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"A beautiful story"

In Missouri, a car accident kills the mother of the Norris sisters leaving them with only each other as their father has not been around forever. The older sibling, Mary Beth uses her uncanny ability to know people's desires by "reading" the songs that stay and play inside their heads to earn money and prestige. As a song reader she has helped the townsfolk, who cherish her. By being her sibling, her preadolescent sister Leeann too has received some of the accolades. People heed the advice of the older sister when it came to marriage, divorce, and just about any other affair of the heart relationship choices.

However, the heroine quickly falls off the pedestal when her advice turns tragic. Not only are some of her former worshippers down on her, but Mary Beth cannot cope with the subsequent disaster. She retreats inside her own world, leaving it to Leeann to face the truth and search for their lost father even while struggling with the collapse of her too human champion.

THE SONG READER is a delightful look at a family already in trouble when a new crisis nearly debilitates the breadwinner. Lisa Tucker avoids soap opera clichés with her powerful portrayal of the two sisters, whose relationship with one another and with townsfolk dramatically turns on one event. Readers fortunate to read this insightful character study will sing the praise of Ms. Tucker for this unusual tale.

© Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted May 17, 2003

Mary Beth and her younger sister Leeann are trying to support themselves in their small Southern hometown. So, to make ends meet, alongside her job at the diner Mary Beth works by practicing her own unique talent: 'song reading'. By making sense of the song lyrics people have stuck in their heads, Mary Beth can help them make sense of their lives. In no time, Mary Beth's readings have the entire town singing her praises, including scientist Ben, who falls hard for Mary Beth and her unearthly intuition. But Mary Beth's gift leads her to a secret truth about a prominent neighbour and, as a consequence, the fragile structure of the girls' orphaned life comes tumbling down around them. Each secret seems to domino another until the sisters' whole complex emotional history is laid bare. And without Mary Beth's music the town's silence is louder than ever. Could it be that the lyrics to all those foolish love songs really aren't so foolish after all?