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The Country Singer
It’s been years since Gemma visited the small country town where she grew up. She probably wouldn’t have returned at all if it wasn’t for her father’s passing. Seeing the dusty old buildings and the run-down house again remind her of events in her childhood that she’s tried to keep in the past, even though they colour her every decision in the present.
Memories of strained silences and reproving looks overwhelm her, as do fragments of things her mother said to her father before she died that have haunted her forever, “Why didn’t you let me go?”
Discovering a music score as she cleans through her parent’s belongings, she learns about a love story so heartbreakingly beautiful that it changes her mind about love.
Meg’s Song
A moment, a fragment, split second of time.
A dead love, a lost love, a step out of rhyme.
We woke to the birdsong, a bright yellow dawn
That shone through our lives, when the dark night had gone …
This is the story of her mother, Meg, and the love of her life—the country singer.
Memories of strained silences and reproving looks overwhelm her, as do fragments of things her mother said to her father before she died that have haunted her forever, “Why didn’t you let me go?”
Discovering a music score as she cleans through her parent’s belongings, she learns about a love story so heartbreakingly beautiful that it changes her mind about love.
Meg’s Song
A moment, a fragment, split second of time.
A dead love, a lost love, a step out of rhyme.
We woke to the birdsong, a bright yellow dawn
That shone through our lives, when the dark night had gone …
This is the story of her mother, Meg, and the love of her life—the country singer.
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2004
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 18, 2012
I picked this book up expecting a Romance...what I got was something else entirely. Yes, there are romantic elements of the story, but I also got a Women's Fiction vibe from it, and liked that it was multidimensional.
Gemma is a young woman whose father has just died. She travels from the city to the small country town she grew up in to take care of his affairs and attend the funeral. He was her last remaining relative other than her Aunt Connie, his sister, and his death is a crushing blow. While going through her father's personal effects, she finds some old things belonging to her mother, including a poem entitled Meg's Song. From there, she unravels the tale of her mother, Meg, a tale that is both touching and tragic. (I will say, as a side note, that I did not always approve of Meg's and Declan's choices morally. That said, the authors still does a great job of writing a sympathetic heroine. despite my disapproval of some of her actions, as well as those of the hero, I still liked them both and wanted them to find happiness. I genuinely cared about them both. I also think that the author painted a picture of actions having consequences, and not always desirable ones. That's all I will say for fear of spoiling some of the book's surprises.)
This book is not just about one love, but two. Gemma is holding back from the man in her life, uncertain about the future that he's offering her. Marriage, children, a comfortable life...she doesn't know if she wants them with Greg, a man who loves her with all his heart and isn't shy about telling her so. That is, until she learns her mother's story and the man she once loved more than life. I don't want to tell too much for fear of giving away some of the book's many surprises, but suffice it to say that one the book hit the 80% mark, I couldn't put it down because of all the twists and turns that came out of nowhere and spurred me on toward a breathless and emotional finish.
This is definitely a tear jerker...not for one looking for the familiar tropes of Romance (though they are present), but for those wanting to read a deep, meaningful story of life and unconditional love.
Gemma is a young woman whose father has just died. She travels from the city to the small country town she grew up in to take care of his affairs and attend the funeral. He was her last remaining relative other than her Aunt Connie, his sister, and his death is a crushing blow. While going through her father's personal effects, she finds some old things belonging to her mother, including a poem entitled Meg's Song. From there, she unravels the tale of her mother, Meg, a tale that is both touching and tragic. (I will say, as a side note, that I did not always approve of Meg's and Declan's choices morally. That said, the authors still does a great job of writing a sympathetic heroine. despite my disapproval of some of her actions, as well as those of the hero, I still liked them both and wanted them to find happiness. I genuinely cared about them both. I also think that the author painted a picture of actions having consequences, and not always desirable ones. That's all I will say for fear of spoiling some of the book's surprises.)
