Review: STRING BRIDGE by Jessica Bell

String Bridge: Greek cuisine, smog and domestic drudgery was not the life Australian musician, Melody, was expecting when she married a Greek music promoter and settled in Athens, Greece. Keen to play in her new shoes, though, Melody trades her guitar for a 'proper' career and her music for motherhood. That is, until she can bear it no longer and plots a return to the stage--and the person she used to be. However, the obstacles she faces along the way are nothing compared to the tragedy that awaits 

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This is one of the deepest books I've read in a long time. Most of my usual reading list consists of middle-grade and young adult fantasy and whimsy with a touch of the dark. It can be pretty deep in a symbolic way. But not like this book.

This book made me feel.

Perhaps because I'm a mother trying to live out her dream (writing for me, not music), I especially related to Melody's plight. But I think there are many ways in which Melody represents all of us struggling with finding fulfillment, purpose, and ultimately love and belonging.

I really loved this bit:

"I sit in silence sipping my wine, looking into the brownish sky, imagining the stars I'd see if I were sitting on my parents' verandah on the island. Somewhere up there is us, a happy us, in some parallel universe, living the way we're supposed to be. I truly believe that the earth is our practice ground - the place where we are to test things out, to make mistakes, to discover what we believe in, what we are passionate about. Death is when we move on and go up there - to the real world; to start again, to rectify our mistakes and live a happy and fulfilling existence. There is no hell. Earth is hell. This is where we are allowed to sin. Up there, is where we no longer want to."

The descriptions are beautiful and symbolic, very well crafted. Jessica Bell makes Greece come alive.

I really love the way Melody questions everything and doesn't let herself hold onto comforting yet dysfunction-enabling conceptions of her own life. She analyzes it, admits her own faults, and keeps trying to be the person she wants to be.

When tragedy strikes, as the blurb hints, Melody is so human. I cried nonstop. And yet, there's life and joy again after tragedy.

On a personal note, I appreciated the author's sensitivity to the very difficult decisions a mother has to make to balance work, family, romance, and dreams. The subject was never treated rashly. Like I said before, this is a deep book, one I think many adults will swallow whole and feel full. I know I did.

Watch the book trailer. This song is in the book, along with a bunch of other great songs that read like heart-wrenching poetry.




Ready to read the book?

To purchase the paperback:

Amazon USA

To purchase the eBook:

Amazon USA

Amazon UK

To listen to samples of the soundtrack, visit iTunes.


You can also...

Connect with Jessica:

String Bridge: http://www.stringbridge.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/jessica_bell

Website: http://www.jessicacbell.com/

Blog: http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/author.jessica.bell

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MsBessieBell

Publisher: http://www.luckypress.com

Top Ten Songs of All Time Blogfest

Alex has done it again! He's organized a blogfest for the masses that I couldn't resist! Check it out: http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/

Counting down our top tunes of all time! 
Music moves us. It inspires us! Now, tell the world YOUR ten favorite songs of all time. The Song, the band – why does it move you?

Here are my favorite songs:

10. Wind Beneath My Wings (I know some of you may think this is lame, but I'm going by songs that popped into my head just when I needed them, and this is the most frequent visitor to my brain.) "Did you ever know that you're my hero? You're everything I wish I could be! I can fly higher than an eagle, cuz you were the wind beneath my wings." Power ballads get me *taps chest* right here.

9. Journey to the Past (from the Disney movie Anastasia). It moves me because I think we're all on a journey to understand ourselves by understanding our pasts. When I was backpacking with troubled teens in southern Utah, it got stuck in my head a lot. To me, it's about returning to the things that matter after we've been lost.

Journey to the Past

Heart, don't fail me now!
Courage, don't desert me!
Don't turn back now that we're here
People always say
Life is full of choices
No one ever mentions fear!
Or how the world can seem so vast
On a journey...to the past

Somewhere down this road
I know someone's waiting
Years of dreams just can't be wrong
Arms will open wide
I'll be safe and wanted
Finally home where I belong
Well, starting now, I'm learning fast
On this journey...to the past

Home, Love, Family
There was once a time
I must have had them too
Home, Love, Family
I will never be complete
Until I find you...

One step at a time,
One hope, then another
Who knows where this road may go
Back to who I was
On to find my future,
Things my heart still needs to know

Yes, let this be a sign!
Let this road be mine!
Let it lead me to my past
And bring me home... at last (lyrics from this site)

8. Come What May (from Moulin Rouge) This is my love song with my husband. We sang it at both our wedding receptions (one in AZ and one in Michigan). But we sang it first in a church talent show while we were dating. To me, it's the quintessential love song. Also, Moulin Rouge was the first movie we watched together. It had always been one of my favorites, but it was even more romantic with my shiny new husband.

