The Song is You: A Novel

by: Arthur Phillips

Published by: Random House

Reviewed by Julie Failla Earhart

With only four novels under his belt, “The Washington Post” has already claimed that Arthur Phillips is “one of the best writers in America.” Phillips’ latest, The Song is You, is a contemporary story set against a New York City background.

Successful adman Julian Donahue has lost his way. After the untimely death of his two-year-old son, Carleton, his marriage to Rachel unravels. While not quite experiencing a midlife crisis, Julian is decidedly in a funk. Impotent and seeking solace, Julian spends his days plugged in to his iPod, listening across musical genres. His bitter father, a Korean War amputee, found solace in the recordings of Billie Holliday, and Julian is positive that somewhere on his iPod , he will find the same freeing voice.

On a bitterly cold night, he wanders into a basement bar. At first, he isn’t too impressed with Cait O’Dwyer’s music, but he does buy a demo tape from the bartender. When he listens again in the subway, Julian finds his Billie, an Irish singer thirty years his junior.

Not quiet a love story, not quiet a stalker story, not quite the page-turner thriller, The Song is You is a haunting mixture of all three. Julian makes contact through a series of drawings and advice written on set of ten paper coasters. Cait returns the cryptic messaging via new songs.
Phillips’ pace is slow, with long meandering sentences that are sometimes difficult to follow, but are so beautifully crafted that they are worth reading two or three times before the meaning is crystal clear. As Julian’s obsession and pursuit of Cait escalates in a rather creepy manner, Cait’s blossoming under his scrutiny is also rather creepy.

As The Song is You nears its climax, the novel’s pace quickens and so did this reader’s heartbeat. Sometimes I was ready to throw the novel aside and proclaim I didn’t understand or like it. However, there was a haunting to the story that kept me returning, to reading until an unexpected conclusion.

Armchair Interviews says: A 5-star story that grabs you and holds you to the very end.

Author’s Web site: http://www.ArthurPhillips.info