To Be Someone - Softcover

Louise Voss

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0552999024 ISBN 13: 9780552999021

Publisher: Black Swan, 2002

Synopsis

Helena Nicholls - ex world-famous pop star and prime-time DJ - wakes up in hospital to find her looks, her career and her personal life in tatters. She has been let down by her boyfriend, and the one person she loved most in the world - her best friend since the age of five - is dead. She feels that she belongs nowhere, and her sense of identity, fragile at the best of times, is in pieces. So Helena turns to the one thing that has always got her through, the one thing that has real resonance: music. And she begins to concoct The Plan. Using the request format that made her radio show so popular, where listeners rang in with detailed stories about why certain songs were so meaningful for them, she sets out the story of her own life, chapter by chapter, track by track. Thinking about the songs that represent important chapters in her own life, Helena begins to come to terms with her past. But the present is more of a problem as, while in hospital, she has remet an old friend to whom she is still hugely attracted. Her strict adherence to The Plan, however, means that time is not on her side. If she is to have a future at all, she must work out what it really means To Be Someone. With its wry, appealing narrative voice, and its insider's take on the world of pop music, To Be Someone is a stunningly mature first novel which swings with wide smoothness between past and present, child and adulthood, joy and tragedy, love, loss and the meaning of true friendship.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

w the lyrics of your life are written, how you play the song is up to you.

Helena Nicholls is no ordinary girl. In fact, she’s famous. For many years she was the bassist and lyricist for Blue Idea, a band worshiped by adoring fans all over the world throughout the eighties. Following their breakup, Helena switched gears and became the most popular morning DJ in London with her all-request show. Listeners could call her and request songs, but Helena wouldn’t play them until the callers gave the details of why they wanted her to play them—where they were when they first heard the song, what they were wearing, who they were with, and why the song means so much to them. The show’s success put Helena back on the map, but now all that’s over.

After a night of partying ends in a horrible accident, Helena wakes up in a hospital bed. As she groggily opens her eyes, she realizes that her irresponsible behavior, so completely uncharacteristic of her, has le

From the Back Cover

“Beautifully written . . . by turns comic and poignant, about friendship, love, and redemption. I loved it!” —Marian Keyes, author of Watermelon and Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married

“A persuasive testament to the power of pop. A chart-topper, for sure.”
—Michael Musto, The Village Voice

"A really original idea executed with buckets of style and confidence, head and shoulders above the drippy Bridget Jones imitators clogging up the shelves. To Be Someone is a funny, moving, and fabulous debut. Louise Voss hooks you from the first page and doesn't let go. This is chickfic at its best—with heart, soul, and lashings of attitude."
—Lauren Henderson, author of Strawberry Tattoo and Black Rubber Dress

About this edition

• Publisher: Black Swan
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0552999024
• ISBN 13: 9780552999021
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 464