book, with singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams bringing Cass's songs to life. It's a really intriguing concept and I'm looking forward to hearing the songs.
Cass Wheeler is a wonderful character. The way her story is written going right back to her difficult childhood, following her singing career, her love life, motherhood and the sad losses in her life all helps to make her a fully rounded person. In fact she is such a strong believable character that it felt as though I was reading the biography of a real singer, rather than the story of a fictional character.
Greatest Hits is exactly the kind of book I enjoy. It moves effortlessly between past and present hinting at and revealing a little of what happened as the story progresses. Cass was a character I totally believed in and I so enjoyed reading her story. Even though she had known much sadness in her life, she had also known much joy and love and lived a full life. There were other terrific characters in the book too notably Cass's Aunt Lily, her assistant and friend Kim, Ivor her partner both musically and romantically, and her supportive friend Johnny. There were a lot of characters who moved in and out of Cass's life particularly in the music industry and I did on occasion lose track of who was who especially if they only made brief appearances but I'm sure that's down to my poor memory rather than any fault on the part of the author.
Greatest Hits is a book which I am sure will be a huge hit (pun completely intended!) when it's released. It's a book to lose yourself in as, along with Cass, you relive her life through her music and memories. It's a story about loving and losing and coming to terms with your past and is full of emotional highs and lows.
Retired and reclusive singer Cass Wheeler is putting together songs for a Greatest Hits album. As she listens to her songs as she tries to select them, she looks back on her career and reflects on her life. She has written hundreds of songs, had a eventful life, experienced love and loss and stopped singing ten years ago after a personal tragedy struck.
Each of the chapters of the book begins with the lyrics of one of Cass's songs and mentioned when it was written, which album it appeared on (if any) and who was involved in the production. An album of the songs will be released at the same time as the book, with singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams bringing Cass's songs to life. It's a really intriguing concept and I'm looking forward to hearing the songs.
Cass Wheeler is a wonderful character. The way her story is written going right back to her difficult childhood, following her singing career, her love life, motherhood and the sad losses in her life all helps to make her a fully rounded person. In fact she is such a strong believable character that it felt as though I was reading the biography of a real singer, rather than the story of a fictional character.
Greatest Hits is exactly the kind of book I enjoy. It moves effortlessly between past and present hinting at and revealing a little of what happened as the story progresses. Cass was a character I totally believed in and I so enjoyed reading her story. Even though she had known much sadness in her life, she had also known much joy and love and lived a full life. There were other terrific characters in the book too notably Cass's Aunt Lily, her assistant and friend Kim, Ivor her partner both musically and romantically, and her supportive friend Johnny. There were a lot of characters who moved in and out of Cass's life particularly in the music industry and I did on occasion lose track of who was who especially if they only made brief appearances but I'm sure that's down to my poor memory rather than any fault on the part of the author.
Greatest Hits is a book which I am sure will be a huge hit (pun completely intended!) when it's released. It's a book to lose yourself in as, along with Cass, you relive her life through her music and memories. It's a story about loving and losing and coming to terms with your past and is full of emotional highs and lows.
svickers91's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mpr2000's review against another edition
5.0
This is not just a story, it's the life of Cass Wheeler and while you are reading her memories you will start listening and feeling her emotions inside you. I just can dream listening to Cass life songs, it has to be an amazing experience, two of my favourite pleasures together, music and books!
This is quite an original book, we start reading Cass' present and song by song we discover her past; childhood, love life and motherhood. Cass' life hasn't been easy, but she learns to live with her problems, ambitions and happiness.
I don't want to make any spoilers, Greatest Hits is one of the 2017 books you must read, a bittersweet story where music can transmit feelings and emotions that sometimes we don't have words to explain.
I liked the first book of Laura Barnett, The Versions of Us, but this one is my favourite, Cass showed me that when you have a dream you have to pursue till it comes true, it's not easy, but if you work, there's nothing that can stop you.
I am not a compositor, but I love music, that's maybe why I loved so much this book, every one of my favourite songs has a memory coat on them...
- The Universal by Blur, my first cassette, the happiness of buying the song you like and listening it for the first time.
- New Born by Muse, walking to the Sitges Festival as a volunteer, an amazing experience!
- Dreams by Imagine Dragons the song of my pregnancy, the happiness, scary and all the mixed feelings that I had!
And I can go on and on with all my favourite songs! :)
Do you have your life soundtrack?
This is quite an original book, we start reading Cass' present and song by song we discover her past; childhood, love life and motherhood. Cass' life hasn't been easy, but she learns to live with her problems, ambitions and happiness.
I don't want to make any spoilers, Greatest Hits is one of the 2017 books you must read, a bittersweet story where music can transmit feelings and emotions that sometimes we don't have words to explain.
I liked the first book of Laura Barnett, The Versions of Us, but this one is my favourite, Cass showed me that when you have a dream you have to pursue till it comes true, it's not easy, but if you work, there's nothing that can stop you.
I am not a compositor, but I love music, that's maybe why I loved so much this book, every one of my favourite songs has a memory coat on them...
- The Universal by Blur, my first cassette, the happiness of buying the song you like and listening it for the first time.
- New Born by Muse, walking to the Sitges Festival as a volunteer, an amazing experience!
- Dreams by Imagine Dragons the song of my pregnancy, the happiness, scary and all the mixed feelings that I had!
And I can go on and on with all my favourite songs! :)
Do you have your life soundtrack?
jmatkinson1's review against another edition
5.0
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Cass Wheeler has been a recluse for the last decade after a breakdown. Finally she has recorded some new material and has agreed to preview it to a selected audience as well as offering a personal retrospective of the songs that have meant the most to her over her career. In the course of one day Cass reflects on her life as she listens to her music and also considers her future.
There are some books that grab the reader from the first page and are far more than they first appear, this is one such book. The premise seems so straightforward - a retrospective look at a life using the vehicle of song lyrics - but in Barnett's hands it becomes so much more. Cass' background with the repressed life of her mother and the abandonment of her as a child echoed in Cass' concerns about her own motherhood and staying in a relationship that isn't working. The positive effects of female friendship and the surprise of love later in life are writ large. All the details about life on the road and the 'scene' in the 1970s are described with understanding. In fact reading this book was a pleasure from beginning to end. I thought it would be 'chick lit' but it's not and I hope that this superb book is not categorised as such.
There are some books that grab the reader from the first page and are far more than they first appear, this is one such book. The premise seems so straightforward - a retrospective look at a life using the vehicle of song lyrics - but in Barnett's hands it becomes so much more. Cass' background with the repressed life of her mother and the abandonment of her as a child echoed in Cass' concerns about her own motherhood and staying in a relationship that isn't working. The positive effects of female friendship and the surprise of love later in life are writ large. All the details about life on the road and the 'scene' in the 1970s are described with understanding. In fact reading this book was a pleasure from beginning to end. I thought it would be 'chick lit' but it's not and I hope that this superb book is not categorised as such.
lou_mac's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
This book was a bit like a slightly lighter daisy Jones and the six (and predates it, so who knows maybe it was inspiration for it!) And, it's a win from me as I bloody love a book which skips between memory and present.
I liked the range of characters, though there are so many side people I found it hard to keep track of all of them at points.
There are points which felt like copy and paste descriptions from earlier chapters which was jarring but in general I liked the writing style and the plot.
I liked the range of characters, though there are so many side people I found it hard to keep track of all of them at points.
There are points which felt like copy and paste descriptions from earlier chapters which was jarring but in general I liked the writing style and the plot.