From New York Times bestselling author Jane Green comes an unforgettable tale of redemption and reunion, where the echoes of rock and roll fame and the secrets that came with it lead a mother and daughter back to each other.
Former model Astrid Lane lives a quiet life as a caterer, far from her days as rock star Callum Blake's famous wife. When a retrospective about the 1970s music scene sparks renewed interest in that era, Astrid's estranged daughter Zara reaches out about a podcast discussing her father's career—and a long-buried tragedy that changed their family forever.
After a mysterious break-in at Astrid's cottage, mother and daughter find themselves drawn into an unexpected collaboration. Through a collection of old recordings and shared memories, they begin piecing together a story that's far bigger than their family's past. What they uncover will shake the foundations of rock music history and the powerful people who shaped it.
But amid the investigation, something unexpected blooms. As Astrid and Zara work to unravel decades-old secrets, they find themselves building something they'd both given up the chance to be mother and daughter again, this time on their own terms.
Former model Astrid Lane lives a quiet life as a caterer, far from her days as rock star Callum Blake's famous wife. When a retrospective about the 1970s music scene sparks renewed interest in that era, Astrid's estranged daughter Zara reaches out about a podcast discussing her father's career—and a long-buried tragedy that changed their family forever.
After a mysterious break-in at Astrid's cottage, mother and daughter find themselves drawn into an unexpected collaboration. Through a collection of old recordings and shared memories, they begin piecing together a story that's far bigger than their family's past. What they uncover will shake the foundations of rock music history and the powerful people who shaped it.
But amid the investigation, something unexpected blooms. As Astrid and Zara work to unravel decades-old secrets, they find themselves building something they'd both given up the chance to be mother and daughter again, this time on their own terms.
Title: Famous Once
Author: Jane Green
Publisher: Amazon First Reads
Expected Publication Date: February 1, 2026
Review:
Thank you to Amazon First Reads for providing me with this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I'm really loving reading novellas. While I love full length books, sometimes I'm just looking for a short story to consume. This hit that spot.
This is my first title from Jane Green. I'll need to look into her other titles to see if there is anything I might be interested in reading.
I enjoyed this story. For me, the characters were not as fleshed out as I would have liked them to be. While it's a novella, I know it's possible to grow characters in such a setting. I had a hard time connecting with them. The relationship between Zara and Astrid was nice. It would have been nice to get a bit of what Zara got from her famous father, Callum.
The plot overall was nice. I can see this as a longer story. It had the recipe of a story that could be great but fell short for me. A lot of background was glossed over and it caused me to not understand the story and characters as much as I think I could have if there had been a bit of a deeper dive into all of it.
I did enjoy the writing and can see where I might enjoy longer stories from this author. I will have to look into her more to see what else she has written and if those stories are something I want to consume.
Writing a short story that is complete is definitely not an easy task. While I enjoyed this enough, it just didn't feel complete to me.
Author:
Jane Green's twenty first novel, Sister Stardust, is out April 5th 2022.
She is the author of eighteen previous New York Times Bestselling novels, and known as one of the world's leading authors in women's fiction, with over ten million books in print, and translations in over 25 languages.
Previous novels have included The Beach House, Second Chance, Jemima J, and Tempting Fate.
She joined the ABC News team to write their first enhanced digital book— about the history of Royal marriages, then joined ABC News as a live correspondent covering Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton.
A former journalist in the UK, she has had her own radio show on BBC Radio London, and is a regular contributor on radio and TV, including as well as regularly appearing on television shows including Good Morning America, The Martha Stewart show, and The Today Show.
Together with writing books and blogs, she contributes to various publications, both online and print, including anthologies and novellas, and features for The Huffington Post, The Sunday Times, Cosmopolitan and Self. She has taught at writers conferences, and does regular keynote speaking, and has a weekly column in The Lady magazine, England’s longest running weekly magazine.
A graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York, Green is bringing out her first cookbook: Good Taste , with Berkley in October 2016.
She is a storyteller for The Moth radio hour on NPR,
and lives in Westport, Connecticut with her husband and their blended family. When she is not writing, cooking, gardening, filling her house with friends and herding chickens, she is usually thanking the Lord for caffeine-filled energy drinks.
She is the author of eighteen previous New York Times Bestselling novels, and known as one of the world's leading authors in women's fiction, with over ten million books in print, and translations in over 25 languages.
Previous novels have included The Beach House, Second Chance, Jemima J, and Tempting Fate.
She joined the ABC News team to write their first enhanced digital book— about the history of Royal marriages, then joined ABC News as a live correspondent covering Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton.
A former journalist in the UK, she has had her own radio show on BBC Radio London, and is a regular contributor on radio and TV, including as well as regularly appearing on television shows including Good Morning America, The Martha Stewart show, and The Today Show.
Together with writing books and blogs, she contributes to various publications, both online and print, including anthologies and novellas, and features for The Huffington Post, The Sunday Times, Cosmopolitan and Self. She has taught at writers conferences, and does regular keynote speaking, and has a weekly column in The Lady magazine, England’s longest running weekly magazine.
A graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York, Green is bringing out her first cookbook: Good Taste , with Berkley in October 2016.
She is a storyteller for The Moth radio hour on NPR,
and lives in Westport, Connecticut with her husband and their blended family. When she is not writing, cooking, gardening, filling her house with friends and herding chickens, she is usually thanking the Lord for caffeine-filled energy drinks.
No comments:
Post a Comment