Never knew I could feel like this
Like I've never seen the sky before
Want to vanish inside your kiss
Every day I love you more and more
Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing?
Telling me to give you everything
Seasons may change, winter to spring
But I love you until the end of time

Come what may
Come what may
I will love you until my dying day

Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place
Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace
Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste
It all revolves around you
And there's no mountain too high
No river too wide
Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side
Storm clouds may gather,
And stars may collide
But I love you (I love you)
Until the end of time(until the end of time)

Come what may
Come what may
I will love you until my dying day

Oh, come what may, come what may
I will love you, Oh I will love you
Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place

Come what may
Come what may
I will love you until my dying day (lyrics from this site)

7. I Knew I Loved You (Before I Met You ) by Savage Garden. First of all, I just freakin love Savage Garden. Second of all, this song works on so many levels. Lovers, children, God.

Maybe it's intuition 
but some things you just don't question 
Like in your eyes, I see my future in an instant 
And there it goes, 
I think I found my best friend 
I know that it might sound 
more than a little crazy 
but I believe... 

I knew I loved you before I met you 
I think I dreamed you into life 
I knew I loved you before I met you 
I have been waiting all my life 

There's just no rhyme or reason 
Only the sense of completion 
And in your eyes, I see 
the missing pieces I'm searching for 
I think I've found my way home 
I know that it might sound 
more than a little crazy 
but I believe... 

I knew I loved you before I met you 
I think I dreamed you into life 
I knew I loved you before I met you 
I have been waiting all my life 

A thousand angels dance around you 
I am complete now that I've found you 

I knew I loved you before I met you 
I think I dreamed you into life 
I knew I loved you before I met you 
I have been waiting all my life 

I knew I loved you before I met you 
I think I dreamed you into life 
I knew I loved you before I met you 
I have been waiting all my life (lyrics from this site)

6. It's Your Day by Blessed Union of Souls. It reminds me of my mortality, and the poetry is wicked awesome. I heart Blessed Union of Souls.

It's your day 
Colored pictures from a kid's eye 
Across the way 
And the animals all curious today 
As if life is just a candle wish away 
Wish away 

It's your day 
Candles burning more than you would like to say 
Send the conversation way the other way 
Did you find another silver line today 
Or is it gray 

Gotta learn to keep those ghosts away 
Buy'em all a one way ticket on a flight to Neverland 
God'll help you keep those ghosts away 
It took a little while but I'm free again 

Celebrate 
There was a time that you were happy on this day 
But you dreamed all of those precious years away 
And the golden ones get closer everyday 
Wouldn't you say 

Gotta learn to keep those ghosts away 
Buy'em a one way ticket on a flight to Neverland 
God'll help you keep those ghosts away 
It took a little while but I'm free again 

Sing along 
Lift your head up high cause there is nothing wrong 
It's a wonder you survived it here this long 
Living life as iuf it were a sing-along 
Sing along 

Gotta learn to keep those ghosts away 
Buy'em all a one way ticket on a flight to Neverland 
God'll help you keep those ghosts away 
Took a little while but I'm free again 
Need a little time til I'm free again (lyrics from this site)

5. May Angels Lead You In by Jimmy Eat World. Poignant doesn't even describe this song. It's heart-wrenching. And yet I can't get enough of it.

There's no one in town I know 
You gave us some place to go. 
I never said thank you for that. 
I thought I might get one more chance. 

What would you think of me now, 
so lucky, so strong, so proud? 
I never said thank you for that, 
now I'll never have a chance. 

May angels lead you in. 
Hear you me my friends. 
On sleepless roads the sleepless go. 
May angels lead you in. 

Now what would you think of me now, 
so lucky, so strong, so proud? 
I never said thank you for that, 
now I'll never have a chance. 


May angels lead you in. 

Hear you me my friends. 
On sleepless roads the sleepless go. 
May angels lead you in. 

And if you were with me tonight, 
I'd sing to you just one more time. 
A song for a heart so big, 
god couldn't let it live. 

May angels lead you in. 
Hear you me my friends. 
On sleepless roads the sleepless go. 
May angels lead you in. 

May angels lead you in. 
Hear you me my friends. 
On sleepless roads the sleepless go. 
May angels lead you in. 
May angels lead you in. (lyrics from this site)

4. Saturday's Warriors by Lex de Azevedo. It's from a play turned movie also called Saturday's Warrior. This is an LDS song about children being born in these times and if you could hear the melody it would probably make you cry, too. Absolutely incredible song! It moves me because I think of my own children when I hear it. Especially the part about "endless promise in their eyes."

