The Bayleen Island Folk Fest of 1969 is set to welcome headlining folk artist Jesse Reid until he crashes his motorcycle on the way to the show.
Now, it’s up to local band The Breakers, fronted by the equally beautiful and talented Jane Quinn, to step on the main stage and deliver a performance grand enough to make fans forget their disappointment over the missing headliner.
The fateful performance lands The Breakers a record deal and an unexpected friendship between Jane and Jesse that grows into a passionate affair on the road. Jane is enamored by her lover, captivated by the media circus, and caught up in the magic of touring. Unfortunately, Jane and Jesse both have secrets that threaten their careers and their relationship.
Eventually Jane finds herself at rock bottom and records her heartache on what will become an iconic album.

Loosely based on the love affair of James Taylor and Joni Mitchell, Songs in Ursa Major holds so much promise but didn’t deliver for me. We are introduced to characters but never get to the heart of their relationships or forge any true development, the writing is lovely but becomes too flowery at times (especially the dialogue - seriously, no one talks like that), and there is a whole lot of telling rather than showing. I love a good Behind the Music story but this one was frustrating because I saw the author’s intent but also the struggle to pack the punch in delivery. The doomed romance of Jane and Jesse was bland and the “secrets” that tore them apart felt paper thin, Jane was all over the place running away from everything that didn’t go her way but I never understood her reasoning/intentions or cared enough to try, and I wasn’t swept up in the atmosphere that I expected of the 1970s touring rock stars.

It’s all a bit too contrived for me but it will be a perfectly acceptable beach read this summer.

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Songs in Ursa Major is scheduled for release on June 22, 2021.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Publishing Group for the free copy!
All thoughts and opinions are my own.

TW: drug use, overdose.

The book is a wonderful coming of age story set in the late 1960s and early 1970s music industry.

Jesse Reid is the headlining act for the Island Fold Fest but sadly the fans are disappointed when Jane Quinn and her band The Breakers take the stage instead. They amaze the crowd with their amazing performance and the rest is history.

I loved the determination Jane had throughout this book. She didn’t take anyone’s crap and she thought for her solo career. Throughout the story, we see how music helps her through the hardships in her life and starts her path towards healing.

The author did a very great job shining a light on mental health in this book which I enjoyed.

If you loved Daisy Jones and the Six then you’ll most likely love this! I believe Songs in Usra Major is gonna be summer must read. Emma Brodie is a very talented author and I’m excited to read more from her in the future!

Book releases on June 22nd so make sure you pick up a copy!

I was invested in Jane and Jesse’s story and how it affected their music careers. The book mostly deals with Jane’s budding career and how she makes her way in the industry. The way the events were described seemed realistic. What I found most compelling were the song lyrics. I wish I could have been listening to them as I read.

First Daisy and The Six, then Mary Jane, the Songs in Ursa Major... The music scene of 70s with its drug fueled atmosphere started to grow on me more and more. Music didn’t appear to be what it is today; lyrics had meaning; songs had stories. It wasn’t like let’s twerk; it doesn’t matter if the lyrics don’t even make sense. I’m salty much as you can tell.

Jane was part of a band that tried to make big. They got an amazing opportunity when star of the time, Jesse, got in an accident and Jane’s band was asked to cover his spot at a local fest. Jane stepped on the stage and the rest was history... A new star was born. But the story wasn’t about Jane’s path to stardom but about her personal life, intimate bits her past. Jane and Jesse were your typical rock and roll love story, until it became more than that. And that ‘more’ is what makes this story different

I especially loved the strong women played significant roles in this story. Jane was raised by strong women that taught her to be independent. It made her stand her ground when dudes tried to take what was rightfully hers. But just like all the women came before her, one guy changed everything for her. If you are into strong female lead and 70s music scene, you’ll like this book!

For fans of Almost Famous, Daisy Jones and the Six, and Mary Jane.

When young, talented local Jane is asked to step in with her band to the Bayleen Island Folk Fest - she has no idea that it will change her life forever. With undeniable talent and a soft-spoken allure, Jane is ushered into the music industry quickly, scooped up to go on tour and record albums - but it's the early 70s, and being a woman in the music industry can be, well, troubling. When a dark secret comes to light, Jane has to decide who she can trust, and whether or not making it in the industry is worth all that it'll take.

An excellent read, loved the time period, loved the vibes!

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for advance access to this title!

