I'm a fan of Talley's work but I think this might be her finest book yet. A sapphic love story set in the seventies, where two girls fall in love via letters against a background of punk music and rebellious thought against the regime. Really beautifully written. Perfect for pride month too!

“All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come.”

This translated Victor Hugo quote, which Harvey Milk copied out and hung on his office wall, is how the author opens her acknowledgements at the end of this beautiful novel. It’s an incredibly moving sentiment, especially at this current moment in history, and sums up the transformative effect that the gay rights movement had on the lives of LGBTQ+ people in the 60s and 70s.

The entire book is told through the eyes of Tammy and Sharon, two Californian high school students. They’ve been assigned each other as penpals for a school project and we see their letters to each other plus Sharon’s diary entries and Tammy’s letters to Harvey Milk. We see them bond over Patti Smith and punk music followed by the revelation that both Sharon’s brother and Tammy are gay. I adored this book and the way it is carefully crafted to weave moments in history into the personal lives of these characters. I especially loved the parts that take place at the women’s bookstore, as both characters are embraced by a community of feminist queer women.

I really enjoyed the way this bioj was written in the form of pen pal letters and journal entries. I found it a great read as it is set in the summer I was born, so it was good to see how different things were back then. Times have changed, but not enough...

I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected! The characters were all interesting, even the secondary ones, and it gave me a peek into a life that feels so far away from mine, even though it really wasn't that long ago. Good for teens who might be unfamiliar with certain historical events, as it mentions them clearly enough to be able to research specifics but with enough of a genuine voice in the plot.

Thank you to Robin Talley, the publishers and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has "something about it", I can't tell you what but it's one of those books that has that magic touch about it..

That said, I couldn't get into this book as a kindle option. I liked the "dear diary" set up but found myself getting lost so for me I think this book will work better as an audio book listen so I shall be listening to the book instead and my updated review will follow.

Plot:
A story of two girls told through letters and diary entries. Tammy and Sharon are both involved in the gay rights movement gaining traction in California in the late 70s. Tammy, a closeted lesbian living with a conservative Christian family in Orange County and being forced to protest her own right to exist and Sharon, whose brother’s sexuality makes her question the Catholic beliefs she’s surrounded by and leads her into the feminist and punk scenes of San Francisco. When they’re matched as pen pals for a school project they each find a friendship and connection unlike anything they’ve ever felt before.

My thoughts:
This book had me angry, had me in tears, had me loving and loathing the characters before I was even 10% in. Reading especially Tammy’s letters to Harvey Milk (which were used more as a diary than actual letters) was just so powerful and raw and I knew this was going to be amazing from that alone.

Our main characters, Tammy and Sharon, both felt so real and three dimensional, as if I was reading actual preserved letters. This epistolary format was very effective and led to me feeling very connected to them and their relationship. Tammy’s diary being addressed to Harvey Milk, a prominent gay politician in California at the time, was also very effective and I think made her letters seem even more real and honest than a diary entry. This is the first book I’ve read that explores LGBTQ+ history and I didn’t realise how much it would affect me, reading about people like me and their hardships not all that long ago really hit home and has made me even more interested in the topic. Additionally, seeing the word ‘lesbian’ used loudly and proudly in this book made me so happy; it’s definitely not something I see often enough.

This book tackles some really hard topics and characters are often left feeling let down or even detested by the people and world around them. There was so much hatred towards gay people at the time this book’s set, it was overt and even celebrated by people like Tammy’s Aunt Mandy. Robin Talley doesn’t shy away from showing this, but hatred is not what defines this book. It is incredibly uplifting and hopeful; we see the resilience of the gay rights movement and the determination to create a better, more accepting world.

My only complaint with this book would be that it felt a bit slow and dragging in the middle at times. It felt a bit like nothing was really happening for a while and while it wasn’t boring, it certainly wasn’t as strong as the beginning and ending of the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. I worried that the hard themes it discusses would make it more difficult to enjoy and while certain scenes were hard to read, the hopeful narrative really outweighed the darkness of the time. I’ll definitely be picking up more of Robin Talley’s books and more LGBTQ+ historical fiction.

