I was really disappointed in this. It's very long and not particularly deep, in fact, I pretty much sussed out the action by p. 20 and I still had 380 pages to go. Barnett is a good writer but the book suffers from way too much plot and twice as many words. I think she may have read a whole lot of rock and pop biographies and tried to synthesize them into one fictional story and for me, it just wasn't a success.

I'm sad because I love the idea.

Do, however, check out Kathryn Williams who is a fantastic singer-songwriter and who collaborated with Barnett to create an album based on songs integral to the novel's plot. Her record is also called Greatest Hits and it's very good. ( )

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Cass Wheeler has been a recluse for the last decade after a breakdown. Finally she has recorded some new material and has agreed to preview it to a selected audience as well as offering a personal retrospective of the songs that have meant the most to her over her career. In the course of one day Cass reflects on her life as she listens to her music and also considers her future.

There are some books that grab the reader from the first page and are far more than they first appear, this is one such book. The premise seems so straightforward - a retrospective look at a life using the vehicle of song lyrics - but in Barnett's hands it becomes so much more. Cass' background with the repressed life of her mother and the abandonment of her as a child echoed in Cass' concerns about her own motherhood and staying in a relationship that isn't working. The positive effects of female friendship and the surprise of love later in life are writ large. All the details about life on the road and the 'scene' in the 1970s are described with understanding. In fact reading this book was a pleasure from beginning to end. I thought it would be 'chick lit' but it's not and I hope that this superb book is not categorised as such. ( )

I finished reading Greatest Hits by Laura Barnett just over a week ago and I’m suffering two problems. One, I can’t get this fantastic novel out of my mind. It’s a read that leads to significant book hangover. Two, I really don’t know how my review can possibly due to this book justice. I’ve thought of various angles but none of them seem to even be minutely worthy of the novel. Imploring you to read this won’t be enough (and it will make this review very boring). So let me tell you a bit about this deceptive simple story that captures all the feels.

Cass Wheeler is a singer. On one particular day, she’s decided to listen to her back catalogue and put together the songs that mean the most to her for a greatest hits album. She’ll listen all day, pick her favourites and then have a fantastic party to celebrate that night. It sounds easy, right? But for Cass, each song she wrote and performed is intensely personal. She hasn’t listened to her music for a long time, once distancing herself from the business completely. Listening opens up memories, emotions and reflections which are raw, painful, jubilant or buried. As she listens, she reflects on her life.

That’s where the reader begins to hear the real story of Cass Wheeler, beyond the tabloids in this brutally honest reflection. It starts with her youth and works her way through her life to the present day (somewhere her in her sixties, if my calculations are correct). Each section talks about the present, then delving into Cass’s past and closing with the chosen song. The reader gradually gets an idea of Cass’s present and why she is where she is. It’s not until the end that we see Cass as a whole, naked, bruised and ultimately strengthened by her life. It’s a beautifully written journey, dealing with many issues from desertion to violence, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll (well, more folk in Cass’s life) and love.

You can’t help but become a fan of Cass. Baring everything, she became someone I truly cared about. She felt as real as a friend. I wanted desperately for everything to turn out well for her to the point where I read well into the night just to ensure present Cass would have some happiness. Laura Barnett’s biggest strength is in the creation of characters that you feel could be real. (Though on the flip side, she makes some characters that you really wouldn’t want to get on the bad side of too!). That’s closely followed by her style of writing, which puts the reader on the scene, feeling and seeing everything that Cass does. It’s all so vivid, that you can’t help but feel Cass’s emotions.

And if that wasn’t enough, there is an album to accompany Greatest Hits. Kathryn Williams (who gets her own mention within the story if you look closely enough) performs Cass’s songs (which she and Laura wrote, some in conjunction with others). It’s a unique experience, like if the book was brought to life and Cass could sing to the reader. I highly recommend giving it a listen, whether you read the book or not. It’s different from a film or TV show as it allows you as the reader to keep your own vision of Cass, but really hear her speak from the pages.

Greatest Hits could well be my book of 2017, it’s that brilliant. Do yourself a favour and read it.

Thanks to Hachette for the copy of this book. My review is honest.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com ( )

I really enjoyed Laura Barnett's first book, The Versions of Us. What is clear from reading this, her second book, is that she likes an unusual approach to telling a story. In Greatest Hits, Cass Wheeler is getting ready for a party and the re-launch of her music career after ten years away. The story is, in effect, told over the course of that one day, but we go right back to 1950 when she was born and follow her over the course of her life as a daughter, singer, wife and mother.

This is a big book, almost 500 pages, but it has to be to fit in all that Cass has lived through. I think the author's style wouldn't necessarily appeal to everybody. It's quite wordy and descriptive but it's also lyrical, which is kind of apt for a story about a singer-songwriter. There's quite an intensity to the writing too, an introspective air. As it's all about Cass it's almost like a biography (but an interesting one rather than a stuffy, boring one!).

Cass is an interesting character. It doesn't take much to imagine the kind of singer she would have been. She's so well-described that I have a real sense in my head of what she looks like, what she would wear, how she would speak and sing. I think the author must have done quite a lot of research into the times as it certainly seems very authentic. The ups and downs of a life as a famous singer, the wife of a volatile man and life on the road are portrayed so well.

I think I actually enjoyed reading about Cass's private life more than her music career. Her childhood clearly had a massive effect on her life. I found her background as a vicar's daughter interesting and I loved her Aunt Lily and Uncle John, her saviours at a difficult time in her life.

There's a nice touch in this novel too. Cass is picking out songs for her Greatest Hits album and each section of the book starts with the lyrics of one of the songs and all the details about when they were written, who played on them etc. And even more charming is that the songs are going to be made into an album recorded by singer-songwriter, Kathryn Williams. Having listened to one of the songs I think it's exactly how I would have expected Cass to sound.

I think personally I could have done with a little less detail in this book but nonetheless I found it a moving and insightful read from a talented writer. ( )