Book Review: Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm by Laura Warrell

Love is messy. Love can make us feel alive. It can also bring us down. Sometimes we look for it in all the wrong places. This is a novel about longing, desire and dreams; about passion and risk and all the places in between.

Maggie is pregnant with Circus Palmer’s child. This may be her last chance, but she craves her freedom.

Pia is Circus’s ex-wife, still in love with the fantasy of the man who conjured jazz tunes for her into the night, but who left many years before.

Koko, Circus’s daughter, is lost in the maelstrom of teenage years, the confusion of awakening desire and yearning for the father she barely knows.

Peach is a barmaid who just wants someone to see the person she is inside.

Odessa is on the run from a mistake that can’t be undone.

And then there’s Circus, Circus Palmer, a jazz trumpeter whose moment of glory is fading. Selfish, damaged, scared, perhaps the only person Circus is fooling is himself.

Delivered in a lush orchestration of diverse female voices, Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm is a provocative and gripping novel about the desire to be loved, and the need to belong.

*****

Circus Palmer seems to be at the centre of the lives of many women.

His ex wife, Pia, is trying to navigate being a parent to a teenager without much help from Circus.

Peach is wanting someone to see her and she had hoped Circus would be it.

Koko, Circus’s daughter is trying to discover the world without her Dad.

Odessa is trying to forget about a mistake she made.

Maggie is pregnant and she is not sure what her next move will be or whether she will see Circus again.

The premise of this novel intrigued me and I was pleased to have the opportunity to read Laura Warrell’s debut novel.

It did take me a little while to get into this novel and there are quite a lot of characters introduced. However, if I were to suggest who to leave out, I am not sure who to suggest as they all have a relatable story to tell and after a few chapters, I couldn’t put it down.

The characters really drive this novel and it gave me such a rollercoaster of emotions.

I had so much empathy for all these women. I connected more with some than with others. They are all at various stages of their lives. Circus was a tragic character. He was a person who didn’t realise what hurt and damage he left in his wake and I felt he needed to grow up.

Laura Warrell has done a great job of creating this world and I could see myself with these characters. I’m not a huge fan of Jazz but it’s weaved well into this book. The atmosphere it conjures up is rich and almost tangible.

I also like the dive into the dynamics of relationships and the mixture this book presented.

Overall, I feel that this is a strong debut. It’s perfect if you’re looking for a strong, female led story. I am interested to see what Laura Warrell does next.

Thank you to Doubleday and Netgalley for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review. 

*****

About Laura Warrell: 

Laura Warrell is a graduate of the Creative Writing Program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has attended residencies at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and the Tin House Writer’s Workshop, and has taught Creative Writing and Literature through the Emerging Voices program at PEN America Los Angeles, at Writing Workshops Los Angeles, and at academic institutions in Los Angeles and Boston. She currently writes and teaches in Los Angeles.

Her writing has been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Huffington Post, The Rumpus, The Writer, and Post Road Magazine.

Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm is her first novel.

Say hello to Laura on Twitter. 

Sweet, Soft,  Plenty Rhythm was released by Doubleday on 9th February 2023. Click to buy on Amazon UK, Amazon US and Waterstones. 

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.