Blog Tour: A Song Unsung by Fiona Cane

Released: 20/05/2021

Publisher: Independently published (Caracol)

Genre: Literary fiction

Buy link: Click here for amazon link.

Blurb:

Set against the bohemian backdrop of Soho’s jazz basements and coffee shops of the late fifties, and a Sussex village during the long hot summer of 1976, A Song Unsung a coming-of-age story about an impressionable teenage girl who falls under the spell of a beautiful singer with a myous past.

Martha Palmer, an aspiring singer working in a coffee shop, is desperately short of cash. She’s been scouted by a photographer. The money’s good. But there’s a catch …Sussex 1976. Nothing much happens in teenager Natasha James’ life. Her mother has taken to her bed and her father, the local doctor, is preoccupied with his patients. But when the magnetic Martha Palmer moves into her village, Natasha is drawn into a glittery world of extravagant parties, steeped in the embroidered rhythms of jazz. But who is the mysterious Martha Palmer? And why is she the keeper of so many secrets? Desperate to fill in the gaps of Martha’s past, Natasha uncovers a heart-breaking love story, the truth of which threatens to destroy all that she holds dear.

My Thoughts:

I always enjoy books with a music theme, as you'll know if you've followed my blog for a while.

This one captured me with the stunning front cover and the promise of '...a heatwave, a mystery, an obsession...' mixed with the element of dual timelines.

We follow Martha Palmer as she tried to begin a career in the late '50s, and then a teenager, Natasha, 20 years later as we happen upon Martha again. The narratives are written in such a way that you are taken away on a wonderful, hazy ride while the characters seep into your imagination and become alive.

I adored the storytelling within this novel; the way that even though some of the characters are unlikeable, you're compelled to follow them across the chapters and find out what happens. This was the perfect book to lose myself in - rich, emotional and captivating. I can't wait to hear more from this author.

Thank you so much to the author for sending me a copy for review, and to Anne Cater for inviting me to be part of the blog tour.