Charlotte Bold is nothing like her name - she is shy and timid and just wants a quiet life. When her job doing the traffic news on the radio in London is relocated to Sunshine FM in Mumbles, she jumps at the chance for a new start in Wales.
But when she arrives she discovers that she's not there to do the travel news - she's there to front the graveyard evening show. And she's not sure she can do it.
Thrust into the limelight, she must find her voice and a way to cope. And soon she realises that she's not the only person who finds life hard - out there her listeners are lonely too. And her show is the one keeping them going.
Can Charlotte seize the day and make the most of her new home? And will she be able to breathe new life into the tiny radio station too...?
Many thanks to Orion via NetGalley for my copy of Bring Me Sunshine to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Bring Me Sunshine may be the first book that I have read by Laura Kemp but it certainly won't be the last. What an absolute treat of a book she has written and one in which I was quickly sucked into the lives and trials and tribulations of all the characters. It's a brilliant, dynamic and modern story which makes up the perfect package with a radio station being the main setting situated in the seaside town of Mumbles. At last we have something different beside a café, cottage or a farm. Don't get me wrong I love books with those settings but to see something new, fresh, exciting and innovative is always more than welcome.
Charlotte (Charlie) Bold is faced with a life decision, well really she is given no other option, but it's what she makes of this new lifestyle that will form the basis of the book in which many other strands and characters flow out from. Will this major move be the makings of her and bring nothing but positivity and sunshine or will it further cement her into the shell shell she has created for herself as she inhabits a world of silence in her job where really words and expression are everything? Only time will tell but as the reader journeys with Charlotte as she steps out of the comfort zone and routine she has created for herself you'll be there with Charlie every step of the way.
Charlie lives and works in London and is somewhat happy with her life although she readily admits it could be so much better if she could get over her fear of speaking on the radio. This really is a major problem considering she works for a radio station and in years gone by she was the rising star with heaps of ambition. So where did it all go wrong? Why is she reduced to working on travel updates and then she can't relay them herself over the airwaves? Why is she struck mute in front of a microphone and how has she developed such tactics to avoid even being placed in a studio? Her boyfriend Jonny is the breakfast show host and full of chatter, laughter and antics. Well on air he is but off air he can identify with Charlie and their relationship she feels is a solid one.
I couldn't fathom what could have happened to lead Charlie to being the way she was but one thing was for sure I wanted there to be a very valid and significant reason. One that didn't leave me thinking - oh was that it? Admittedly that's how I did feel when the reveal came but overall it didn't detract from the story as this was more about Charlie finding herself and her voice once again not the actual cause for its loss. She once was a bright young talent and a rising star and has now fallen from grace and has become introverted and pitied for her career collapse. So when she is called into her bosses office she expects just a general talking to and perhaps an extension to her contract but that is not the case and soon she is out on her ear. Given little choice she is demoted to a smaller seaside station - Sunshine FM - where an assistant presenter is required. Little does she realise her definition of assistant is wildly different to theirs and soon she is forced right into the spotlight where she hates to be. Will she crumble even further or will she create some much needed magic at the station and in doing so bring some sunshine, joy and happiness into her own life?
I absolutely loved Charlie as a character. She was written in such a way that we saw all aspects of her personality, the raw vulnerability, the anxiety, despair and anguish but also the kind, caring and loving person who deep down really didn't want to let anybody else down or herself for that matter. She knew when she arrived at the station and was confronted with the reality that she would have to become a presenter and speak on air that OK she couldn't jump headlong into it but she couldn't cut her losses and escape for really where could she go? Her emotional battle and the inner turmoil she wrestles with are characteristics and traits that many readers will identify with for various reasons. I loved that Charlie wasn't all perfect for none of us are and that life really is a struggle and not plain sailing and I don't want to always read this in books. I want to see characters go through the wringer and experience things that they would normally avoid because to me that's realistic of our day to day lives.
