Michelle Herbert reviews Greatest Hits by Laura Barnett…
Some writers are good at writing about life, this was seen in Laura Barnett’s debut: Versions of Us. In which Barnett told a story with three versions of a life, each shaped by one chance encounter, being told three times with one minor change, this sent Barnett’s characters in vastly different versions of themselves. In Greatest Hits, Barnett has narrowed her focus down to one person, Cass Wheeler, who is a singer-songwriter. This narrower focus has strengthened the emotional journey that Laura Barnett takes her readers.
Cass Wheeler, after years living a secluded life, has decided to come out of retirement. Cass has finally decided to release the songs that meant the most to her during her career. Over the course of Greatest Hits, we get to follow Cass down memory lane as she revisits sixteen tracks. Although this isn’t a straightforward biography of Cass’ life. Instead, we see the momentous points in time that led to the songs being written, as well as following Cass during the day, as she gets ready to launch her album. Throughout Cass’ reminiscence, there are portentous hints that lead up to Cass’ present-day.
At no point in this story did I feel that Cass wasn’t believable as a character. She has lead both a hard life, but also one with a sense of joy and freedom that few people will get the chance to experience. Cass at her core is strong-willed, but she is also racked with crippling self-doubt, both of which lead to conflict throughout the story. Cass can also alienate other people in her life, as they try to help her when she is struggling to hold it all together.
At its heart, Greatest Hits is all about the life and times of Cass Wheeler, although there are other well-rounded and unique characters, you rarely get to see what happens to them when they are not affecting or being affected by Cass’ life. Even with this focus on Cass there are a number of standout characters including Cass’ Aunt Lily, who always seems so carefree and cool; Ivor, the boyfriend and “bad boy” guitarist who gets her started on her road to fame, Ivor is so eloquently described that you know that whatever happens between him and Cass is going to be epic; last but by no means least is Kim, who is Cass’ rock in both good and bad times. These are just a few of the people who are part of the framework that makes Cass’ life so vivid.
The structure of the book is captivating, each chapter is titled after the tracks on Cass’ Greatest Hits. Track One is titled Common Ground, one of the first songs Cass ever writes. With this track, you can see that Cass channels her emotions into her songs. Some of the Tracks start in the present, with Cass gearing herself up to listen to a song, while others lead us straight into the past allowing us to see the events that led to the song being written. This allows Laura Barnett to slowly fill in the details of Cass’ life, as little by little details are revealed.
Another thing that makes this book so interesting is that Laura Barnett has teamed up with singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams to make the songs in this book a reality. More information on how to access this album can be found here: http://kathrynwilliams.co.uk/. At this time I haven’t listened to the whole album, although you can listen to Common Ground on Williams’ website, which I appreciated as it gave a new dimension to the story being told. Both the book and the album are due for release in Mid-June, so I don’t have to wait too much longer for the full album.
Greatest Hits is an evocative story that hits hard as you follow the ups and downs of Cass’ life. By the time I reached Track 15 I was in tears, I felt more exhilarating and connected to a story than I have in a while. Greatest Hits is an accessible story that may not be for everyone, but if you want to read a story that could easily be identifiable as being written about a real life musician from the 20th Century, I don’t think that you will be disappointed. Greatest Hits is one of those books that is hard to put down, and when you finish you will want to read again. I feel that this is a truly impressive novel, following a very strong debut.
Michelle Herbert
Originally published May 26, 2017. Updated April 15, 2018.
