I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it had been a bit shorter. The overall story was good and I enjoyed it. But I felt in places that the author took too long to tell that part of the story. I liked the idea of the story of Cass's life being told by her songs. I liked the way the book was put together and the story piece by piece.

Greatest Hits by Laura Barnett covers a myriad of difficult topics and each of them is impressively and sensitively dealt with. This beautifully written book was a pleasure to read and has definitely made Laura Barnett an author I will look out for.
It has been ten years since singer/songwriter Cassandra Wheeler last produced an album. Ten years in which she has secluded herself from a world she felt was too painful to live in.
Now Cass has decided the time is right to being out a greatest hits album with some new material included alongside it. A retrospective look at her life via the medium of song, in particular, her favourite songs. The sixteen songs she picks are songs from defining moments in her life and make for an enthralling read.
She thinks‘I could forget today, couldn’t I? Just lie here, under the covers. Draw them up over my head and sleep. She thinks, No. You have done too much sleeping. Today is the day you wake up.’
One of the first memories Cass introduces us to is the first time she performed in front of anyone other than just her family and a few close family friends.
Laura Barnett has a unique writing style, one that pulls the reader in and keeps them immersed until the last minute. I like the way the songs are peppered throughout the book and the lyrics are brilliant. Common Ground and I Wrote You a Love Song.
She was born Maria Cassandra Wheeler in April 1950. Her father, Francis was a preacher and used to give inspiring sermons at his Sunday service. One of her most treasured memories from her childhood involved spending evenings with her father while he read to her.
Her memories of her mother were much more complicated and painful. Their relationship was always off balance but it was changed forever when Cassandra was around ten and her mother walked out on her and her dad. Contact after that was sporadic and stormy.
She was first introduced to music when her mum’s friend Irene taught her to play the piano. Her love of music really grew though after her mum left and she went to stay with her aunt Lily and her uncle John.
John and Lily played all their favourites to her and introduced her to a number of musician friends. Also, they treated her like an adult and gave her the space to be the person she wanted to be.
The biggest influence in her life, and the cause of most of the issues she had to face, was Ivor Tait. A man she both loved and loathed over the years. Their relationship was certainly a tumultuous one.
This book was impossibly alluring and definitely one I would recommend.

I really struggled to engage with this book; I guess I would rather read a biography of a real musician. It was obviously well-researched but I didn't find it compelling, personally. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

Spent the first half of his book expecting there to be a plot. Once I realised that the story was not going to develop further I actually quite enjoyed it. The flashback scenes however are quite confusing. It's difficult to tell when the story refers back to the past again.

I enjoyed the way Cass' story was told in this book with song lyrics prompting her reflections on different stages in her life. It was also interesting to discover at the end that these lyrics are now fully formed songs which can be listened to.
However, I did feel Cass' story wasn't really a unique one and didn't shed any new light on the era or the difficulties of fame. Sadly I also struggled with the author's style at times and some of her sentences seemed never ending!!

Although the sections about Cass as a child were quite good (if sad), I struggled to engage with the present day part of the story. I found the references to the songs a bit dull and it was hard to work out who some of the characters were. Sorry to say I gave up and did not finish the book.

This is a fictional biography of the British singer and songwriter Cass Wheeler. Cass was a successful musician and then she had a breakdown. Cass Wheeler is taking a journey back into her past. After a silence of ten years, the singer - songwriter is picking sixteen tracks that have defined her -sixteen key moments in her life - for a uniquely personnal Greatest Hits album. In the course of one day the story of Cass's life emerges. The highs and lows of music, friendship, ambition, love and great loss.

What a unique idea. To write the story of your life through songs. We all have a song that we remember good and bad times. I loved this book. A good read with some good music from the 1960's and 1970's

I would like to thank NetGalley, Orion Publishing and the author Laura Barnett for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Probably not the right time or mood - I didn't make it far into the book, found it sort of boringly depressed and didn't trust it to pick up later. Sorry!

Did not finish – for whatever reason, I wasn't able to connect with the characters or story, and was unable to complete the book.

Sometimes, rarely, you start a book and it envelops you straightaway. You know that you will follow the adventure to the end and enjoy every last word. Well for me this is one of those rare books; the characters became real their situations believable and it was easy to become immersed in their life stories.
Cass Wheeler singer songwriter, born 1950, looks back on her life and chooses her music tracks which highlight a significant event or chapter in her life. From an unhappy childhood through troubled teenage years and her emergence onto the music scene, each chapter or track is carefully constructed. Looking back from her 60 plus years Cass begins to understand, forgive and maybe just start to live again.
My only adverse comment would be that sometimes it was difficult to keep up with all the different characters, especially those from the music scene.