The things we fear the most for whatever reason are perhaps the things we should face up to and deal with sooner rather than later. 'Fighting meant you faced up to your fears, which meant you admitted they existed. Denial was much better, it kept anxiety at bay and that was how Charlie wanted to live'. I thought this quote summed up perfectly how Charlie felt I think some readers will identify with this too but if we can garner the strength and courage just like Laura attempts to do maybe we can see a brighter light on the other side. The Charlie now and the Charlie of the past are two completely different people. Long ago she was adventurous, perky and would go with the flow. Now she crumbles when the pressure gets too much and retreats into herself. She wants nothing to throw her out of her comfort zone right down to the same sandwich she eats everyday. She prefers to remain in the relative safety of the shadows avoiding anything unexpected or any curve balls. 'She didn't want plans to change, she didn't want life to happen to her. She wanted things to stay the same to remain in control. Spontaneity was the enemy it made the horizon dip and rise and she wanted it to be flat and true. Navigable and constant'. I found myself nodding along and thinking god I would love aspects of this statement to apply to my own life but like Charlie slowly starts to realise we can't live our life that way forever.
No doubt about it Charlie was pushed out of her comfort zone and she couldn't do it all on her own but the fact deep down she had the willingness, the guts and determination lying there just waiting to emerge stood to her when the opportunities arose to transform her own life. She was inventive and creative and her ideas for her show were brilliant. She knew underneath it all that her fears needed to be conquered or else she would remain in a rut and stagnant for an undetermined amount of time. Over time she attempted to bring life and soul to both the station and the town but not without a supportive hand from those new friends and co-workers she came to rely on when the going got tough.
Del, the health and safety guy at the station, was in some ways the male version of Charlie but he kept his fears under wraps and used exuberance, quirky antics and fun to mask his true feelings and a maelstrom of emotions. He was keen, intelligent and the life and soul of the party but what is he masking behind it all? Del took time to open up and admit his fears and the reasons behind them and the reader discovers the cause before anybody else. I thought it was excellent that here was a male character who isn't some big stud playing hard to get with women. Instead there was more of a focus on his personality and the anxiety that he hides. The reasons for hiding everything were emotional and did have devastating consequences and I could see why he felt the way he did.
It was all eating him up inside and he was on a path to self destruction unless he had the courage to admit what was wrong and to set about on a course of changing things. I wanted him to be more open with people though instead of trying to navigate things solo but perhaps that's what he thought was the best way to climb out of the abyss of guilt. Del saves Charlie from disaster on her very first show and from then on I felt a spark between them but I questioned would this ever be ignited given they were both experiencing so much. Could they devote themselves to someone else considering they couldn't even express or manage their own feelings or deal with their own problems and situations very well? Also Charlie was in a relationship with Jonny and she couldn't just abandon ship when he had been her backbone and support for so long. They both needed to learn to be without any agendas just to be themselves and people will befriend and love them no matter what warts and all.
There were numerous other characters who featured and some played more minor roles than others but one person who deserves a mention is station manager Tina who herself is hiding a big secret. She is not long in the area and hasn't made many friends because that would mean revealing personal details and she feels she has been judged enough. From reading her story and picking up on certain things you are lead to believe one thing and then everything is tuned upside down. My opinion of Tina and the reasons for her motivations and actions changed several times over. She was one character who I felt had been really hard done by but still she lay down and took everything for quite some time. I wanted to feel her anger, her wrath and see a big explosion of emotion and to hell with the consequences. Revenge is a dish best served cold after all. Tina shouldn't have been a doormat and as I kept reading I hoped she would face up to reality and become the woman she needed to be in order to move onwards and upwards.
Bring Me Sunshine certainly lived up to its name in that the characters all needed some sunshine brought into their lives but the way Laura Kemp wrote this book I thought all the emotions and hardships existing for the main characters balanced brilliantly with more light hearted and fun scenes and innovations. Charlie is truly an inspiring person and reading as to how her story unfolds and her attempts to come to life was very enjoyable. I am delighted to have discovered a new author who can bring a real sense of the characters inner feelings and thoughts to life on the page. There was also so much warmth, humour and understanding infused throughout that it all made for the perfect read and one that you will want to read in one sitting if at all possible. I'm definitely going to go back and check out her previous book The Year of Surprising Acts of Kindness, If its anything as good as Bring Me Sunshine I am in for a real treat.
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