I was looking forward to this book having really enjoyed the author’s previous book ‘The Rules of Seeing’ which was a cracking read. And this didn’t disappoint either.

It’s based on flashback moments by Ella, an elderly lady suffering from dementia who uses the power of music to relight memories that are shared with us. An emotional book that will even have you questioning some of your own relationships in life.

Another absolutely brilliant story from Joe Heap who treats us to another page turner and I thoroughly recommend this book as well as his first.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I’m swiftly becoming a big fan of Joe Heap! His first novel (The Art of Seeing) was excellent and so is this. It’s a gentle story, in flashback, by an elderly lady suffering from dementia. She is travelling, by boat with her daughter and son in law, when there’s a storm at sea and Ella is left ‘holding the baby’. The story is of her struggle for survival with dementia while the reader learns of her life previously, as a successful guitarist.

I thoroughly recommend this book...

This book is the sheer definition of a page turner, great story, clever structure and brilliant characters.

It follows the journey of elderly, dementia sufferer Ella into her past as she finds herself with her baby grandson alone and confused on a boat after a storm. Her old guitar is with her and only when she plays does her past come to her. Each piece of music brings a memory back to life and when the music stops the ghosts from the past stay with her. It is a captivatingly story written from her Scottish childhood in WW2, through her London musician days including drug addiction to her career in nursing and motherhood.

Ella is a wonderful character who has carried guilt and regrets throughout her colourful life. She is an independent female, open and honest, who makes mistakes and lives by them. I really enjoyed her story and the impact made by those our lives touch.

A huge thank you to Net Galley and Harper Collins for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Such a lovely story, entwining a missed love story with music
Ella has the start of dementia and awakes on a boat after a storm, with only her baby grandson for company. As the water in the boat rises, she re-lives her life, through her guitar playing, remembering the friends she has lost.
Endearing and beautifully told.

Sorry, I thought I was in the mood for a quirky love story but I just can't get into this - the framework of Orpheus, classical periodisation (the child, the maiden, the crone etc.) just feel a bit pretentious in relation to the everyday love story. Just not for me - apologies :)

This is the story of Ella and Robert and how their lives entwined. I just loved Ella and lived every step of her journey. All her friends were interesting in different ways and brought out different aspects of her character
A compulsive read

My first book by this author but not the last.
I was drawn in by the cover and stayed because of the writing. A stunning performance with touches of a modern day Jane Eyre in that invisible space between the pages. Unusual. Rare. Magical. Highly recommended.

Beautifully written but it's just not for me unfortunately. No fault of the book, it's just outside my normal genre and I couldn't quite get into it. Thanks for the chance to read though.

Another winner from Joe Heap. What a storyteller this author is. I loved this book, it is unusual and thought provoking, and beautifully written. It takes us through the life of Ella from when she is a wee girl growing up in Scotland, to old age. How her life intertwines with her childhood friend’s brother Robert is the central theme of the story, but it is so much more than that.
The characterisation is so strong that the reader can identify with Ella, even when her life choices take her to some very dark places. All of the players in this story are well drawn, as they come in and out of Ella’s life.
The style of writing is very different, and to begin with the narrative is a little puzzling. But then it becomes clear how the two timelines are connected.
The use of music, as Ella and Robert are both musicians, is a clever way of linking up the different strands of the story of Ella’s life, and the believable coincidences that bring them back together at various points in time.
The closing chapters are sublime, and brought me to tears. A beautiful ending. This book will remain with me long after I write this review. Highly recommended.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this title.

Music, love, loss and ghosts. When the Music Stops is the story of Ella, a bass guitarist in post-war Britain. The book is shaped around her old age where, suffering with dementia, she finds herself adrift at sea with only her baby grandson. Through flashback, we learn the story of Ella’s life and she is joined on the boat by the ghosts of the people she has loved and lost in her life. Together they help her look after the baby, and try to steer the boat to safety.

This is a lyrical, well-told book, full of rich characters and a keen sense of another life just out of reach, one that might have appeared if Ella had made different choices.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. A really enjoyable book, I loved the characters and the story.

The most incredible thing about Joe Heap’s When The Music Stops is the way it mixes the ordinary with the extraordinary. In one way it’s a version of David Nicholls’ One Day, but set over a longer period (the protagonists meet in childhood) and in the world of jazz music; the parts of the book that happen in the present day are very surreal indeed.

The clever structure gives the book rhythm. It’s very much tied to the music, so rhythm seems like the right word. It makes for very long chapters (sections, really) but that’s fine, because I didn’t want to put it down. At first you wonder what’s happening in the present day but then it begins to make sense and you expect each section to have a certain chain of events. You even know what will happen in the end. But that’s comforting when the boundaries of your imagination are being stretched in other ways.

The love story running through the book is compelling too and each decade incredibly well researched so you feel each period, rather than words being wasted describing it. Ella and Robert meet as children in pre-war Glasgow and have so many near misses you wonder if they will ever get together. I would have enjoyed it on its own, and have appreciated the quality of the writing, but adding the extra dimension makes this a standout book.

This review will appear in Frost online magazine closer to publication date.

I fell in love with this lovely book and Ella and Robert’s story. When the Music Stops is filled with love, life and hope and the little moments that you don’t realise are significant until much later. This book is made up of a series of moments, some significant, some not and glimpses into the people and places and events that link both characters. Ella is really the key character and much of the story is focused through her memories and experiences. As you can except from such a big concept book so much happens between the pages and some big themes and concepts are explored including love, the music scene and loss. When the Music Stops is about the things that connect us. This is a terrific read.

A very enjoyable read which makes you think about your own life. The story is centred around Ella, who grows up in Scotland during WW2. Her life story is woven together with songs which punctuates seven stages of her life.
The story charts her life, from her childhood, through her days as a musician when she plays sessions with some famous bands. It follows her times during the 60s and her dependence on drugs to enhance her playing. Reluctantly, she leaves that life behind, gives up playing music to work in a hospital.
Apart from the songs and music, another thing which weaves through the story, that of the love Ella has for Robert, the brother of her friend at school. They meet at different times in the story, as they are living separate lives, but it is not until they are older that they declare their love for each other.

This is going to leave a few people with tears in their eyes I'm betting.
A lovely look back at different stages of someone's life,and the people they meet,the actions they take...
All set to a backdrop of present day drama.
Really enjoyed it, and read it in one sitting.
Full of warmth and charm.

I was so desperate to get hold of this book, the second by Joe Heap, and I was so excited to be granted early access. This book was full of The normal daily life of Ella Campbell, from her childhood in Scotland, to her adult life in London. It’s told with detail, depth and feeling. I was quickly drawn into the lives of the characters, and wondering how the flashbacks fitted into the current story.

Gradually Ella’s life Is revealed, as she lives her life, as she meets and loses people, I became more and more interested in every aspect of her life. I was totally lost in this book, invested in the characters, and feeling that I really knew them, was even in the same room as them, watching them and experiencing their delights and heartbreaks on the journey.

I don’t like to add spoilers, but there was one scene that Overwhelmed me, had me crying so I had to put the book down and take a breather. I went back after 15 mins to re-read, and cried again.
This is an epic journey through Ella’s life, full of ups and downs, the mundane, drama and tragedy. Brilliantly told. Joe Heap does not disappoint
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is quite a stunning book, of the beginning and certain bits in between are changed.. I found the boat and incident with an eighty year old woman a bit silly and took me out of the story. I liked how the past connection with music and a friend connects to the future but it all feels unbelievable and too odd. I am not sure how I think of this book I like it but I don’t love it. There are signs of a good story but it’s lost in amongst some weird goings on in modern life.