Music can be so inspirational to an author, and songs referenced in a novel can draw readers into the story. Readers must rely on imagination to see the physical appearance of the characters, to consider how their voices might sound, etc., but a song is something real that can actually be heard.
While writing, I visualize my novel as a movie, and I always create a soundtrack. I have a playlist for all of my books—for example, my first novel, Other Words for Love, is set in the 1980s, and many songs from that decade helped with crafting the setting and the story. My latest novel, Charmed, takes place in the present day—but its playlist is retro for various reasons. Each song has meaning, and these songs include:
“Who Loves You” by The Four Seasons
This song from 1975 is mentioned in the first chapter of Charmed, and it is also the title of that chapter. As the novel begins, its main character, Prisca Weld, attends a party to celebrate her father’s seventieth birthday, and the song is played during the party. The Four Seasons was a popular band when her father was in his twenties—as Prisca is now. The song also relates to Prisca’s longing to find true love.
“Last Dance” by Donna Summer
An upbeat song with a melancholy intro, Prisca hears this song while still at the birthday celebration and after she learns some distressing news. The beginning of the song reflects Prisca’s emotional state, and it also helps to set the scene, as “Last Dance” is often played at the end of a party. It also indicates something from the past that Prisca needs to leave behind.
“If You Could Read My Mind” By Gordon Lightfoot
This song is among the collection of vintage records that was given to Prisca by her mother. Prisca hears the song on an oldies radio station while in a car with Timothy Aldrich, a family friend. She confides in Tim about an event in her family’s past that she wouldn’t share with anyone else, and she’s glad he can’t read her mind or he would know that she has hidden feelings for him.
“Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” by Culture Club
Another song from the record collection, it is one that Prisca connects to a memory of her first boyfriend. The title also relates to other aspects of the story, including the deep-rooted conflict within Prisca’s family.
“The Very Thought of You” by Ray Noble
Charmed takes place in New York—mainly in Brooklyn, but also on Long Island and in Manhattan, and Prisca hears this song while inside the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center. Like the Rainbow Room, the song has been around since 1934, and it adds to the romance of a scene that takes place on Valentine’s Day.
Prisca Weld expected to become Mrs. Nick Fontaine before any of her friends walked down the aisle. Nick worked for her father’s lucrative construction business, and he and Prisca planned to start a family in her upscale Brooklyn neighborhood. But she’s heading into her late twenties, and she hasn’t achieved her most cherished goals.
Years ago, Nick abruptly abandoned Prisca and ran home to Las Vegas, leaving her with nothing but questions about what went wrong between them. Since then, she has struggled to forget him, and she hasn’t found anyone she can love as much as she loved Nick. All the best men seem to be out of reach—including Tim Aldrich, a family friend who has recently returned to New York after launching his career in California. Prisca has been drawn to Tim since they were kids, although she believes her attraction to him is as futile now as it was then.
But she still hopes to fulfill her dreams, and she also wishes she could resolve the endless conflict between her traditional father and her unconventional brother, whose childhood scars from his and Prisca’s parents’ contentious divorce are still fresh. Prisca has wounds of her own, and she tries to heal them while attempting to unravel old secrets that have been hidden for too long.
Romance | Women's Fiction Contemporary | Romance | Women's Fiction Contemporary [Tribeca Press, On Sale: October 22, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9798990833142 / eISBN: 9798990833104]
Lorraine Zago Rosenthal is the author of four novels. Her debut, Other Words for Love, was published by Random House (Delacorte Press). New Money and its sequel, Independently Wealthy, were published by Macmillan (St. Martin’s Press). Lorraine was born and raised in New York City, and she is a graduate of the University of South Florida. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s degrees in education and English. She currently lives near Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband.
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