Cas Wheeler sets aside a day to listen to the songs that she made as a successful artist, each song bringing back memories of her life. She relives the trauma of her early years when her mother deserted her and her father, her father's retreat into grief and her discovery of music. Her failed marriage and the tragedy of her daughter's life cause her continued pain as she blames herself for her child's demise.

As Cas recalls her life she thinks of more recent events; how she has fallen in love but has pushed the man away, and she fears it is too late to reconcile. Listening to her music is a healing process and by the end of the process she seems ready to move on. As the reader I was willing her on to make the right move, and wishing her a happy ending. This brilliant book keeps up the suspense right to the end - a top read.

Laura Barnett has certainly succeeded in following up on the success of Versions of Us. This is equally good and original.
The novel is built around songs from the Greatest Hits album by the fictional Cass Wheeler. The 16 tracks lead us through Cass's life from a child through to global success as a singer songwriter and into her later years. They lead us through her childhood and teens, through to early years as an emerging artist through to international stardom, love, marriage, motherhood. Surprisingly, even though this is obviously without sound, there is a sense of the music that forms the backdrop to her life. Definitely recommended.

I loved this. The structure is simple but effective, the story so affecting (it did make me cry) and there was so much to relate to in terms of mistakes, the burdens of sorrow and anger, parenthood and the redemptive power of music. I think I need to reflect on it some more before posting my review online but I wanted to say immediately how much I loved it. Thank you for letting me read it.

Very unique with the song lyrics and who wrote and produced song. Even had a discography at end of book. At one point during reading I stopped and googled Cass Wheeler to see if she was real.
I really enjoyed it, good story that spread over a lifetime, only reason not 5 stars was because it dragged a bit at the end. Worth a read.

I was looking forward to this book. I loved The Versions of Us, and this new one really appealed.
Cass Wheeler, a famous singer, who is making a comeback, is looking back over her life, over the course of one day, while getting ready for a party to celebrate her Greatest Hits album.
Cass is about my age, and her music is my kind of music.

Her story is told in episodes, interspersed with song lyrics, and at first I was drawn into the story.

Maria Cassandra Wheeler is the daughter of a London vicar, and his much younger wife, and I enjoyed the early part of the book, but once she left the family home to live with her Aunt, I found her increasingly annoying.
She has no connection with the people around her, including family, and seems to be able to drop them and take them up again at will, with no concept of the damage she is causing.

By the end of the book, I really didn’t care what happened to her, I was far more interested by some of the minor characters, and would liked to have known more of them.

Very disappointing.

Thanks to Netgalley and Orion Books for the opportunity to read this book.

I looked up Weidenfeld and Nicolson, the publishers of this book, on Twitter and they say they 'specialise in exceptional fiction and non-fiction'. I think it is fair to say that Laura Barnett's Greatest Hits comes into the category of exceptional fiction. I loved the author's debut work, The Versions of Us, but think I may like this one even more.

Retired and reclusive singer Cass Wheeler is putting together songs for a Greatest Hits album. As she listens to her songs as she tries to select them, she looks back on her career and reflects on her life. She has written hundreds of songs, had a eventful life, experienced love and loss and stopped singing ten years ago after a personal tragedy struck.

Each of the chapters of the book begins with the lyrics of one of Cass's songs and mentioned when it was written, which album it appeared on (if any) and who was involved in the production. An album of the songs will be released at the same time as the book, with singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams bringing Cass's songs to life. It's a really intriguing concept and I'm looking forward to hearing the songs.

Cass Wheeler is a wonderful character. The way her story is written going right back to her difficult childhood, following her singing career, her love life, motherhood and the sad losses in her life all helps to make her a fully rounded person. In fact she is such a strong believable character that it felt as though I was reading the biography of a real singer, rather than the story of a fictional character.

Greatest Hits is exactly the kind of book I enjoy. It moves effortlessly between past and present hinting at and revealing a little of what happened as the story progresses. Cass was a character I totally believed in and I so enjoyed reading her story. Even though she had known much sadness in her life, she had also known much joy and love and lived a full life. There were other terrific characters in the book too notably Cass's Aunt Lily, her assistant and friend Kim, Ivor her partner both musically and romantically, and her supportive friend Johnny. There were a lot of characters who moved in and out of Cass's life particularly in the music industry and I did on occasion lose track of who was who especially if they only made brief appearances but I'm sure that's down to my poor memory rather than any fault on the part of the author.

