String Bridge by Jessica Bell #review

Title: String Bridge
Author: Jessica Bell
Publisher: Vine Leaves Press, 2013

Let me start this review by saying this book resonated with me hard, from the moment I picked it up. Melody gave up what could possibly have been a highly successful music career in order to get married and have a baby. Now thirty, she is involved in educational publishing while her husband is an events organiser. Her four-year-old daughter Tessa is the apple of her eye.

Yet Mel is consumed by a nagging discontent of what might've been if she'd not given up her music. Not only that, but she's also looking at further career opportunities that might require her to leave Athens. And this is a source of conflict between her and Alex.

Things certainly don't become easier for Mel, as her attempts to regain her mojo result in her life becoming more and more complicated. Every decision she makes will result in further problems. Must she be sensible or dare she risk it all for her dreams that have been put on hold for four years?

On top of it all, Alex's behaviour – see-sawing between brutish and caring – makes things incredibly difficult for Mel. Though she wants to find herself on her own terms, she can't escape the fact that she still loves her husband and must acknowledge the bond between them in their daughter.

Jessica Bell writes from the heart. She made me care about Mel and her loved ones right from the get go. Mel is completely relate-able, and her turmoil was immediate. I wanted her to succeed in all spheres of her life. I wanted her hurt and confusion to be resolved. Just when I thought things were fixed, Bell then went and pulled the figurative rug from beneath my feet – and I hurt some more, along with Mel.

This is a beautiful, tragic and inspiring story. If you've got a dry eye by the time you reach the end, you probably don't have a heart. But then, I definitely think I was the intended reader, especially as someone who sits with one foot in the publishing industry, and the other in music. And now I'm going to stop gushing otherwise I'll sound like a complete frothing fangrrrrl. If you love music: *THIS BOOK*. That is all.