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Reviewed by Robert Collier III for Readers' Favorite
The Music Room by Margaret Farrell Kirby centers on Cath, a fifty-two-year-old nurse who starts to feel like something in her life just isn’t working anymore. After losing her mother at a young age, she pushed aside her dream of becoming a writer, and now that feeling starts creeping back. The story moves between her home life, the memoir workshop she joins, and the memories linked to the music room from her childhood. As Cath begins writing again, old emotions resurface in her heart, and her marriage to Matthew starts to feel strained as they struggle to meet in the middle. Things get even more complicated when she becomes involved in someone else’s chaotic situation in the workshop. As everything starts to change in her life, will Cath finally figure out what’s been missing all along?
The Music Room by Margaret Farrell Kirby is one of those gentler, more personal reads that really delves into everyday life and emotions. The story unfolds at a slow, more deliberate pace. However, this actually fits the narrative very well since a lot of it is about Cath sorting through her thoughts and past decisions. I liked the workshop scenes because they break the plot into digestible pieces and introduce different perspectives, especially with people sharing their own losses through objects and memories. Her relationship with Matthew is genuine—there’s the frustration of not being understood, even when both people are trying. The situation with the narcissistic participant adds some tension and keeps the story from becoming too quiet. If you love character-driven stories about figuring yourself out later in life, this one will keep you up late into the night.