Greatest Hits is a book which I am sure will be a huge hit (pun completely intended!) when it's released. It's a book to lose yourself in as, along with Cass, you relive her life through her music and memories. It's a story about loving and losing and coming to terms with your past and is full of emotional highs and lows.

I loved this book, the idea of telling a story through a choice of songs is great, only problem was it made me cry while I was on a plane which got me some odd looks!

Thank you to Orion Publishing who provided an ARC via net galley in return for an honest review.

It was with a squeal of happiness that I downloaded the ARC to my kindle. The Versions of Us had been one of my favourite reads of 2015 and I nervously started reading Greatest Hits hoping that this would be one of my favourite books of 2017. Needless to say, it is, but my review cannot possibly do it justice. As Cass herself says about the writing process "when she did try to write about them, they seemed to lose something in the recollection, turn to hazy facsimiles of the lucid images projected in her mind"

Cass Wheeler is the singer/song writer who we are introduced to as a recluse in her 60's who has lived the last few decades hidden away in the country, away from the music industry and social life. She is pulling together an album of her greatest hits. Not the songs that sold the most, but the songs that tell the story of her life and hold the most meaning to her.

The songs that she chooses allow the reader to experience the pivotal moments in her life and the family and friends who have had the biggest impact on her. The mistakes that Cass feels she has made and gradual acceptance of her rich and varied life are all explored in her song lyrics and the memories that these lyrics spark in her. The songs and the emotions and meaning behind them that became so much a part of my life over the days that I read the book, I actually feel that Cass Wheeler is a real person and if I google her there will be a multitude of internet articles about her.

The writing is a dream, with musical echoes in the language used. One particular image that stuck with me was the way that the bees buzzing in the garden were described. It is evident that everything has been meticulously researched for the book, but never to the detriment of the story or the emotions hidden in the pages.

I held off finishing the book for as long as I was able, because I really didn't want Cass's story to end.
I shall be buying this in hardcover as soon as it is released.

I enjoyed reading this. Cass was an intriguing character, and I particularly liked the parts of the book dealing with her childhood - the story of her birth, her relationship with her father and everything that happens with her mother were brilliant and, by far, the best parts of the book for me. I also really liked Aunt Lily & her husband John - their kindness and understanding towards Cass was beautiful. It's after Cass runs away from them that I struggled a little, perhaps because I began to dislike Cass for her behaviour. I could understand why she was acting the way she was, but you could see it was going to end in disaster for her.
I wasn't always sure about the songs that began each section - I liked the idea of it, but without any music it was sometimes hard to 'feel' them, and they often seemed a little short! I also felt the book went on just a bit too long. I could see what was coming with Anna, and the run up to that dragged on rather along with the other loose ends to tie up. I think I would have given this more stars if it had finished a little faster. But generally, this was an enjoyable read.

I found this a brilliant and unusual read. It is a fictional biography of the flawed life and times of the British singer and songwriter Cass Wheeler. It rings so true and authentic that it is hard to credit that it is indeed fictional. Cass had been a wildly successful musician until her sudden and abrupt departure from the music scene when tragedy struck and she suffered a breakdown. This has not prevented a host of rumours and speculation as to what exactly happened to her.

Now in the present, Cass is in the process of selecting sixteen songs from her huge back catalogue which serve to inform us of her life story through the songs and lyrics. Each of the songs is the structure for this book. Nostalgia and memories pour out from Cass, going back and forth in time to illuminate her very full life and the artistic and compulsive drive within her that inspires the songs. What emerges is a poignant journey into the past that provides an opportunity to understand her mistakes and come to terms with all that life has thrown at her and find some measure of peace. She had an uneasy childhood, unsettled teenage years, marriage, separation, and became a mother with all the attendant demands that placed on her and having to come to terms with mental health issues. The mismatch between being a mother and a hungry and devouring music industry is outlined.

There is real emotional power to Cass's story and you really feel it in the narrative. The highs and lows of a life in music that captures an era in British cultural history. It gives an unfiltered personal history, with joy, love, failures, regrets and all that it takes to live delivered beautifully through the frame of the music, songs and lyrics which define Cass Wheeler. Such a wonderful and unusual read which I highly recommend. Thanks to Orion for an ARC.