Play for Me

Play for Me by Celine Keating   217 pages

Lily’s story opens with Lily and her husband, Stephen, dropping their only son, Colby, off at college. Lily isn’t ready for an empty nest; Stephen is. Stephen has his work as a planner for the city of Manhattan. Lily creates educational and business videos for a small Manhattan firm. She struggles with her newly empty life.

Colby invites his mother to a James Taylor concert. Lily jumps at the chance to be with her son. However, it’s the opening band that changes Lily’s life forever. The guitarist is able to reach down to the bottom of her soul and reawaken her passions and her desires for more creative outlets. I can’t remember the name of the duo, but lead singer Blaise and guitarist JJ, especially the way JJ plays, opens her heart and soul as they haven’t been opened in years.

Lily finds herself seduced by JJ’s playing; she begins to follow the band and catch their shows wherever they are appearing. She feels stupid for her desire to hear JJ play as much as she possible can. Then she gets the idea of creating a documentary about the pair. One she gets Blaise to agree, Lily goes on the road with them. Although it’s only for a week, Lily knows this is the most important thing she has ever done.

As they travel through New England and into Canada, Lily realizes she is endangering her marriage. At first, Stephen thinks it’s a fantastic opportunity, but as the phone calls home become less and the conversations strained, he begins to wonder what is really happening.

Keating does a wonderful job in exploring what many women go through: the re-identification of herself after the kids are grown and gone. The story built both slowly and quickly. Blaise’s initial outburst when she discovered Lily taping one of their concerts seems over-the-top, but as the story progresses, readers understand her action. A fast read, the story grabbed hold of me from Page 1 and never let up until I reached the conclusion. Keating left enough wiggle room at the end for a sequel, and I hope she is writing it.

I give Play for Me 5 out of 5 stars.