Music From Another World by Robin Talley is a powerful historical young adult novel set over 1977 and 1978. It is a novel of discovery, protest and finding your way in the world.
The novel follows two fifteen year old female pen-pals – it starts as a school project but becomes a place where they can share their deepest fears and desires.
As fifteen year olds the world is a scary place as you emerge from childhood but are not quite an adult. It is a time to discover who you are and what you want.
The main focus of the novel is the persecution of the homosexual community in America. Ordinary men, women and teens are looked down on. “God made each of us the way we are. Why are we supposed to think being different is a bad thing?” Religion plays a major role in the teens upbringing – one is a Catholic and attends a strict Catholic school, the other is a Baptist going to a church run by her aunt and uncle. Religion and the religious are cruel and unkind. The girls are not introduced to a God who loves them but subjected to the religious who hate them. The tensions are high as is the violence. It is horrific to think that these attitudes were in my lifetime (I was thirteen in 1977).
The novel is written in the form of letters and diary entries in the first person. The reader becomes intimately acquainted with both girls who brought out my motherly instincts.
1977 was a time of punk rock. The girls are both into this type of music, not to rebel, they just like it.
Actual historical figures, political stances, victories and defeats are quoted in the novel. Thank you Robin Talley for opening my eyes to a terrible time within my lifetime and for educating me. The unrest in society mirrors the unrest in the girls hearts.
Music From Another World was a departure from my usual genre but I was captivated by the story. The overwhelming response that I am left with is – let us love people. Let us never judge, that is not our job. Ours is to love.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

Tammy and Sharon are told to write to one another as a school assignment. As well as all the questions they are told to ask they also disclose lots of other news and the letters become an important part of their lives.
Set against anti gay attitudes in both communities it’s difficult for anyone to come out knowing their families will disown them.
Life changes for both of them when they finally meet.
I loved this book as well as the main characters and, along with the girls really disliked Auntie Mandy

Music From Another World is a powerful and emotional read, about fighting for freedom and acceptance and the amazing feeling when you finally find a crowd where you can really fit in!

Synopsis:

It’s summer 1977 and closeted lesbian Tammy Larson can’t be herself anywhere. Not at her strict Christian high school. Not at her conservative Orange County church. And certainly not at home, where her ultra religious aunt relentlessly organizes anti gay political campaigns. Tammy’s only outlet is writing secret letters in her diary to gay civil rights activist Harvey Milk… until she has a real-life pen pal who changes everything.

Sharon Hawkins will bond with Tammy over punk music and carefully shared secrets, and soon their letters become the one place she can be honest. The rest of her life in San Francisco is full of lies. The kind she tells for others - like helping her gay brother hide the truth from their mom. But as anti gay fervor in America reaches a frightening new pitch, Sharon and Tammy must rely on their long-distance friendship to discover their deeply personal truths. What they’ll stand for…and who they’ll rise against.

My Thoughts:

From the very first moment I read the synopsis, I knew I needed to read this book. It seemed filled with 1970's spirit, the movement to be brave and honest. The discussions in this book are through the form of letters or diary entries, which I really enjoyed. This writing style helped me get through the book extremely quickly.

We get to meet the two girls, Tammy and Sharon, both very different, but both struggling with the same issues of being contained in a world where they cannot be themselves. And even though this particular book is about the LGBTQ+ community, I believe this issue also applies to anything else in life, where people feel like they cannot be who they really are. Sometimes it is religion, other times it is political opinions, it could even be different hobbies where the person feels needs to contain in themselves because of the fear they might be frowned upon or laughed at.

It is amazing to see how the world has progressed over the years, where people start feeling like they can finally express who they really are. It is not yet ideal, but I have a good feeling we are getting there. There is also the very powerful force of the internet, the advantage people didn't have before, to find people across the globe that share the same beliefs and interests.

Music From Another World really moved me, and it brought up various emotions. It talks about the struggles and the reprimands, but it also talks about real happiness and laughter. The amazing feeling when you finally find a crowd that accepts you and where you truly belong. I believe this is the first book with a plot that made me feel so happy, so sad and so angry at the same time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the HQ Team, for sending me an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Music from Another World
Robin Talley

1977 USA, Tammy and Sharon are paired in a Christian schools pen-pal project, and the book is told entirely through their letters and diary entries.