Saturday's Warriors by Lex de Azevedo

January 16th, 2010

Saturday's Warriors


Words and Music by Doug Stewart and Lex de Azevedo


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Who are these children coming down,
Coming down like gentle rain through darkened skies?
With glory trailing from their feet as they go?
And endless promise in their eyes?


Who are these young ones growin' tall, growing strong
Like silver trees against the storm?
Who will not bend with the wind or the change
But stand to fight the world alone?




(chorus)
These are the few, the warriors saved for Saturday
To come the last days of the world these are they on Saturday
These are the strong, the warriors rising in their might
To win the battle raging in the hearts of man on Saturday




Strangers from a realm of light who have forgotten all
The mem'ry of their former life, the purpose of their call
And so they must learn why they're here and who they really are.
They must learn why they're here and who they are.




In their sunbright armor they march forth to conquer all
And with their swords ablaze with fire watch the darkness fall
But first they must learn why they're here and who they really are
They must learn why they're here and who they are. (lyrics from this site)

3. Angel Lullaby by Lex de Azevedo. This one is from a play called My Turn On Earth, but I first heard it as a lullaby my mom sang almost every night. I remember requesting it because it made me feel safe. As a nanny, I sang it to my bosses' little boy, and now I sing it to my own boys.

Angel Lullaby by Lex de Azevedo

January 16th, 2010

Angel Lullaby


Words: Carol Lynn Pearson Music: Lex de Azevedo


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You came from a land where all is light
to a world half day and a world half night.
To guide you by day, you have my love,
To guard you by night, your friends above.
(Chorus)
So sleep, sleep, till the darkness ends,
guarded by your angel friends.
So sleep, sleep, till the darkness ends,
guarded by your angel friends.


There's one stands softly by your bed
and another sits close with a hand on your head.
There's one at the window watching for the dawn,
and one waits to wake you when the night is gone. (Chorus) (Lyrics from this site)

2. The Prayer (as sung by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion). I don't even know if I have to say WHY this moves me. I mean, come on! It's Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion! But I guess part of why it moves me is that it's one of my husband's favorite songs to sing, and I love to hear him sing it.

I pray you'll be our eyes, and watch us where we go.
And help us to be wise in times when we don't know.
Let this be our prayer, when we lose our way.
Lead us to a place, guide us with your grace
To a place where we'll be safe.

La luce che tu dai
Nel cuore restera
A ricordarci che
L'eterna stella sei.

I pray we'll find your light,
And hold it in our hearts
When stars go out each night,
Remind us where you are..

Nella mia preghiera
Quanta fede c'e.
Lead us to a place ?

Let this be our prayer
When shadows fill our day
Guide us with your grace

Give us faith so we'll be safe.

Sogniamo un mondo senza piu violenza,
Un mondo di giustizia e di speranza.
Ognuno dia una mano al suo vicino,
Simbolo di pace...di fraternita.

La forza che ci dai
E desiderio te
Ognuno trovi amor
Intorno e dentro se.
Let this be our prayer,
Just like every child.

We ask that life be kind
And watch us from above.
We hope each soul will find
Another soul to love.
Let this be our prayer,
Just like every child.

Needs to find a place, guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we'll be safe
E la fede che hai acceso in noi
Sento che ci salverai... (lyrics from this site)

1. We've Only Just Begun sung by the Carpenters. This song moves me because it's one of my mom's favorites, and it's about the potential we each have in our lives. Gotta love that!

We've Only Just Begun lyrics
Songwriters: Nichols, Roger; Williams, Paul;

We've only just begun to live
White lace and promises
A kiss for luck and we're on our way
We've only begun

Before the risin' sun, we fly
So many roads to choose
We'll start out walkin' and learn to run
And yes, we've just begun

Sharing horizons that are new to us
Watching the signs along the way
Talkin' it over, just the two of us
Workin' together day to day, together

And when the evening comes, we smile
So much of life ahead
We'll find a place where there's room to grow
And yes, we've just begun

Sharing horizons that are new to us
Watching the signs along the way
Talkin' it over, just the two of us
Workin' together day to day, together, together

And when the evening comes, we smile
So much of life ahead
We'll find a place where there's room to grow
And yes, we've just begun

these lyrics are last corrected by Carly Nunez (lyrics from this site)

This was a much harder assignment than I anticipated! Looking forward to reading your favorites, as well!