Mmm… Not for the first time, I’m torn about how to review a book. This one was beautifully written. Barnett’s style is gorgeous and she’s obviously really talented when it comes to descriptive prose. However, when it comes to the plot…

I know this sounds harsh, but I just didn’t get the point of the plot: a fictional singer coping with fictional situations and life crises. Why? There’s a plethora of books written by or about real life singers coping with their real life situations and crises. Why not read them?

To pull off a plot like this, I think there needed to be more than what Barnett gave us. Cass, our singing heroine, has the typical personal relationships: a horrible mother, an ill father, an alcohol and drug dependent husband. We get to read about her tours and stage appearances, where she suffers from nerves, and how she writes deeply personal songs from her heart. There's also the obligatory mental breakdown.

This might all work on the screen when you have the likes of Bette Midler belting out a song about a rose but in this case I felt there was nothing new or exciting about the plot. I didn't cry. I didn't cheer on any of the characters. I didn't desperately want anyone to hook up romantically. I pretty much skimmed through the last 30% of the book.

Along with Cass’s family members, there’s a lot of supporting characters who flit in and out of the book. I mean, a lot. And I have to admit I didn’t even try to remember who was who and what part they played in Cass’s life after a while.

The lyrics of Cass’s songs feature at the beginning of each chapter. I remember a writing friend telling me once that songs never work in novels. I think she was right.

In a move to make the book stand out, Barnett (and her publishers I assume) enlisted the help of Kathryn Williams to produce a ‘Greatest Hits Soundtrack’ bringing to life the songs featured throughout the book. I did find this 'soundtrack' and listened but it still didn’t increase my enjoyment of the book. In fact, I think the opposite happened. Part of the pleasure of a book is using your imagination and Barnett and Williams even stole that away. The fictional songs become real songs sung by a real person who didn't sound like I wanted the fictional person to sound like. I just… This felt like some sort of trendy meta thing that on the whole annoyed me.

Barnett obviously based Cass on a mixture of singers likes Kate Bush, Stevie Nicks and Joni Mitchell. I would recommend finding one of their biographies and/or their published song lyrics.

2 1/2 out of 5

I’m very keen on books that incorporate music into the story and I’m not fussy about the format it takes. Things I love: literary mix tapes; words put to song; songs put to words; and authors who include playlists in end-notes. So, of course I was going to read Laura Barnett’s latest, Greatest Hits.

Greatest Hits is a fictional memoir. Singer-songwriter Cass Wheeler reflects on her life by choosing sixteen tracks that define her. Each chapter begins with the lyrics to one of her songs, followed by Cass’s account of important events in her life. Cass’s childhood, in particular her relationship with her mother, sets the foundation for an interesting story, and it moves on to her troubled teen years, her discovery of music, her rise to fame, and her tumultuous relationship with fellow musician, Ivor.

The book is largely a character study, and the action is limited. Barnett has done a good job at creating a sense of time and place but there were elements of this book that didn’t work for me. Primarily, the suspense is protracted. The story is not chronological and the multitude of hints and teasers dotted throughout meant that by the end there were no surprises. In fact, the plot seemed overworked and devoid of emotion.

The childhood Barnett created for Cass gave her a rich platform for her story – so much of what happened with her parents could have lent itself to explaining Cass’s adult relationships. And yet, so much of ‘adult Cass’ seemed like it wasn’t anchored to these early experiences – a disconnect given that the book focuses on what defines us.

I also had the sense that Barnett had made Cass a little too ‘good’. Sure, there was teenage mischief, but after leaving home Cass manages to steer clear of the the bad behaviour and over-indulgence in drugs that came with her rock-and-roll lifestyle. While months on the road took their toll on the people around her, particularly on their relationships, Cass avoids most of it. Again, parts of the story that could have been charged with emotion, were oddly flat.

But here’s the really, really fabulous thing about this book: Barnett found a musician, Kathryn Williams, to record ‘Cass’s songs’. Barnett wrote the lyrics and left it to Williams to write the music and sing. You can hear the results here. It’s wonderful and I think Williams created Cass beautifully.

2.5/5 I probably made an unfair comparison to the brilliant The Versions of Us.

I received my copy of Greatest Hits from the publisher, Hachette Australia, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.