Tammy lives in Orange County, her Baptist family founded a church which supports the evangelical singer and anti-gay rights activist Anita Bryant. Tammy is gay, but not openly. She writes letters in her diary to Harvey Milk, the only gay person she knows of because she has no one else to speak to.

Sharon lives in San Fransisco and also keeps a diary, where she writes about her life and the secrets she keeps; that her brother is gay and he is becoming increasingly involved in the fight for gay rights, and about her newly discovered love of Punk music and friends who volunteer at a feminist bookshop.

As their friendship develops through their letters, Tammy and Sharon pledge to keep each others’s secrets, and their letters begin to replace their diaries.

Set in a fascinating and poignant time in history, less than 10 years after the Stonewall movement, when Harvey Milk opposed the statewide Proposition 6 (Briggs initiative), Tammy and Sharon come together as part of the activism that would help transform San Francisco.

This book is a powerful and emotional account of teenage life, and although it took a couple of false starts for me to get into the diary format (I feel this would have easier had I been reading a physical copy - on Kindle there are no breaks between letters and diary entries), I quickly recognised the two voices, and how they adjusted according to their diaries or letters to each other. This is an uplifting story of teenagers in 1977 negotiating life and discovering their passions, and although upsetting at many points - the anti-gay religious and political rhetoric is awful to read about - but I love how the girls’ relationship develops through difficult times. I’d love to ‘meet’ them again in their adult lives.

Many thanks to Robin Talley, Inkyard Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was such a great read! This is a story, told in letters, of two teenage girls, one of them a closeted lesbian, in 70s States. As they start corresponding with each other, they bond over shared love of music, strict parents and Christian schools they attend, but as their friendship develops, will they be able to trust one another? I thought this book was a lovely and very true portrait of growing up as a queer person in the world that people want you to conform. It is a love story, a queer coming of age story, it is a story about punk, San Francisco and emerging LGBTQ rights and people who want to belong. A truly beautiful book.

This was a really inspiring and moving read. It's weird to call the 70s historical fiction but I guess it is, and it's amazing how much the world has changed in the last 40-50 years.

Tammy and Sharon become penpals through a school project. Tammy is from Orange County, part of a super Christian family and knows she is gay. Sharon is from San Francisco, part of a Catholic family, and has a brother who is gay. Together, they form a connection, first over their love of punk music and then over more.

The story is told through the letters the girls write to each other, and their private diary entries. Tammy struggles with carrying out the work of her youth group as they campaign against homosexuality, and Sharon struggles with protecting her brother and figuring out her own sexuality. I was great to see Tammy so confident in her sexuality, and horrible to see what her awful Aunt Mandy made her do. I really liked the brother sister relationship between Sharon and Peter. The side characters were also great, particularly the girls and women of the feminist bookstore in San Francisco.

Overall, I loved the history, the uplifting ending, the contrast between a girl comfortable with her sexuality and the one still figuring things out. I wish the diary entries hadn't been so because they were really long and full of dialogue. The letters the girls wrote to each other were very well written.

I went into this with such high expectations and I didn't meet them. The writing was fine but it just wasn't for me. I did like the characters but i just did not gel with this book overall. I liked the idea but this was not for me at all.

This is an absolute gem. Really heartfelt and just bubbling with teenage angst and rebellion but also an adult awakening of working out what is right and wrong and also not allowing to follow someone just because they don’t agree with or feel threatened by someone’s desire for the same person. I feel this is an amazing and eye opening read.

Even when I wasn’t reading this book, I was thinking about this book.

Summer, 1977. Closeted lesbian Tammy Larson is assigned a pen pal by her strict Christian high school. Sharon Hawkins lives in San Fransisco, the same city as Harvey Milk, who Tammy has been writing dozens of unsent letters to, but the similarities seem to end there.
When Tammy and Sharon’s pen pal relationship becomes deeper and more honest than either of them could have predicted, they realise they’ll have to make a stand.

70’s punk girls!!! San Fransisco!!! FALLING IN LOVE THROUGH LETTERS. I really, really loved this book. Despite the undercurrent of the anti-gay sentiment of the time, the celebration and determination of this book was so strong I wanted to dive into its pages and work at the bookstore and ride on the back of a motorcycle.

