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Ratings: ★★★★★ (5/5)
Genre: Fiction / Romance / Literary Fiction / Contemporary Fiction / Drama

Book Review:
''The Music Shop'' by Rachel Joyce is a beautiful, warm-hearted, and romantic novel that hits all the right notes. It is 1988, and Frank owns a music shop jam-packed with records of every speed, size, and genre. Classical, jazz, punk—as long as it's vinyl, he sells it. Day after day, Frank finds his customers the music they need.

Then into his life walks Ilse Brauchmann. Ilse asks Frank to teach her about music. His instinct is to turn and run. And yet he is drawn to this strangely still, mysterious woman with her pea-green coat and her eyes as black as vinyl. But Ilse is not what she seems. And Frank has old wounds that threaten to reopen and a past he will never leave behind.

Joyce's writing is lyrical and deeply moving. This is a love story that is as much about the silence between words as what is said. It evokes the emotional power of your favourite record while underlining the importance of that forever-threatened shop down a side street where magic happens. If you enjoy literary fiction, love stories, or books about music and healing, The Music Shop is a complete joy to read. Highly recommended!