Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm

A Novel

By: Laura Warrell

Narrated by: Nicole Lewis

Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

GMA BUZZ PICK • How do we find belonging when love is unrequited? A "gorgeously written debut" (Celeste Ng, best-selling author of Little Fires Everywhere) filled with jazz and soul, about the perennial temptations of dangerous love, told by the women who love Circus Palmer—trumpet player and old-school ladies’ man—as they ultimately discover the power of their own voices.

“Elegant, unexpected and…unforgettable.”—New York Times Book Review

“A modern masterpiece.”—Jason Reynolds, best-selling author of Look Both Ways

It’s 2013, and Circus Palmer, a forty-year-old Boston-based trumpet player and old-school ladies’ man, lives for his music and refuses to be tied down. Before a gig in Miami, he learns that the woman who is secretly closest to his heart, the free-spirited drummer Maggie, is pregnant by him. Instead of facing the necessary conversation, Circus flees, setting off a chain of interlocking revelations from the various women in his life.

Most notable among them is his teenage daughter, Koko, who idolizes him and is awakening to her own sexuality even as her mentally fragile mother struggles to overcome her long-failed marriage and rejection by Circus. Delivering a lush orchestration of diverse female voices, Warrell spins a provocative, soulful, and gripping story of passion and risk, fathers and daughters, wives and single women, and, finally, hope and reconciliation.

©2022 Laura Warrell (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FINALIST• GMA BUZZ PICK • AN OPRAH DAILY FAVORITE BOOK OF THE YEAR • A PEOPLE MUST READ • A KIRKUS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE NOMINEE • GOLDEN POPPY BOOK AWARD FINALIST

A Most Anticipated Book: The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, PEOPLE, The Millions, Literary Hub, The Root, Apartment Therapy, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Oprah Daily •

“Soulful . . . Structured like a jam session, the novel favors a series of riffs over any one melodic theme. Warrell gives a supporting cast of women their own solos, through close-third-person chapters that detail their entanglements with the elusive Circus . . . Elegant, unexpected and wrenching as the “fierce” sounds that emerge from Circus’s trumpet . . . Unforgettable.”—Lauren Christensen, New York Times Book Review

“[An] emerging literary superstar . . . Warrell writes a mean bad boy! This sensual and sensuous debut is a kaleidoscopic character study, a polyphonic riff on the modern-day Casanova from the perspectives of the myriad women in his wake. Both visceral and finely observed, the novel captures social nuance and emotional wreckage with precision and compassion.”—Oprah Daily, “30 of the Best Fall Fiction Books of 2022 to Cuddle Up With”

"Soulful and gripping . . . In her debut novel, Warrell assembles a lush orchestra of female voices to sing a story about passion and risk, fathers and daughters and the missed opportunities of unrequited love."—The Millions

Just ok

The story line was all over the place. So many different stories and characters that didn’t seem to knit together very well.

satisfying

great multi character development through writing and descriptive choices that made me feel like i was in their shoes.

performance was in my top 2 of all audible books ...what a talent to be able to play so many chatacters in a unique and distinguishable was...and so nice on the ears

gratitude to you both and the team

Loved

Came across this book at barnes & noble.
loved every detail & change in settings.
Overall my type of book

Aimless and cheesy

This slog of a book had a cast of underdeveloped, unlikeable characters. The plot was aimless, and the story was punctuated by cheesy descriptions of jazz. No one calls people “cat” anymore.

Why does anyone like this book?

Despicable main character, what is the point of him? All the female characters are so poorly written I could have sworn this book was written by a man!