Novels with a soundtrack. Their soundtrack, our soundtrack. The Soundtrack to your life.

I like to believe that each one of us, certainly those of us who are part of the original Generation X and later, like to believe we have soundtracks to our lives. (That's the 'Boomers'. So called after a paperback published in the 1960s). This gave me the idea that since music has played a vital part in my life it would also be the same for Mack and Effy in the novel. So as each chapter was written I added a 45 record from the time line to 'resonate' with the story line at that moment as a sub-title. Why? Good question. Music from the Fifties onwards came to have an unprecedented place in the lives of people and especially the young generation. Each popular song remembered and loved became over time a marker in the memory recalling events. The association of songs and music with both happy and sad events is very much a part of our lives. The better our memories the more songs we associate with life events. This Old Heart of Mine by The Isley Brothers, still a firm favourite, reminds me of having my heart broken as a seventeen year old teenager by 'S' a girl from Hipperholme. Even 50 years later it is still poignant but the very joyful way it was recorded became a sound of hope for better things to come in the future. Pretty much every song that would be included in my massive soundtrack would recall some event for better or worse. In writing this I feel sure it would be the same in the lives of many of us. That's the beauty of music. Somewhere I once read that a King living in medieval times would give up his throne and kingdom to live in our times just for the music available. I can see the logic as some one who lived through the second half of the Twentieth Century. The quantity and quality of music available over the radio and other media gave each life an untold beautiful gift. I'm grateful for that reason to have lived in these time. If you read the novel can I suggest you listen to the music that forms an essential part of the story line. How you do this will be up to you. Before the chapter, after it, or at the end of the novel retracing the storyline. Whichever way you choose I hope it will make the story resonate more strongly with reading the book.