Jane Start is a little lost. She is a musician who hasn’t written a song in a long time. She’s a romantic who just got dumped when her longtime boyfriend left her for his girlfriend. She’s smart but living back at home. So when her manager Pippa calls her up about a job in Las Vegas, a chance to sing her big hit for a small gathering, Jane decides to say yes. She could use the money, yes, but she could also use the distraction.
In Vegas, things at the party go badly, when it turns out to be a bachelor party where they expect her to sing her well-known hit, in the iconic pink wig she wore in the video, to the karaoke track. She is insulted but still a professional, so she sings the song. But then she escapes with Pippa and the handsome guy she met in the elevator back at the hotel. Alfie and his brother Nick are rising pop stars from Australia, and while Jane is in Vegas, she figures it wouldn’t be unheard of to make some questionable decisions with Alfie while she’s there.
The next day, hungover and stalking her ex’s Instagram appearances, Jane is in need of something new. Something that isn’t going back to live at her parents’ house while she figures out what to do next. Pippa offers up her flat, and Jane thinks that a short jaunt to London might be just what she needs. But it’s the flight to England that changes everything, because Jane is seated next to Tom Hardy. He’s not the novelist who wrote Far From the Madding Crowd, and he’s not the actor. He is an Oxford don, and he seems to be having just as much trouble tearing himself away from Jane as she’s having tearing herself away from him.
They exchange numbers, and Jane hangs out in London, trying not to notice that he hasn’t contacted her. For weeks. And she finds out that Jonesy is playing Royal Albert Hall, and he wants her to join him. Jonesy is a huge star, a brilliant musician, with millions of fans worldwide. It was Jonesy’s song that Jane had sung for her one hit. All the music she wrote for herself, including her entire second album, never caught on with her fans. They all know the Jonesy song. And now Jonesy is back in her life, and he’s asking for her. In Royal Albert Hall. How can she say no?
And then Tom calls. And Jane goes to Oxford to meet up with him. And being with him is just as sweet and easy and exciting as it had been on the plane. It’s not long before she has moved into his flat in Oxford, trying to write new songs in the little room that feels made for her. But as they say, the course of true love never did run true, and Jane and Tom find themselves having to face some challenges to stay together.
Add in a black cat, stage fright, a cardigan named for Kurt Cobain, a manipulative rock star, secrets, song lyrics, a little brother, and Paris, France, and you have a sweet and stormy transatlantic romance that is as real as it is charming. From frontwoman of ‘80s female power pop group The Bangles, Susanna Hoffs, comes This Bird Has Flown, a romance with depth and art and awkwardness. The cultural references flow fast and furious, from the Beatles to My Fair Lady to W.H. Auden to Jane Eyre.
I loved This Bird Has Flown. I tried to read it quickly, but it wouldn’t let me. It wanted me to slow down and enjoy the ride, and I’m so glad I listened. Hoffs’ novel is as surprising and bewitching as The Bangles’ cover of “Hazy Shade of Winter,” and I enjoyed every word of it. If you were a fan of The Bangles, then you’ll enjoy this unique look at the music industry. But if you’re a fan of literary romance, then you’ll fall in love with this story and wait with bated breath (like me) for whatever Hoffs wants to write next.
Egalleys for This Bird Has Flown were provided by Little, Brown and Company through NetGalley, with many thanks.
