Wait for Me

A Novel

A READ WITH JENNA TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB PICK

From the author of Mercury and Shiner comes a novel about the bond between two female folk singers, the love stories that haunt them, and the music that brings them together to burn bright.

This program features music performed by Gail Shalan, Mark Sanderlin, and Broadway star Patti Murin.

Young folk singer Elle Harlow reaches the height of her prowess in 1973, with two wildly beloved albums to her name and a hidden history of impossible heartbreak. When she sets foot on the famed Grand Ole Opry stage, a far cry from the mountain that raised her, Elle gives the biggest performance of her life. Then, to the dismay of shocked fans, her producer, and the man who still loves her, she vanishes.

Almost two decades later, eighteen-year-old Marijohn Shaw is spending her summer pumping gas, writing songs on her broken mandolin, and longing for a mother. Her father, Abe, has always sworn he was the last person to see Elle Harlow alive, but when a meteor strikes the woods of their sleepy Pennsylvania town and a piece of Elle’s past emerges from the wreckage, the truth of her disappearance sets fire to everything Marijohn believes about herself, her music, and her ability to love with abandon.

Wait for Me exalts the lush hills of Appalachia and the bright lights of Nashville as it reveals the legacy of Elle Harlow, the bold voice that defined her, the intimate betrayal that undid her, and the unexpected faith of another young woman determined to resurrect her.

Song lyrics written by Amy Jo Burns, music by Mark Sanderlin, produced by Macmillan Audio.

A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Wait for Me left me speechless with its frankness and beauty. Amy Jo Burns’s enthralling prose is not unlike protagonist Elle Harlow's Appalachia: lyrical and transcendent, but homegrown and honest. An absolutely gorgeous exploration of friendship, authenticity, and the power that a few strings and a well-written lyric can wield.”
—Shelby Van Pelt, author of Remarkably Bright Creatures

“Amy Jo Burns has written a soul-stirring marvel in Wait for Me—a novel as wild, lyrical, and full of longing as the songs at its center. Every lyric is a clue, and every character sings with bruised, unforgettable beauty. I would follow Amy Jo Burns anywhere she leads.”
—Paula McLain, author of Skylark and The Paris Wife

"Numinous and unforgettable, Wait for Me thrums with the heart of a songwriter and the soul of a gifted storyteller. With music and atmospheric beauty, Amy Jo Burns holds our hand along the broken path to wholeness, and proves once again that women can reverse the order of the world. This atmospheric novel left me breathless and in awe.”
—Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea

"The novel is insightful in its depiction of complex relationships between women and of the grueling and sometimes dark sides of the music business."
—Kirkus

Touching story

Thanks to Jenna Bush Hagar for recommending this read. I truly enjoyed the story and the way the music was incorporated into the performance. I highly reccomend this book!

Honesty an sorrow

No words can describe how much I liked an loved this book. It was a 5 star rating all the way ! The incertion of music was so well timed !

Fabulous!

Beautiful story with compelling characters. Incredible interweaving of grief, healing, love, loss, regret, forgiveness and more. And tied together with powerful characters and the power of song to tell stories and to spring from stories. You won’t regret spending a credit on this!

Narration was hard to listen to.

Narration for Elle was choppy and hard to listen to.
The writing was just ok. I don’t like to hear the same phrasing throughout a book such as “they sang their guts out”. Some of the descriptions of the woods and nature were so trite - I had big eye roll moments throughout the book

Dentist visit

Too long, at times boring...frustrating.
Too many analogies.
I liked the characters. I wanted to love it.😢