Good morning everyone I’m pleased to re-share my review of the fabulous Songs In Ursa Major to celebrate its paperback publication!
As you can probably tell from my review below I really enjoyed this book when I first read it and highly recommend it. There’s a playlist that you can listen to whilst reading which helped transport you to the late 60’s as you read.
Book Synopsis:
IT WAS THE SUMMER OF 1969
Rising singer-songwriters Jane Quinn and Jesse Reid looked untouchable.
Captivating crowds in festival meadows, lighting up turntables, intoxicating fans from coast to coast.
It was a connection that inspired the greatest love songs.
But nothing lasts forever.
Beneath the hits that made them, a dark secret threatened to break them. Now it’s time to hear the whole story, finally revealed in Jane’s iconic album, Songs in Ursa Major . . .
Songs In Ursa Major is available in all formats now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
My Review:
Songs In Ursa Major is a brilliant, escaping read partly based on the real life relationship of James Taylor and Joni Mitchell.
Firstly I think this author does a great job of capturing the era with all the freedom and changes that it brought. My parent’s hay day was the 70’s so I grew up on lots of stories, and music, from that time which the book reminded me of. I so enjoyed following all the characters through this book and living precariously through them. I felt like I was able to experience the era a bit through them which was great as the 70’s is the era I’d like to be able to time travel back to.
The characters were brilliant, realistic characters that I found it easy to warm to. I particularly liked Jane as I admired her confidence and her willingness to stand up for herself. The sexism she experiences in the music industry made me very cross and I wanted to applaud her when she made a stand against it. Her relationship with Jessie was wonderfully, dreamy to read about, come on we’ve all dreamed about dating a rock star, and I found it very interesting to watch it develop. I liked that the author wasn’t afraid to put some darker plot twists into the book which made the book seem more realistic but also stopped it from being too sugary sweet and just about the budding romance between the two main characters.
The books has a great pace to it and I quickly found myself drawn into the story. I liked the huge contrast between the hectic, wild music scenes and the more gentle life on the island which helped refocus the reader at times. There was always something happening to keep my attention and some very dramatic moments which moved the story in a complete different direction. The ending was perfect in my opinion and I especially liked how everything wasn’t tied up in a bow but instead left at a realistic place.
This is the author’s debut novel and I’m very excited to read more from her in the future. There is a Spotify playlist with the same name as the book available on Spotify which is perfect to listen to whilst reading.
Huge thanks to Jen Harlow for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
EMMA BRODIE has worked in book publishing for a decade, most recently as an executive editor at Little, Brown’s Voracious imprint. She graduated from the Johns Hopkins University’s Writing Seminars program, and is a longtime contributor to HuffPost and a faculty member at Catapult. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their dog, Freddie Mercury.
Over The Rainbow Blog 