After reading The Rose Project and The Rosie Effect, I was thrilled to receive an advanced reader copy of The Best of Adam Sharp by Australian author, Graeme Simsion.  Thank you to Harper Collins for this sneak preview and opportunity to provide an honest review of the novel which will be published on April 11th.

The Best of Adam Sharpe was a palate cleanser after the excitement and drama of last week’s Canada Reads.  Those of you that follow regularly will know that I have been immersed in Canadian Literature, culminating with my opportunity to be part of the studio audience for the exciting finale.  It was hard to let that experience go, so The Best of Adam Sharp was just the ticket!

Adam Sharp was an IT consultant, travelling across a number of countries, when he met the love of his life, a soap opera actress named Angelina.  He moonlighted as a pianist and was unaware of her fame as he accompanied her singing.  Knowing their time was limited, they took a chance with building a relationship linked by their love of music.

Fast forward twenty years.  Adam has been in a committed relationship with Claire for two decades. The relationship is tired, the couple are sleeping in separate beds to combat Adam’s snoring and they have no children.  Claire is talking about a term position in the US and Adam is not interested in leaving England.  Adam opens up an email from Angelina, who he had not spoken to in decades,  and they begin flirting over the internet.

It is hard not become immersed in what will happen next and for me, this book was a one day read (and perhaps resulted in being a bit tired on Sunday)!  The Best of Adam Sharp was very different than The Rose Project and I have to admit that I was conscious that it was a male author during some of the “spicier” parts.  The book is full of missed opportunities and regrets which makes a reader ponder their own relationships.

My favourite part of the book was the links to music that followed the characters through their lives.  I found myself looking up the songs as they came up in the text and listening to the myriad of genres (youtube makes it so easy)!  The end of the book includes a playlist which is helpful.  This made the book delightfully unique and I learned a bit of music trivia throughout the story.  If you enjoy different decades of music and are looking for an entertaining read, pick this up when it is published in Canada next week!