Mix Tape

by Jane Sanderson

I have to say that I didn’t really enjoy this book. From the synopsis it seemed as though it was just the type of book I’d like to read. I found it quite slow, with lots of references to some obscure songs I hadn’t heard of from the 70’s & 80’s. I looked up most of them to see if they were song I knew, but didn’t recognise the artists or titles. Witch surprised me with being a child growing up during these two decades.

The parts of the book that I did enjoy the most were of Alison’s life as a teenager growing up in Sheffield. Even though she had a very bad home life, you could really imagine what life was like during this time when Sheffield still had it’s steel works.

Alison Connor lives with her brother Peter and their alcoholic and sometimes abusive mother Catherine. Peter and Alison took it in turns to watch out for their mother when she was at home. Making sure that she didn’t burn the house down or hurt herself while drunk. Alison never let anyone know what her family life or lack of it was like, she kept that to herself.

Alison escaped from her unhappy home life by spending time Daniel Lawrence. He was 18 years old and she was 16. He lived in a better part of Sheffield to where she lived. In fact she never told Daniel where she lived and she never ever let him accompany her home on the night bus.

In fact Alison spent as much time as she could around at Daniel’s house, even though they didn’t go to the same school. She would go around after school and do her homework there. She got on really well with Daniel’s siblings and his father treated her as though she was one of his own children. His mother though was a different matter. She was worried what troubles and heartache she would bring her youngest son.

Alison and Daniel have a strong connection with each other, which is only enhanced by their love and passion for music. The only difference between them when it comes to music is that Daniel listens to songs randomly. Where Alison will only listen to the music in the order of the album that the artists put the songs. So one day he gave her a mix tape of the first and last song from some of his favourite albums.

One day something happens within Alison’s family, which changed her life forever. Her brother had already told her to leave the family home and go anywhere she wanted as long as it wasn’t Sheffield. He’d already made her get her passport a few years before, without her realising why. Plus he’d been secretly saving up runaway money for her. Alison said that she wouldn’t leave but after the events of the day when things changed. She knew her brother was right. She had no other option but to leave, so she packed a small bag of essentials and left a note telling her brother that she loved him.

Alison went travelling around parts of Europe when she met her now husband Michael McCormack. He is Australian and comes from North Adelaide which is where they both settled down and raised their two daughters Thea and Stella. Michael comes from a well to do family who own a sheep station that has been in the family for generations. Instead of going in to the family business though Michael had become a Paediatrician, and Alison now called Ali by everyone as her husband shortened her name. Has become an international best selling author.

All these years later Daniel finds out that Ali Connor is an international best selling author after his mother bought her book (Tell the Story, Sing the Song), as a Christmas present for his partner Katelin. This sets Daniel on an internet search trying to find out all he can on Ali, when he comes across her on social media, and where he started to follow her. He wanted to send her a message but couldn’t find the words, so instead he sends a link to a song that told her what he couldn’t say in his own words.

Over the course of a few months Ali and Daniel keep sending each other links to song that have meaning to both of them. Which is bringing back old memories and feelings.

Daniel goes to China for work and he decides to go on to Adelaide to see Ali to see if there really is something more between them than just the music. Will Daniel or Alison break up there families so they can finally be together? Or will it end up in heartbreak again.

Pages: 416, Publication Date: 23 January 2020, My Rating: