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It's 1996, and alt-rocker Emma Cantor is on tour, with her sights trained on a record deal. Emma's got no lack of inspiration for her confessional songs, chief among them her mother Judie, a 1960s folk legend who is bitterly disappointed by Emma's choice to skip college. Emma is baffled by Judie's coldness. Judie herself was only eighteen when she ran away to New York to pursue music, ahead of forming the influential folk duo the Singer Sisters with her sister Sylvia. But Judie has a long-kept secret about why she abandoned her music career at the peak of her success, which is about to unravel.This is an epic family saga that follows mother Judie and daughter Emma as they navigate the ups and downs of music stardom - asking what women artists must sacrifice for success.
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This was fantastic. I came across The Singer Sisters at the bookstore, intrigued by the gorgeous cover and original premise, and it did not disappoint.
At its heart, The Singer Sisters is a story of motherhood, which is right up my alley at the moment. Told through the lens of a musical dynasty, it's also about artists coming into their own, apart and together.
The feeling of this book is everything you'd want in a story about the music industry in the 60's and 90's -- a strong sense of time and place, an artistic and creative vibe, and the full sweep of human emotion.
Sarah Seltzer excels at showing vs. telling and capturing the feeling of a moment. A few of my favorite examples (character names omitted):
That night the applause was so friendly, she bathed in it, like diving into the lake on a hot day. It bit you at first and then you could swim forever.
Was this love? This loamy smell, this sense of danger and safety at the same time?
As XXX made her way back up First Avenue against the strong river winds, she fought back the thoughts that she'd promised herself she would never have: of reading magazines, feet up, with someone at home, but of taking planes with that someone, too, when the mood struck.
Caffeinated and exfoliated and just the tiniest bit stoned, she showed up at the studio again the next day, ready to work.
The only thing I'd change is the ending, and I'll leave my notes in a spoiler below. I look forward to reading more from the author!
Toward the end of the story, Judie and Emma pack up the apartment Emma grew up in. After uncovering Judie's old journals, I expected there to be a conversation between them about the years Judie spent in a fog, despondent over the loss of Rose and the path her life had taken.
I empathized with Judie's sadness, but I didn't fully understand why it went on for so long. I felt like there was something I didn't know, which would be revealed. I would have loved for her to have a moment of self-realization and share that perspective with Emma. A stronger catharsis for Judie, rather than for Rose, would have been the perfect ending for me.
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