This book is not just about one love, but two. Gemma is holding back from the man in her life, uncertain about the future that he's offering her. Marriage, children, a comfortable life...she doesn't know if she wants them with Greg, a man who loves her with all his heart and isn't shy about telling her so. That is, until she learns her mother's story and the man she once loved more than life. I don't want to tell too much for fear of giving away some of the book's many surprises, but suffice it to say that one the book hit the 80% mark, I couldn't put it down because of all the twists and turns that came out of nowhere and spurred me on toward a breathless and emotional finish.
This is definitely a tear jerker...not for one looking for the familiar tropes of Romance (though they are present), but for those wanting to read a deep, meaningful story of life and unconditional love.
February 27, 2020
I enjoyed reading this book, set in a small town with the main character Gemma coming back home after the death of her father only to discover the secrets of her family. It was both beautiful and heartbreaking. (great narration too as i listened to the Bolinda Audio version of this book)
August 22, 2015
This is a delightful story set in the steamy Australian wheat fields in Western Australia. Gemma returns to the country town she grew up in to bury her father Grady. Connie her aunt is in hospital and from that bed tells her niece a story about her mother Meg and a country singer named Declan.
The humidity and heat of the place is palpable and the relationship quickly developed equally steamy. Grady is the local mechanic who has a trip away leaving Meg to her books and imagination, something he derides. Declan and Meg meet when the country singer seeks a mechanic to repair his travel worn ute. He is running away from heartbreak into country towns to lose his sense of self. Meg writes poetry in secret and feels alone and unable to escape the small town and her childhood sweetheart marriage that has become cold and lacking intimacy. In just a few days Meg finds her life turned around by love and Declan finds that he is able to love again.
This should have been the start of a whole new chapter in both their lives but Connie relates to Gemma how she kept the truth from everyone in the town, even her niece. Gemma discovers the reason her parents rarely spoke and that her own unwillingness to commit to her boyfriend Greg when he asked her to marry him. Grady died and she left to return to her hometown with the notion dangling unanswered. The tale her aunt tells clears her mind of any fears and indecision and where Greg stands in her own life.
Robyn is an accomplished internationally successful author weaving the recollections becoming a flashback to the tragic events. As always with Robyn’s work I found myself drawn into the feelings evoked and rushed to turn each page to see how it might end. If you have not read any of Robyn’s books, this would be a good place to start, then follow up with ‘When Hope is Strong’, ‘Song from the Heart’, ‘Where the River Ends’, ‘When Wattles Bloom’ or ‘Tea Tree Passage.’ You will join many others locally, nationally and internationally who have enjoyed the journey.
The humidity and heat of the place is palpable and the relationship quickly developed equally steamy. Grady is the local mechanic who has a trip away leaving Meg to her books and imagination, something he derides. Declan and Meg meet when the country singer seeks a mechanic to repair his travel worn ute. He is running away from heartbreak into country towns to lose his sense of self. Meg writes poetry in secret and feels alone and unable to escape the small town and her childhood sweetheart marriage that has become cold and lacking intimacy. In just a few days Meg finds her life turned around by love and Declan finds that he is able to love again.
This should have been the start of a whole new chapter in both their lives but Connie relates to Gemma how she kept the truth from everyone in the town, even her niece. Gemma discovers the reason her parents rarely spoke and that her own unwillingness to commit to her boyfriend Greg when he asked her to marry him. Grady died and she left to return to her hometown with the notion dangling unanswered. The tale her aunt tells clears her mind of any fears and indecision and where Greg stands in her own life.
Robyn is an accomplished internationally successful author weaving the recollections becoming a flashback to the tragic events. As always with Robyn’s work I found myself drawn into the feelings evoked and rushed to turn each page to see how it might end. If you have not read any of Robyn’s books, this would be a good place to start, then follow up with ‘When Hope is Strong’, ‘Song from the Heart’, ‘Where the River Ends’, ‘When Wattles Bloom’ or ‘Tea Tree Passage.’ You will join many others locally, nationally and internationally who have enjoyed the journey.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews