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Tower Bridge
It's 1992, and, after three years of struggling, Stan Alton and his bandmates have hit it big with the single "Tower Bridge." Although he keeps himself tightly reined in throughout this rise to success, attempting to maintain as much control over his emotions as he does his career, Stan soon encounters someone intriguing and real, a person who is not afraid of him and, as a result, has broken through to the insecure young man underneath all the guarded layers. This brief relationship changes his life more than anything he has experienced before or since. Significant events follow in close the loss of his closest friend, struggles with addiction, and the disintegration of his marriage to Anna, a woman who considers herself sensible and independent, except, regrettably, when it comes to him.
316 pages, Paperback
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 16, 2013
British rock, evocative dialog, great characters and locations, and a tale that spans a generation—add them together and the result is Tower Bridge by Hannelore Moore.
From dressing rooms at the London Paladium, to the open moor of Glastonbury, to back street flats to old Victorian homes, all the scenes are vividly real, ready made for the movie. The colors of sunset, the liquid notes of a guitar enveloping the crowd, the fear of bombs exploding all over London—the reader’s transported to England in the 80s and all the senses are quickly and powerfully engaged.
Different characters tell their tales with voices each distinct and genuine, each with a viewpoint so clear the reader never struggles to remember who’s who. Perhaps it’s the music in the background that fuels the distinctive timbre in each of their voices. A musician loves to perform “because there’s no need whatsoever to connect with individuals—just the anonymous crowd.” Awkward conversations precede things falling apart when “the rhythm was off or something.” An unromantic lover observes a “scent of roses or something equally as pink.” A girl falls too far in love. And the audience cheers while the reader can see behind the scenes.
Drugs, sex and romance, music and folly, hope and despair all take the stage. A band grows to fame while lives fall apart. Longings are fulfilled then unfulfilled again. What-ifs all to soon become what-is, and time moves on. The character development is convincing and engaging. The storyline’s filled with genuine moments of unexpected joy and pathos. The love affairs of Stan with himself, with his wife, his music, and his child, all revolve and resolve, while the manager looks on, ever faithful to “my boys.”
“So different, each member of Ladbroke Grove, but together they formed a perfect synthesis.” Tower Bridge reads like a synthesis of their different sounds, rendered in words, in story, into something greater than any disagreement or song. It’s a long, enthralling novel, firmly anchored in place and people, and relentlessly moving forward through their window of time.
Disclosure: I won an ecopy of this novel. Lucky me!
From dressing rooms at the London Paladium, to the open moor of Glastonbury, to back street flats to old Victorian homes, all the scenes are vividly real, ready made for the movie. The colors of sunset, the liquid notes of a guitar enveloping the crowd, the fear of bombs exploding all over London—the reader’s transported to England in the 80s and all the senses are quickly and powerfully engaged.
Different characters tell their tales with voices each distinct and genuine, each with a viewpoint so clear the reader never struggles to remember who’s who. Perhaps it’s the music in the background that fuels the distinctive timbre in each of their voices. A musician loves to perform “because there’s no need whatsoever to connect with individuals—just the anonymous crowd.” Awkward conversations precede things falling apart when “the rhythm was off or something.” An unromantic lover observes a “scent of roses or something equally as pink.” A girl falls too far in love. And the audience cheers while the reader can see behind the scenes.
Drugs, sex and romance, music and folly, hope and despair all take the stage. A band grows to fame while lives fall apart. Longings are fulfilled then unfulfilled again. What-ifs all to soon become what-is, and time moves on. The character development is convincing and engaging. The storyline’s filled with genuine moments of unexpected joy and pathos. The love affairs of Stan with himself, with his wife, his music, and his child, all revolve and resolve, while the manager looks on, ever faithful to “my boys.”
“So different, each member of Ladbroke Grove, but together they formed a perfect synthesis.” Tower Bridge reads like a synthesis of their different sounds, rendered in words, in story, into something greater than any disagreement or song. It’s a long, enthralling novel, firmly anchored in place and people, and relentlessly moving forward through their window of time.
Disclosure: I won an ecopy of this novel. Lucky me!
March 23, 2013
(Rating from amazon.com)
This novel is clearly a love letter -- not only to rock music, but to the British Isles. We have these characters traipsing all over England: first to Bristol, with buildings the color of “dolly mix,” then Glastonbury with its “mottled shell of a chapel atop the Tor,” Oxford with its dreaming spires, Carlisle with its Roman Wall, and, of course, London. There’s even a character from Northern Ireland. Nice descriptions, especially when Anna yearns for the glowing teal water of Cornwall.
Anna seems to be the key here. You feel for this woman who doesn’t want to love as much as she does, and her presence grows more prominent as the novel progresses. It might have worked if she told the entire story, but it’s interesting to get the different opinions of the alternating narrators – although, sometimes, Hannelore Moore seems to overcompensate by overdoing the simplicity of some voices – like Warren’s and Neil’s. In any case, you have to appreciate her ambitious undertaking.
The novel gains momentum right around the ending of Part One and at the beginning of Part Two, but as it goes into Part Three, some readers might want to see situations resolved sooner. Not me. I like getting lost in long novels and I was so caught up in these characters sometimes, I almost wished Tower Bridge had gone on a little longer. The eBook price is not a bad for this journey, as Stan would call it. I’d say give it a try.
This novel is clearly a love letter -- not only to rock music, but to the British Isles. We have these characters traipsing all over England: first to Bristol, with buildings the color of “dolly mix,” then Glastonbury with its “mottled shell of a chapel atop the Tor,” Oxford with its dreaming spires, Carlisle with its Roman Wall, and, of course, London. There’s even a character from Northern Ireland. Nice descriptions, especially when Anna yearns for the glowing teal water of Cornwall.
Anna seems to be the key here. You feel for this woman who doesn’t want to love as much as she does, and her presence grows more prominent as the novel progresses. It might have worked if she told the entire story, but it’s interesting to get the different opinions of the alternating narrators – although, sometimes, Hannelore Moore seems to overcompensate by overdoing the simplicity of some voices – like Warren’s and Neil’s. In any case, you have to appreciate her ambitious undertaking.
The novel gains momentum right around the ending of Part One and at the beginning of Part Two, but as it goes into Part Three, some readers might want to see situations resolved sooner. Not me. I like getting lost in long novels and I was so caught up in these characters sometimes, I almost wished Tower Bridge had gone on a little longer. The eBook price is not a bad for this journey, as Stan would call it. I’d say give it a try.
June 29, 2013
This is a very well written look at a top 40 rock group. The story line flows along well in this character driven story. They're finally making it after many years of trying and not succeeding. It’s interesting to see what develops with the fame that is now part of their lives.
If you're looking for a book where the characters are like those in Spinal Tap, this is not your book. Think of the kind of rock star that's more like Paul McCartney. At times it was a bit like the band Wings was what was being written about I felt.
If you're looking for a book where the characters are like those in Spinal Tap, this is not your book. Think of the kind of rock star that's more like Paul McCartney. At times it was a bit like the band Wings was what was being written about I felt.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews