Although I have always loved reading Jojo Moyes novels, for some reason I missed reading this novel when it was first published in 2008, so I was delighted to see it was available to read and review on NetGalley. I was very happy when my request for a digital copy was accepted and very soon I was reading it. The story centres around The Spanish house, with main themes of escape, jealousy and revenge.
When Isabel Delancey inherited the property from her uncle she made her new beginnings in the house with her two children. She was alone and debt-ridden after the untimely death of her husband. A city dweller, she finds country life quite difficult and isolating. Her nearest neighbours live a small walk through the forest away and her children are grieving the loss of their father. Unknown to Isabel, her nearest neighbours had been caring for their frail neighbour, Isabel’s uncle, and had expected the house to be left to them and were shocked and angry to having been used in such a shameful way.
With Isabel is her prised violin, a rare and exceedingly expensive instrument. It had been given to her as a present from her husband in the good old days when they were wealthy, carefree, and happy, when she indulged in her music and was lead concert violinist in an orchestra. Music was so important to Isabel, but having to give up her position in the orchestra when she moved into the Spanish house, she now plays only for herself and most often in the darkness of the night: mournful, engrossing and haunting melodies underlining her sadness and isolation. As the bereaved family settle in so the problems and bills begin to eat away at their pitiful capital. Vital repairs are soon in progress and Isabel is virtually clueless about how to run a house and cater for her family needs.
Gradually she makes friends with folk in the nearby village and begins to settle in and work out a routine for her family. As summer blooms and her daughter’s birthday looms up on her she arranges a celebration with friends and neighbours. At last she picks up her violin in celebration and plays for her guests what starts as a joyful gathering becomes a disaster and Isabel once again faces being alone and homeless. This is her story.
I was very quickly absorbed in this sad but compelling story. I felt sorry for the bereaved family, forced to sell their home to pay off the debts of their breadwinner and leave behind their friends, home and daily life of ease and security. I couldn’t quite believe in Isabel’s naivety and lack of wifely skills and motherhood, but she certainly did not deserve what happened to her throughout the story. With greed, obsession and revenge striking her, life is yet again turned upside-down and she has to be strong, full of resolve, ingenuity and purpose if she and her children are going to survive. Bur does she have it in her? 3.5* review.

Laura and Matt McCarthy have been looking after their sick elderly neighbour for years. Thinking that after he dies, they will be left the house. They pamper him even though he does not sound the most grateful person. But when he dies, they are in for a shock when the house is left to the last surviving member of the family Isabel Delancey.
Violinist Isabel has been recently widowed and been left a whole lot of debt so, being left The Spanish house is the last resort, after their beautiful home in Maida Vale in London. She decides to move in with her two kids, even though she hasn’t seen the property. So, when she arrives, she is shocked to see the house in a dilapidated state and the villagers are not the friendliest bunch of people. So, when she meets the neighbours the McCarthy’s, she is grateful that they will help fix the house up as Matt is a builder. But Isabel doesn’t know that Matt has a hidden agenda by helping her with the house. He wants it for himself.
Thank you, Hodder and Stoughton, for a copy of Night Music by JoJo Moyes. This is a re-release of the book that was published in 2008. This is a slow burner of a story if you haven’t read it yet. Quite different to the other books I have read from the author. Although some of the characters were hard to like and I was quite astounded that Isabel was quite slow to know what was going on around her. But nevertheless It had a great storyline.

My thanks to Jojo Moyes, Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the ARC of NIGHT MUSIC.
There's so much in this novel about the human condition and the characterization is second to none. Isobel came across as a Bohemian type whose interest in her passion, her violin, led her to miss chunks of her children's lives when they were small. The death of her husband meant she had to take up the reigns and put them first, and when they are forced to sell their much loved home in Maida Vale and move to an old house Isabel is left by a distance relative she must contend with the fall-out, in more ways than one. This story chimed with me as we are currently renovating an old cottage and I've had nightmares about all sorts of things happening, so some parts of this story had me on the edge of my seat. I loved it.

Starts with a heartbreaking situation and two very different threads of the story. When the threads combine the story really starts to move.
Enjoyed the twists and the human fragility and weakness within the tale.
Not my favourite jojo moyes book but I still enjoyed it.

After the death of her husband Isabel and her children move Spain to start a new life.
She is struggling to to look after her family and keep things together. Unfortunately the house is not what she expected.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review

Another really good book by jojo moyes. I didn’t realise this was a rerelease and that I’d actually read it before but I loved rereading it for the second time.

Another fantastic book by Jojo Moyes! She always knows how to create memorable and loveable characters with a fantastic plot!

Always a pleasure reading such a good book and I would definitely recommend this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a review.

I really enjoyed this book. I’ve never read another by this author before.

This is really well written and keeps you hooked throughout; with the many family secrets and the pleading from the reader that the protagonist finds her way.

Thanks for letting me read this

She has been conned into looking after an elderly neighbour with the promise of the house after he dies. He has been playing her for the fool. Her cheating husband insisted she carried on so they could get the house, do it up and sell it. But they didn't end up getting it. When her husband dies suddenly she's left to pick up the pieces.

