All Together Now

May 18, 2015
Hornby's (The Hive) newest is an uneven, familiar tale set in smalltown England. The Bridgeford Community Choir saw its glory days a decade ago, but still holds on in the present. When their singing coach gets into an accident right before a regional competition, they realize how desperate their current state is. They start roping in new members from across the village, whose lives become interconnected. Bennett, separated from his wife and laid off from his job, starts a whole new life in middle age. Tracy is a single mother with a secret who is struggling with her son leaving for Africa to find himself. Jazzy is a young woman who yearns for national stardom and feels confined by her small town. Annie has always put everyone ahead of herself and wants to rekindle her marriage. They band together with the rest of the choir to try to win the competition and bring the spark back to their lives and to Bridgeford. Readers familiar with smalltown ensemble-cast stories will find no real surprises here. The characters are broadly drawn and well-intentioned, their goals are modest, and sweetness suffuses the story. Hornby draws the central romance between Tracy and Bennett together well, but readers may come away feeling that they've read this story before.

May 15, 2015
A small English town suffering from everyday problems and decay rediscovers itself through the reinvigoration of its community choir. Bridgeford, "a tiny, inconsequential dot on the landscape of Britain," is both the setting for and subject of Hornby's follow-up to her popular debut (The Hive, 2013), and once again the author's focus is on relationships within a small community. The perils facing this un-special U.K. town are low-key yet significant: plans for a new superstore are threatening the independent shops on the main street; the local choir, already dwindling, has just lost its leader, injured in a car crash; and the general sense of shared involvement in public spaces and projects is ebbing away. The remedy lies in the townspeople themselves, but they don't know it yet. It will take the forward momentum of three figures in particular to bring about change for the many. Mysterious single mother Tracey will need to emerge from secrecy and share her talents; divorcing, jobless Bennett will have to cast aside his anonymity; and stalwart Annie must focus on her own needs instead of everyone else's. Lightly comic and as mundane as sliced bread, Hornby's storytelling conjures up a rose-tinted picture of a community in which problems are simply solved, bad characters easily vanquished, and new relationships fall neatly into place. Reminiscent of British films like Made in Dagenham, the novel offers a heartwarming fantasy of social cohesion and improved future prospects for almost all, as the generations come together for a wide-screen sing-a-long version of the Carpenters' "Sing a Song" and a last, irresistible dollop of feel-good factor. A pleasant if long-winded fable, as simple, all-embracing, and insistently cheerful as Pharrell Williams' "Happy," which is also part of the Bridgeford Community Choir's repertoire.

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Starred review from July 1, 2015

Warmth and a biting wit harmonize perfectly in this second novel (after The Hive) about the rebirth of an almost moribund community choir in the suburban village of Bridgeford, England, which is on the verge of losing whatever small-town charm it has left to superstores and outside developers. In this delightfully clever and emotionally satisfying story with an ensemble cast, Hornby (wife of novelist Robert Harris and sister of novelist Nick Hornby) zooms in on the personalities and drama within the microcosm of a local choir. St. Ambrose School and a couple of characters from Hornby's first book enter briefly, but while those who read The Hive will feel they're catching an inside reference, others will not be missing any necessary background. VERDICT This snappy comedy of suburban manners among the middle-aged is as heartwarming as a catchy pop song and as carefully arranged as classical choral music. Readers of Anne Tyler, Ann Leary, and other wry observers of human nature will enjoy visiting Bridgeford.--Laurie Cavanaugh, Holmes P.L., Halifax, MA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2015
Music is the bond that creates community in this celebration of a novel. After its longtime director is badly injured in a car accident, the venerable Bridgeford Community Choir needs new leadership and new members for a pending choral competition. So choir members use personal outreach, gently applied pressure, even downright bribery to add to their ranks. The narrative focuses on Annie, a salt-of-the earth mom dealing with a nest empty of three grown daughters and a husband often away in London at work; middle-aged Bennett, newly divorced and out of work; single mother Tracey, who dotes on her 21-year-old son and hides her past; and 19-year-old waitress Jazzy, daughter of a drug addict, who expects to make it big as a singer. Unexpected vocal talent emerges, and the democratic process prevails as the choir becomes a true center of its somewhat sleepy town. While Hornby's debut, The Hive (2013), had a satirical edge, this is a joyous tale that's likely to leave readers humming a tune or searching out a choir of their own.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)