Music Shop

by Rachel Joyce,

This is the story of a man who in 1980's England sets up a record shop and refuses to sell cassettes or CD's.  He does seem to have the nack of finding the right music for people, even giving them stuff they might not normally like.  He files his music by themes rather than genre, mixing classical with opera with Jazz at times.

A variety of people visit his shop but most visit and don't buy.  He has a young man who becomes his helper.  This young man seems to break things more than he helps. One day a German lady faints outside the store.  The owner is intrigued by her and although he had abandoned romance in his life he is attracted to her.  She disappears but shows up again later.  She tells him she has a fiancee.  He thinks he can still be friends with her and agrees to meet her once a week to discuss music.

While all this is going on the neighbourhood the store is in is in decline, many shops are closing and a developer is trying to buy people out.  Eventually the man admits his love for the woman and she for him but they have a fight and she disappears.  His store burns down and he too seems to disappear.
Twenty years later the woman is living in Germany teaching violin (it turns out she was a classical violinist who was force to retire because of arthritis in her hands).  She realizes her life is empty and goes back to find the record store owner.

Eventually they are brought together at a mall in a crowd Mob singing the Hallelujah Chorus.  They marry and rebuild a record store.

It was a "cute" story with lots of quirky characters but I really doubt the realism of the ending.  Would anyone try to locate a former love after 20 years??