I really enjoyed this book, it was well written and a nice escape. heart-warming, sad and a dash of humour, the perfect mix. Highly recommended

This is just a delightful book. The characters were interesting and just lovely. The plot was very sweet and equally gripping. I love Moyes and in her true style this book did not disappoint at all.

You can always rely on Jojo Moyes for a good read, and this is no exception.

The story of a family, and the story of a house: Isabel finds herself inhabiting the dilapidated Spanish House following the death of her husband, and a dire financial situation. However the local builder Matt McCarthy has always coveted the house and sets about 'improving' the house but with deliberately conniving methods.

Packed with great characters, and a wonderful character in the house itself, this is a satisfying comforting read.

I was really looking forward to reading another Jojo Moyes books and this didn’t disappoint. I loved the setting, the characters and the interplay between them. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Jojo Moyes does it again!

A beautiful, resonating book about loss and moving on with gorgeous descriptions, relatable characters and a fantastic storyline that reads so easily that you demolish the book in a few sittings.

Having read and adored ‘Me Before You’, I was apprehensive as to whether Moyes could uphold such a high standard of writing, however, she well and truly did. She is fast becoming one of my favourite authors!

Thank you Net Galley, the author and publisher for the advance copy of this book.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I really enjoy this authors books and this was no exception, fantastic storyline, great characters. Loved it.

A London family are forced to move to a derelict house in the country after their father dies. Initially I found this book quite frustrating as the mother, Isabel, has no practical life skills whatsoever to speak of. She can only play the violin and has no real connection with her two children. However this book did force me to question some of my prejudices, why was I so willing to judge Isabel harshly for not being involved in her children's lives and being dreamy and impractical? When I'm sure we could all name men who consider looking after their own children "babysitting" and are heavily focused on their careers without incurring very much judgement at all. I didn't love it, it is very readable, but it lacks some of the depth and characterization of Jojo Moyes' later work.

I really enjoyed the beautiful and lyrical writing of Jojo Moyes in this uplifting story of loss and starting over. An engrossing read. From the first page I couldn't stop reading it!

This was an engaging read with both the main female characters you can empathise with. Laura has taken care of an elderly man for years and put up with increasing abuse in the belief that the house he lives in will be her legacy after his death.
Isabel is suffering from the grief of losing her beloved husband and learning of the amount of debt her and her two children find themselves in. Her daughter Kitty has had to take up the reigns of dealing with everything and is mature beyond her 15 years.
Finding herself bequeathed a house in a distant relatives will , Isabel and the children leave behind their old life to take up residence in rural.Norfolk . Kitty is very resentful to leave behind her old school and friends and sell their beloved home to move halfway across the country . Her son Thierry has not spoken since his father's death and Isabel is hoping a new start will help him.
Laura has a husband, Matt she hardly ever sees. . Her life revolves around her son Anthony and having coffee mornings with the other women in their village . She was very disappointed when they found they hadn't been bequeathed their neighbours house after all and would have to watch another family moving her dream home.
Isabel was previously a professional violinist with a symphony orchestra. She finds solace playing her violin and the sounds carry over the distance to the neighbouring vicinityof the community. Her moods depend on the style of music she plays .
Slowly the family is drawn into village life and welcomed into the community . The house needs a lot of restoration work and Isabel soon finds her funds depleting. Will she end up having to lose the house that is finally becoming a home?
This is an ultimately heartwarming read and I really connected with the characters . It was well written and uplifting to watch the family recover slowly from their bereavement and changed circumstances and pull together into a tight bond.
I can't compare this to any past works as this is the first book i've read but I found this an enjoyable read and I thoroughly recommend it.

I love JoJo Moyes writing and this book was no different. It took a while for me to get swept along by the story and I did wonder for a while, where the story was going, but as the characters grew on me, I found myself quickly turning the pages to discover what happens to the family and their friends.
In the end, I found the book to be a thumping good read - it read like a movie with such beautiful descriptions that I felt I could see the house, the landscape and the characters so clearly. And a truly satisfying ending. I loved it.

This is an early JoJo Moyes novel that features the Delancy family living in London, but the accidental death of Isabel's husband leaves her devastated, grieving and in dire financial straits. The exclusive lifestyle she had become accustomed to is now well beyond her reach, and what is more she is ill prepared to adapt to her new circumstances. She is a violinist whose entire world had consisted of music, she is a mother of two children, Kitty and Thierry, but is a hopeless mother who had left the childcare to others. Out of the blue, she inherits a rundown property in the countryside, the Spanish House, from a distant relative and uproots her family to live there. Kitty has to grow up fast as she tries to pitch in and help, but Thierry has had serious issues ever since the death of his father.

Isabel is going to have to face enormous obstacles where Matt, a builder, and his wife, Laura, had helped to look after their elderly neighbour, not out of the kindness of their hearts, but with an eye on and expectation of inheriting the house themselves, a house that Laura had long coveted. The good looking and faithless Matt comes across as a good guy initially to the vulnerable Isabel as she foolishly entrusts the building works to a man set on sabotage and revenge. This is a story of love, loss, grief and secrets from a JoJo Moyes that is still developing as a writer, but I enjoyed this character driven melodrama of the Delancy family and its experiences of living in a small village community. Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton.

I really wanted to love this book. I loved Me Before You, and other books written by JoJo Moyes. I did not like this one, I did not like the characters at all, or the story line.