Play for Me

“With a background as a music reviewer, Keating combines the soul-searching of Eat, Pray, Love with the rock ’n’ roll fable of Almost Famous to create a novel of midlife crisis with music at its core.” —Booklist “I was so moved by Play For Me. Lily is thrown off kilter by loss when her son goes off to college, and seeks a remedy by reliving her own youth when she becomes involved with a touring rock band. Though the story revolves around issues of morality and fidelity—what do we owe ourselves versus what do we owe our loved ones—I cared about each character and hoped he or she would find happiness. The two men, JJ and Stephen, represent different paths, both appealing, and the twists and turns that Lily goes through in her attraction to each of them had me wondering right up until the end what she was going to decide. This is a page turner in the best sense. Céline Keating is a wonderful wise author who offers her readers the deep satisfaction of a smart story told beautifully.” ­ —Alice Elliott Dark, author of Think of England and In the Gloaming “Evocative, philosophical, and downright entertaining, Play for Me had me turning pages as if to discover the fate not only of its winning heroine, but of myself.” —Alethea Black, author of I Knew You'd Be Lovely “Music pours out of this wonderful novel. Play for Me exquisitely captures the lure of the songs that define us—and of those who sing them—and how they posit the dubious possibility of endlessly transforming and transcending routine existence. In Lily, Keating has created an unforgettable character whose depth, wit, and passion sparkle on every page, and whose quest to redefine herself in the second half of her life is at once painfully and joyously familiar.” —Susan Segal, author of Aria “What draws people to music and musicians? The answer speaks to the transformative power of music and art: that which makes the difference between mere existence and a life fully savored. In Play for Me, Céline Keating has woven together the story of a late-life journey to explore one’s authentic self. For her character Lily, music and beauty as redemptive forces prevail, despite heart-wrenching ups and downs. You need not be a music aficionado to be riveted by this eloquent tale.” —Alan Fark, the editor of minor7th.com “Play for Me is a serious, moving, and utterly delightful portrait of a woman wavering between the bonds of fidelity and the pull of desire. Céline Keating knows as much about the world of folk/rock music as she does about the workings of the heart.” —Hilma Wolitzer, author of An Available Man