In Night Music by Jojo Moyes the author poses a question. What would you do if your beloved husband and father of your two children suddenly dies, leaving you with a mountain of debt. But then, you unexpectedly inherit a crumbling house in the Norfolk countryside.
So begins a new chapter for violin player Isabelle Delancey in what she believes to be a blissful setting and a new start for a family in mourning. However, nothing is that simple. For a start, the house is falling apart and her kids hate being ripped away from their London life.
We aren’t in London anymore
“Isabel was freezing. She couldn’t remember ever having been so cold. Somehow the chill of the house had penetrated her bones, so that no matter what she did, however many extra layers should put on, warmth eluded her.”
But it isn’t just the state of the Spanish House that’s the problem. The cranky old man who’d finally died went back on a nine-year promise. He was supposed to bequeath the house to his neighbours the McCarthy’s. So, when philandering Matt McCarthy is hired to do the renovation work, he seizes the opportunity to bankrupt the new owner.
When you’re an incomer, who can you trust?
“ ‘What that man is doing is immoral.’
‘You can’t see that, Asad. You have no proof.’
‘Proof.’ Asad snorted as he stacked peppers on the vegetable display. Red, yellow, green, in meticulous order. ‘It is plain to see that he is pulling the house apart from the inside. You only have to mention his work to Mrs McCarthy for her to turn the colour of this.’ He held aloft a red pepper. ‘She is well aware of what he is doing. This is probably something they have cooked up between them.’ ”
Night Music ticks along nicely with its cast of villagers rubbing shoulders (and other parts of their anatomy) up against each other. This is the third novel by Jojo Moyes I’ve read, and it clinches the bronze medal. It’s not that it isn’t well written. Moyes is undeniably a great writer, and you easily whip through the pages. Night Music didn’t grip me the same way and I wasn’t as emotionally invested in the characters as I was with her other two books. However, it should be noted Me Before You was my joint favourite novel of 2023, and I loved The Giver of Stars. So, it was going to be extremely difficult to top them.
Who wants to be the same anyway
And at the end of the day, isn’t that the wonderful thing about literature. What one person adores; another person shrugs their shoulders with a bemused expression. I suppose what I’m saying is that Night Music didn’t quite hit the same high notes (I couldn’t resist the pun) as her other two novels. If you love this author, please don’t let me put you off from reading Night Music by Jojo Moyes.