A book about love, loss, and the power of music, perfect for fans of
Nick Hornby and Fangirl.
Taliah Sahar Abdallat lives and breathes music. Songs have always helped
Tal ease the pain of never having known her father. Her mother, born in
Jordan and very secretive about her past, won't say a word about who her
dad really was. But when Tal finds a shoebox full of old letters from
Julian Oliver--yes, the indie rock star Julian Oliver--she begins to
piece the story together.
She writes to Julian, but after three years of radio silence, she's
given up hope. Then one day, completely out of the blue, Julian shows up
at her doorstep, and Tal doesn't know whether to be furious or to throw
herself into his arms. Before she can decide, he asks her to go on a
trip with him to meet her long-estranged family and to say good-bye to
his father, her grandfather, who is dying.
Getting to know your father after sixteen years of estrangement doesn't
happen in one car ride. But as Tal spends more time with Julian and his
family, she begins to untangle her parents' secret past, and discovers a
part of herself she never recognized before.
By the acclaimed author of My Heart and Other Black Holes, this is an
intergenerational story of family and legacy and the way love informs
both of those things. It's about secrets and the debt of silence. It's
about the power of songs. And most of all, it's about learning how to
say hello. And good-bye.
