What comes next after heartbreak (Rochester, Minnesota; present-day with backstories): Tracey Garvis Graves writes with a big heart. Heard it in a Love Song treats you to two “caring, salt-of-the-earth” hearts.
To get into the life-at-a-crossroads mood of the novel, listen to the lyrics of this Fleetwood Mac song, Landslide, the author cites as inspiration for her ninth novel in a Dear Letter addressed to readers of advanced copies. Note the words sung in the video below ask the central question/theme of the novel: “Can I sail through the changing ocean tides, can I handle the seasons of my life?”
(For a playlist of all 28 songs referred to in the novel, see here.)
The two hearts: One, the protagonist’s. Thirty-five-year-old music teacher Layla, fresh from a difficult divorce after ten years of marriage (papers pending). She’s the primary character asking the fundamental-to-the-romance plot question. That’s not to say the second heart isn’t struggling with the same question after his twenty-year marriage ended (he too waiting for the paperwork to make the break official). Josh Summers, slightly older than Layla, is an electrician who doesn’t have as much time to dwell on how to move forward socially as he’s a devoted dad sharing custody of his precious daughter, Sasha, a kindergartner in Layla’s music class. Layla is also the teacher who greets the students and their parents when they drop off and pick up their children, meaning she sees Josh often.
Recognizing there’s a chemistry between you and one of your student’s parents is tricky. Not as much, though, as entering into a new relationship after a divorce because: a) you’re not ready, b) you’ve been burned, and c) you don’t trust yourself, so you’re cautious and not sure you can tell the difference between genuine emotions from rebound ones.
Layla is the one who gave up her guitar/singing dreams of becoming a “rock goddess” in a band for a man whose values didn’t mesh with hers. Josh was the one happy in his marriage until two people married-too-young outgrew one another.
One reason Graves’ characters touch us as much as they do is they’re quite relatable. Relationships and emotions hit a nerve, regardless of whether you’re divorced, thinking about it, unhappy in your marriage or other type of relationship, or you’re single. Like wanting another chance at the brass ring. Like accepting ourselves, and stop blaming ourselves when relationships go wrong. Like closing ourselves off when they do. Most of all, not compromising the important things you want in life, after figuring out just what they are.
Music and journaling therapy are key to helping Layla recover and discover herself. The pandemic has shown us that having or cultivating “creative outlets” for coping, escaping, healing, and feeling good about ourselves are therapeutic. Graves may not be a songwriter, but uses her creativity to compose lyrics that sound like the music she loves.
Dogs as companions also soothe. Assistive-therapy dogs bring joy and can be life-savers. Dog adoptions surged during the pandemic. The cuddly addition of a “giant, white fluffy” senior dog named Norton, who can’t-stand-to-be-alone, is part of this picture. Josh adopts him for Sasha, providing more opportunities for Layla and Josh to get to know each other when she volunteers to watch him when Josh can’t.
Feel-good novels are Graves’ hallmark, presented with realistic challenges along the way. Feel-good is in limited quantity these days, depending on your outlook and circumstances. So, like author Taylor Jenkins Reid’s testimonial on the novel’s cover, “I cannot get enough of Tracey Garvis Graves.” Enough of her warmth, kindness, and romantic prose – darn good at crafting “flirty.” After reading and reviewing her last novel published in 2019 (a prolific author, writing nine novels in about nine years) The Girl He Used to Know, and inhaling On the Island (published a year before this blog was launched), you learn the author has a gift for tugging heartstrings.
This romantic story is told simply and easily, without the frilly prose. Don’t be fooled, though, because the emotions and issues raised aren’t simple or easy at all.
How many times have you told a friend, “I will be fine,” when it’s not true? When does compromising in a marriage (partnership, relationship) get out of balance? Are you unhappy in your marriage, but don’t “have the energy to rock the boat”? Afraid of being on your own financially? Perhaps currently without a job, so you don’t have insurance in case of an emergency – the plight of millions and Josh’s soon-to-be-ex. Do you feel like you’ve failed if your marriage did, so now you “second-guess every decision”? Are you dealing with custody issues, so there will always be a bond with your ex, an obstacle to fully letting go? Or, for whatever reason you find yourself single, do you feel like an outsider amongst your friends? Disheartened you may never find your soulmate, having tried or won’t use a dating app (as happens in the novel), as it’s too risky and who believes what anyone says about themselves online these days?
Ideally, you’ll meet someone naturally. In this romantic set-up, at your child’s school.
Layla and Josh have chosen professions that aren’t fancy, elitist, high-paying jobs. Making lots of money isn’t what drives some of us. Nor appreciate the yo-yoing worrying about your partner spending like crazy, like Layla’s ex did.
Elementary school teachers aren’t well-paid, particularly compared to their critical value in a child’s formative years. Josh didn’t go to college since he loves using his hands and solving wiring problems that can save homes from bursting in flames (as happens in the novel early on.) His friends also chose non-academic careers. Maybe like the reader, someone in your family, or circle of friends. Josh’s world is the working, middle-class our country has forgotten for too long.
The narrative style of this novel differs from others Graves has written in terms of alternating timeframes. Instead of separating Present and Past by chapters, the Now and Then are integrated within a chapter in several pages of italicized flashbacks. The flashbacks smoothly transition from something expressed in the Now that reminds Layla and Josh of their past.
Initially, I wanted more of Now than Then, but as the story develops the flashbacks offer an interesting perspective for understanding what happened in two marriages that didn’t work out. Given 50% of all marriages end in divorce, it’s a worthy literary technique for providing a vehicle for people to see and reflect on past errors of judgment or other mistakes made hoping not to repeat them again.
The prose strikes the right note, even when the anger of youth seen in the flashbacks is sometimes profane. Used in context and not overwhelming, it’s washed over by the rest.
Romance aside, Layla also has a dear friend, Tonya, who teaches at the same school and consistently watches her back. Another, Annie, she’s come to know well having taught all three of her rambunctious boys. The three have fun and show friendships can make all the difference too.
Freewill, apt title, is a song that “always stuck with Josh,” the words “simplistically yet profoundly true.” Precisely the way this pleasing novel comes across.
Lorraine