REVIEW:

What’s your cure for a book hangover? I’m going to need it after finishing Amy Harmon’s latest triumph, The Songbook of Benny Lament.

“‘Do you know why they call your daddy Lament?’ he asked. ‘It sounds like Lomento. His name is Jack Lomento. Lament is a nickname.’ ‘Yeah, but do you know what a lament is? No? Lament means to cry, to wail, to mourn.’”

So it’s fitting to say I’m lamenting the end of this novel that so richly immersed me in the lives of Benny, the Italian songwriter, and Esther, his Black muse. Their 1960’s-set story of mobsters and musicians is so enchanting it’s hard to imagine any reader not being captivated by it. There’s something for everyone:

• New York mafia

• Motown music

• Racial issues

• 20th century US history

• Romance

• Mystery

Mid-length chapters are punctuated by an interview between the fictional Benny and the real Barry Gray on his WMCA Radio show. Barry is talking through Benny’s career, and the chapters are flashbacks to the stories behind his hit songs. The interview takes place on December 30, 1969, and much of the flashback storyline takes place over Christmas - making the book an ideal choice as a December pick for anyone (like me) who loves seasonally-appropriate novels.

The audiobook narrator is fantastic (particularly in the WMCA Radio show segments) but I personally preferred the story in print. Either way though, the only choice you’ll lament related to this book is the one to not read it.

The Songbook of Benny Lament and Harmon’s other novels are available as part of the Kindle Unlimited program with WhisperSync for those who prefer the audiobook format. (As of 3/24/21.)

PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:

New York, 1960: For Benny Lament, music is his entire life. With his father’s deep ties to the mob, the Bronx piano man has learned that love and family can get you in trouble. So he keeps to himself, writing songs for other musicians, avoiding the spotlight… until the night his father brings him to see Esther Mine sing.

Esther is a petite powerhouse with a gorgeous voice. And when Benny writes a hit song and performs it with her, their collaboration thrusts the duo onto the national stage… and stirs up old issues and new scrutiny that the mob—and Benny—would rather avoid.

It would be easier to walk away. But the music and the woman are too hard for the piano man to resist. Benny’s songs and Esther’s vocals are an explosive combination, a sound that fans can’t get enough of. But though America might love the music they make together, some people aren’t ready for Benny Lament and Esther Mine on—or off—the stage.

From the bestselling author of What the Wind Knows and From Sand and Ash comes a powerful love story about a musical duo who put everything on the line to be together.