It seems strange that Robin Talley's new YA novel is being called 'historical fiction' because the 1970s don't seem all that long ago but it reminds us that LGBTIA rights were only won recently in many countries and the fight still continues in others. Music From Another World is set in California in the heady days of the late 1970s. Harvey Milk is running for election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors while individuals like Anita Bryant and John Briggs seek to deprive gays and lesbians of their freedom from discrimination.

Two seventeen-year-old girls are connected through a Christian pen pal project. Tammy knows she is gay and knows she can never tell anyone, choosing instead to confide in unsent letters to Harvey Milk. Sharon has a secret too but it's not her own. Her brother is gay and she knows that she has to protect him in the current hostile climate.

Against a backdrop of political activism, emerging feminism and excellent punk music, Tammy and Sharon begin to forge a friendship that will change both their lives forever. Music From Another World is an absolute tour de force and a triumph of a historical novel. It brings to life the late 1970s, especially the music and the fight for equal rights. It reminded me of the fight against Apartheid in Johannesburg in the early 1990s; just like we had political refugees in the city for political reasons, young people were travelling to places like San Francisco in the 1970s because they were simply safer. And just like we had rallies and protests against Apartheid, often at our own peril (and with copious amounts of tear gas), the characters in Music From Another World attend Harvey Milk rallies and protest against Prop6 in an environment of constant threats and persecution.

There was so much to love about Music From Another World. It was interesting to see how Tammy and Sharon slowly begin to trust each other, to stand up for their beliefs and to overcome very real doubts and fears. One of the most interesting aspects of the novel was how we come to know each of the girls first through how they view themselves and later through how others see them. It was a fascinating juxtaposition and character study.

Music From Another World is perfectly placed as a historical novel for it deals with issues that are as pertinent today as they were 40 years ago. Homosexuality is still illegal in many countries while many otherwise progressive countries continue to ban same-sex marriage. As such, this book would be a great starting point for discussions about the fight for equal rights.

I've touched briefly on the music throughout this review but need to stress it more. With a tag line of "start dancing to your own beat", Music From Another World is all about the music. From Patti Smith, X-Ray Spex and Avengers to Iggy Pop and David Bowie, this the kind of book that is absolutely begging for a playlist so I've made one on Spotify: Music From Another World playlist.

For bringing the fight for gay rights in the 1970s to life and for featuring an excellent soundtrack, I give Music From Another World a superb five out of five stars and recommend to all fans of superior historical young adult fiction.

I’ve enjoyed Robin Talley’s writing since I read ‘Lies we Tell Ourselves’ a few years ago. I wasn’t as sold on ‘As I Descended’ (a modern take on Macbeth) but was pleased to find her right back on form in ‘Music From Another World.’
Set in California in the 1970’s, this is the story of Sharon and Tammy, 2 young women learning about sexuality, love and acceptance in a volatile time in queer history.
Talley has clearly spent a lot of time researching this period, and she writes authentically, beautifully capturing the 2 girls voices. Sharon’s brother Peter is a proud gay man, although he is not yet publicly out, and their relationship with their mother is well written and upsetting. Part of Tammy’s narrative is made up of her letters to Harvey Milk, which served as a very poignant reminder of the cruelty and loss suffered.
I highly recommend this, and Talley’s other works, to fans of YA whatever age they are.
Thanks to NetGalley and HQ for sending me and ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Two young women are encouraged to write to each other as part of a school pen pal project, one is gay and the other confused, one lives in San Francisco and the other is uber conservative Orange county. As they navigate a friendship and work out just how honest they can be with each other and those around them, their story has interesting twists and scary moments. Set in 1977/8 it also neatly includes bisexuality, the emergence of punk music, the important LGBT history of Harvey Milk and the fight against Prop 6 and Anita Bryant.

With thanks to net galley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After enjoying Pulp by Robin Talley last year, I was really excited to learn that she had another YA historical fiction centring around queer characters coming out this year. Whilst the focus on music as opposed to queer literature didn't necessarily appeal to my tastes, Music from Another World was, for me, a step up from her previous novel.

