Ever pick up a book that draws you in, only to find you’ve actually read it before? Such was the case for me here as I revisited the fourth novel from Natasha Solomons: The Song Collector.

In 1946, Hartgrove Hall has seen better days. Brothers Jack, George and Harry Fox Talbot  (known as “Fox”) must find a way to save the family home from ruin. Wanting one more night of former glory, Jack insists on throwing a New Year’s Eve party, and into their lives comes Edie.

“It’s a terrible thing, to covet your brother’s girl…”

Fifty years on, Fox’s world has fallen apart following the death of his beloved wife. Once a celebrated composer, he has shut out the world entirely and lost his love of music. A chance to look after his young grandson Robin reveals the young boy’s astonishing talent as a piano prodigy, and Fox begins a journey to look to the future again as he reconciles with his past.

One of the things I love most about this book is Solomon’s ability to write simply yet evoke a whole realm of emotions; she doesn’t waste words or become overly descriptive until it’s needed, and when she does describe in detail, she manages to shape things easily in my mind and make them very vivid.

The way she handles the novels central themes of love, grief and music is powerfully evocative:

“I want her to understand that I’ve written this part for her… I see in her face that she knows it too,and as she sings, a pure iridescent sound that reverberates through me, I catch her eye, wide with surprise. Listen to what you can do, I tell her through the music. Listen. You are the nightingale but not the one they think.”

“Then in the sudden silence, the grief would catch me and bear me off on grey tides. I was helpless until it receded once more and despair dwindled into ordinary unhappiness.”

“He listened with his his hands held out before him, fingers spread as though catching notes like snowflakes. The hall glowed with sound. It poured down upon us from the gallery in reds and gold and yellow.”

There’s a sense of love for the setting of Hartgrove, in all its colour and sound and music that’s incredibly charming and kept me engaged despite the fact that at times, things can feel slow.

The book covers two time periods, and jumps between them frequently for each “chapter”. On the whole this frustrated me a little as I found myself more emotionally invested and interested in Fox and Robin’s present story, and there are some moments between them I wish were developed more before we headed back in time.

That being said, the earlier period in the novel offers us the space for character development, particularly for Fox. As a young man, he’s incredibly sweet yet shy and his passion for music leaps off the page and warmed my heart, and it’s important to see that so the present story keeps its context and emotional pull.

I like a love triangle as much as any reader may, and I enjoyed this one mainly because I couldn’t really see why the brothers are attracted to Edie. She sings beautifully which captivates the musician in the family and Jack finds her physically attractive being his handsome, roguish self, but I found her character a bit lacking in depth otherwise, and interestingly she became more interesting to me after her death, by the way Fox describes her you almost feel her absence as intensely as he does.

As mentioned before, things can feel a little slow, but things do pick up as it moves along; it’s almost like a series of musical movements, which drives home why music is at the heart of the novel. As someone who considers herself a lover of music, I appreciated this quality and the theme immensely; it immediately gave me a way to connect that I didn’t always find with all the characters.

There’s nothing hugely earth shattering within the plot, but Solomon’s writing manages to convey a relatable warmth and spirit that I find intoxicating: I’d love to read more of her work!