Tuesday, November 2, 2010

The Perfect Love Song by Patti Callahan Henry


The Perfect Love Song:
In The Perfect Love Song, Callahan Henry tells the story of Jimmy Sullivan, who has been living on the road with his brother, Jack, and their band The Unknown Souls. The road is Jimmy’s only home and music his only savior until he falls in love with a beautiful girl, Charlotte Carrington. Spending time with Charlotte inspires Jimmy to write a love song for her, which becomes an overnight sensation and is dubbed “The Perfect Love Song.”

As Jimmy finds himself caught up in the desire for fame and fortune, the genuine lyrics of the song are overshadowed by his career ambitions. He begins to lose touch with Charlotte and makes a decision to miss his brother’s wedding in Ireland for a chance to put on a show in New York City.

But on Christmas Eve Jimmy comes to a crossroads: Will he finally get the chance to perform on one of the biggest stages of his career?—or will he find his way back to his family, to Ireland…and to the love of his life, Charlotte?



Patti Callahan Henry has written a sweetly romantic story about life and priorities, it’s about a man who didn’t believe in love and what he finds is the greatest love of his life. The story is told from the perspective of a third perspective, and it’s not until the end of the book that we find out who it is (no I’m not going to tell), and there were times that I felt that the narrator’s voice was stronger than that of the characters. Although I really enjoyed the story as a whole, I didn’t feel much of a connection to any of the characters. If they had been explored a little deeper the story would have been so much richer, instead I felt the surface was barely skimmed. Jimmy loses sight of what’s most important in his life to go on tour during the holiday season and the scheduling will make him arrive too late for his brother’s wedding. It takes a compelling visit from someone in his past to make him see that by missing his brother’s wedding, he would be losing more than he is prepared to give. A series of what seem to be Christmas miracles enables Jimmy’s journey to Ireland success – and just in time.






1 comment:

  1. This sounds like a really good book. I'm adding it to my library list. I'm currently reading a memoir called Voices of the Heart by Linda Lambert Pestana. It's a book on courage and hope...an amazing story that helps people to value and honor themselves and there own story. I've found it empowering and motivating.

    ReplyDelete

Sorry about the CAPTCHA folks. I'm getting too much spam again!!

Thank you for taking the time to comment! I read every one that I receive and I appreciate your thoughts.