The use of letters to tell the story worked really well as a narrative method. I'm not sure whether I would have enjoyed reading from the characters POV as much if it were just written as a 1st-person narrative. Even the little things, like who the girls address their "letters" to and the language they use added a lot more to their character than pure prose would have.

Tammy and Sharon were perfectly likeable and I couldn't help but feel sympathetic. They are both in difficult and horrible situations and communities and they are beyond the point of making the best of a bad situation. There's one scene in the book and I don't think I've ever shared in a character's anger that much. Equally, however, there was a lot in this book which resonated with me. Whilst (obviously) I haven't been in the same specific situation as Tammy and Sharon, there are elements of their lives I have been in; whilst their experiences were incredibly severe compared to my own, it felt real. There were a couple of times I felt the book hit quite a personal cord, but I don't think I would have enjoyed this book as much without that reaction to the events. 

Additionally, families are extremely important in this novel, and the relationship between Sharon and her brother especially felt so genuine and well done. There's also an element of found families which I adored to see even if it could have been developed a touch more.

Unfortunately, this book did fall short. There were points whilst reading when I felt frustrated, both at the characters (which was understandable) and at where the book was heading, but that's not to say it was a bad book. By the end of the story, I felt the utter opposite - it was heartwarming - but I can't help but feel like this book could have something very different but equally as effective. The book was predictable and it was just enough to get to me whilst reading it.

Overall, I did enjoy this book, and it is a good read - especially if you're partial to a historical sapphic love story (like myself). It didn't blown me away, or dramatically change my life in anyway but there reading experience was, mostly, enjoyable. It was infuriating and heartwarming in equal measures. If you enjoyed Robin Talley's Pulp, then I definitely think it is worth picking Music from Another World when it comes out.

I’ve read all Robin Talley’s books to date - Lies We Tell Ourselves and Pulp are my favourites, both of which are set in the past (well, partly so, in the case of Pulp). I was really excited to get my hands on Music From Another World, as it sounded right up my street.

Teenagers Tammy and Sharon both live in California in 1977, though in very different environments - Sharon in San Francisco, Tammy in far more conservative Orange County. They meet via a school-mandated penpal scheme, and soon learn they have more in common than they might have suspected. Tammy already knows she’s a lesbian, but that’s an impossibility in her ultra-conservative religious environment where homosexuality is just about the worst thing possible and anti-gay pep rallies are a thing. (This goes chillingly far at times.) Writing unsent letters to Harvey Milk - the only other gay person she knows of - is her only outlet, at least until she gets to know Sharon.

Sharon too, although her environment is a bit less inhospitable than Tammy’s, feels as if she’s never quite fit in, at least until supporting her gay brother Peter opens her eyes to another side of her city, and she finds her way to the punk scene.

The story is told through the girls’ letters to each other, Sharon’s diary, and Tammy’s letters to Harvey Milk. The story develops as the girls bond first over music and then on a deeper level. Still, though, there are things they can’t tell each other. I loved hearing their voices, although I did at times get a bit confused and have to check who was speaking.

I loved this book, which tells the story of two girls coming of age against the background of an important slice of gay history. As LGBT people demanded their rights, others were equally determined to take them away. (Anti-gay “Save Our Children” campaigner Anita Bryant - who I’d vaguely heard of from Tales of the City, I think - had nothing on Tammy’s hypocritical Aunt Mandy, a villain without any apparent redeeming features.) The rise of the gay and feminist movements serves as a backdrop to the specific battles over the likes of Proposition 6 (a kind of earlier US version of Section 28, if anyone still remembers that.) But it’s all seen through Tammy and Sharon’s eyes.

There’s little role for the adults here - Sharon’s mother seems mainly pretty detached from things, and Tammy’s parents barely feature. (Later in the book I was surprised by their lack of action.) Only Aunt Mandy looms terrifyingly large.

Robin Talley clearly has an interest in fairly recent history, particularly with an LGBT slant. I’m not sure she was even born in 1977, but she does a very good job of rendering that moment in history. I’m a bit younger than Tammy and Sharon - and not American - but a lot of it rang true. (The women’s bookshop - sorry, store - particularly sparked memories.)

I’m going to give this book to my daughter to read when it’s published - I think she’ll love it.