Thank you Emma Brodie for a thoroughly enjoyable journey through the 1960’s and 70’s music scene.
When folk singing troubadour Jesse Reid is injured in a motorcycle crash and fails to show at the Island Folk Festival a replacement is found in local Jane Quinn and her band the Breakers. Taking the stage, they captivate an audience filled with Jesse’s fans and give a life changing performance.
As Jesse recovers, a friendship with Jane develops and leads into a love affair (reminiscent of the one shared between James Taylor and Joni Mitchell). He becomes her advocate helping with the production of her first record and guiding her through the pluses, minuses, sexism, addiction and mental health issues that surround her as she faces the task of being a star. Here, Emma Brodie shines with her adept writing skill. She understands the industry and her well developed and familiar characters. She sprinkles lyrics throughout which enhance the story and entertain the reader making for an unforgettable story.
My thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review of this highly recommended read.

I adored this book. Emma Brodie brings to life a time that parallels my experience as a 70s teenager who adored CSNY, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, The Dead, Led Zep, The Beatles — I could go on and on. There is incredible musicality woven throughout the novel. The tales of what it’s like as an artist with a big record company, the rampant misogyny mixed with glitter and glam, rang with authenticity. The love story felt so true. I highly recommend this one! Could not put it down!! Thank you once again, Netgalley, for proving me with an advanced reader copy for review. This book could not have been more delightful and will make a perfect summer hit.

Songs in Ursa Major was an interesting read. Every time I thought I knew what this book was, it morphed into something different. Was it a family saga? A romance? A quest to find one's true self? A story of the ins and outs of the music business? Yes and no. While it contains elements of all of those things, the book itself cannot be neatly placed into one genre. The main character, Jane Quinn is sometimes likeable but more often comes off (at least to me) as whiny and ungrateful. Her stubbornness has it's place at times, but most of the time is off putting. Thankfully Jane is only one of the characters we meet. Greg and Kyle are written beautifully. Though they are bit players in the story, they are the character actors that make the show. Grace and Elsie are strong, level headed women who we can cheer for and love. Jesse is the prerequisite tortured soul who draws us in, even when we know we should pull away and Willy is the one who ties it all together.

This book meanders all over the place. Just as one storyline is wrapping up, another appears. It was very episodic which was not at all a bad thing, just a different flow and vibe. Overall the story was enjoyable and much less predictable than you would think.

If bad language puts you off, be aware that it is sprinkled liberally throughout the book. There are also a few R rated love scenes that seem to be more gratuitous in their descriptions than is necessary.

"The year is 1969, and the Bayleen Island Folk Fest is abuzz with one name: Jesse Reid. Tall and soft-spoken, with eyes blue as stone-washed denim, Jesse Reid’s intricate guitar riffs and supple baritone are poised to tip from fame to legend with this one headlining performance. That is, until his motorcycle crashes on the way to the show.

Jane Quinn is a Bayleen Island local whose music flows as naturally as her long blond hair. When she and her bandmates are asked to play in Jesse Reid’s place at the festival, it almost doesn’t seem real. But Jane plants her bare feet on the Main Stage and delivers the performance of a lifetime, stopping Jesse’s disappointed fans in their tracks: A star is born.

Jesse stays on the island to recover from his near-fatal accident and he strikes up a friendship with Jane, coaching her through the production of her first record. As Jane contends with the music industry’s sexism, Jesse becomes her advocate, and what starts as a shared calling soon becomes a passionate love affair. On tour with Jesse, Jane is so captivated by the giant stadiums, the late nights, the wild parties, and the media attention, that she is blind-sided when she stumbles on the dark secret beneath Jesse’s music. With nowhere to turn, Jane must reckon with the shadows of her own past; what follows is the birth of one of most iconic albums of all time.

Shot through with the lyrics, the icons, the lore, the adrenaline of the early 70s music scene, Songs in Ursa Major pulses with romantic longing and asks the question so many female artists must face: What are we willing to sacrifice for our dreams?"

This summer's Daisy Jones and the Six?

This is a debut book by this author and I can’t wait to read more of her creations!!
This book is set in the music scene of the last 1960’s and 1970’s and if you live that time period ( I do !) this book will not disappoint!

I really wanted to love this book.

I was expecting Daisy Jones and the Six, or maybe The Happy Ever After Playlist, or even A Star is Born. This book has high aspirations, but it's none of those things. It's barely coherent.

Jesse Reid and Jane Quinn are supposedly based on James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. I hope Sweet Baby James and Joni don't read this -- they'll be shocked to find that they're so boring. This book has no plot -- it's just a long string of "this happened, then this happened, then this happened." There's also very little character development. In the end, I still hadn't learned the difference in Grace and Elsie and Maggie, because there was nothing about any of them that made them different from each other. Jane and Jesse don't have much personality either -- I kept wondering why anyone would be interested in either of them.

I figured out toward the end that Charlie and her condition were supposedly some big secret, and that Jane's refusal to talk to Jesse about it was what split them up (that, and a heroin addiction). But that's extremely unclear. We keep hearing about how Jane shouldn't tell Jesse too much -- um, okay. About what? I had no idea what was happening. It's so poorly written and poorly plotted.

I have so many questions about how this book made it past an editor. Rock stars aren't created overnight from one lucky performance. Where do we see Jesse and Jane falling in love? Suddenly they just ARE. Has the author ever experienced drug addiction or mental illness in her family? They don't work at all the way she describes them. We're supposed to believe there were no signs of Jesse's addiction until one day Jane just catches him with a needle in his arm? That's not how that works. Naloxone was not a thing in the early 70s -- no way some random nurse on an island was carrying it around in her kit and saving the lives of rock stars with it. Charlie's condition is a secret? Why? Are you ashamed of her? Jane takes off to Greece and has a breakdown of some sort, but it's never clear what brought that on. As near as I could tell, nothing was so awful as to cause that. And the things that WERE awful were of Jane's own making, and within her power to fix. The dialogue is atrocious. We keep switching points of view from Jesse to Jane to Morgan to Willy and sometimes to obscure characters that don't even matter. What little climax there is to the story is completely manufactured and comes out of nowhere, and it's all wrapped up in a sappy epilogue that will satisfy exactly no one. It's all just so stupid.

I really wanted to love this book the way I've loved other books based on musicians and the history of rock and roll. But it's just so bad.

An interesting story of love, friendships, conflict and forgiveness. Emma has a way with words that makes you feel what the characters are experiencing.

This is a book about music, love and tragedy. Parts of it reminded me of A Star Is Born as I was reading it. I liked the characters, even though Jane seemed a bit cold and overly dramatic at times, I couldn't help be a little envious of her and her talent. It did start out a little slow at the beginning but then found myself having a hard time putting it down. All in all a very good story.

This is a book about music, love and tragedy. It reminded me of A Star Is Born. Though similar in theme, Songs in Ursa Major provided a fresh look at young love, the music industry, and its stars. I appreciated the aspects on mental illness that were part of this novel.

Reminiscent of another book I read, Daisy Jones and the Six, Songs in Ursa Major is a deep dive into the story of Janie Q and her band The Breakers. From their first performance, through their breakup and Janie’s journey as a solo artist this story took me on a ride. I love all the detail, but felt at times there was too much metaphorical language. This is a delightful escapist story perfect for Summer.

Songs in Ursa Major is an intriguing novel set in the folk rock world of the late 1960's - early 1970's. It is a leisurely paced novel, but the characters were complex and compelling. I love the time period this book depicts and that added quite a bit to my enjoyment. I recommend this novel especially for fans of ' 60's - 70's music.

Really enjoyed this story the world of the band .The characters are all well written a book that will make a wonderful movie,will be recommending.# netgalley #knopfdoubleday

Overall this was an enjoyable book, with an interesting exploration of the music industry and a highly complex character.

I was very torn on this book, and I had very high hopes, as I love books about musicians. Reading the book, I had a little trouble getting into it as it was moving a little slow for me, I actually stepped away and came back. For the middle portion of the book, I was drawn in, I liked the speed of the book and the storyline did not feel completely predictable. There were choices the lead character makes that make sense for the character, but leave you feeling like if she were your friend, you'd be saying, "What are you thinking?" Then, at the end of the book, I could feel the predictable ending coming, and I was glad when it didn't take the easy way out, however, the ending still left me confused, or at least, not satisfied.

The characters were well defined, and I felt like they remained true to themselves throughout. Hopefully without giving too much away, I did dislike the character arc concerning the main character's mother. It felt like an add on - there were signs along the way, but they were too obscure for me to immediately catch, and while it contributed to the main character, I just felt like there was a better way to introduce/explore that part of the story line.

The story is interesting and kept my attention, I just felt there were little jags here or there that distracted me from loving the book. Give the book a chance, it isn't perfect for me, but it will work for others.

So this definitely needs to be made into a movie. I want to hear these songs and see the relationships play out. Loved Jane's journey and her need to do things her way.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable story about the ups and downs of the music industry and a flashback to the music of the 60's and 70's. In the beginning of the story it had a Woodstock vs A Star Is Born kind of feel to it.
Jane was trying to break into the industry and trying to remain faithful and include her band members that she's been with since school. After the main performer, Jesse , isn't able to appear, she has her chance to take the main stage.
It was entertaining and also covered some difficult times. If you enjoy books from this era and about musicians I think you will like this book.