Blurb:
A magical story about a gifted but vulnerable girl who is both saved and damned by an angel who falls in love with her music and claims it as his own in a Faustian pact. With Mary in his thrall, he ruthlessly kills those who threaten his plan to bring Mary to Carnegie Hall where her talent will be hailed supreme.
Sunday Express, March 2017: ‘Catch the Moon, Mary is one of my six favourite books’ – Amanda Redman, actress/director/arts patron/head of ATS, New Tricks, The Good Karma Hospital, Sexy Beast
‘Beyond beautiful’ – Simon Egerton, singer-songwriter, composer, lyricist
‘Original and scintillating, tantalising and thought-provoking. A novel about the transformative powers of music and beauty’ – Hazel Philips OAM, Gold Logie winner, author of Black River, Bright Star
‘Weaves a singular spell mesmerising the reader on several levels like a fugue. Wendy Waters and her characters believe deeply in the power of music, which pours lyrically from her sentences’ – Joshua Rosenblum, composer, conductor, music critic
‘A rare and ingenious glimpse into the real and the surreal. Waters interfaces these twin realities with ease and dexterity, reminding us of the profound yet often neglected depth of imagination. A brave and unique journey’ – Gerry Taylor-Wood, international lecturer on Esoteric Sciences and author of The Journey to the Sacred Well
My Review:
Catch the Moon, Mary is a mesmerising melody of magical realism. This is storytelling at its best. I cannot express how beautifully written this book is. The words flow off the page like melted chocolate on the tongue, so easy to consume and so temptingly moreish.
In a nutshell, this story is about a vulnerable girl who is being abused by her father, but is saved by a fallen angel who is in love with her music. There are consequences to being saved by an angel, and this story will take you on an emotional journey of love, loss, loneliness, passion and hope. It focuses on Mary, who has the weight of the world on her shoulders, but the healing powers of music help her to face anything. I’m sure we’ve all used music at some point in our lives to calm our nerves or help fix a broken heart. It seems life isn’t always so simple for a fallen angel either, and each character in this story has challenges to face.
This could have ended up just being a fantastical tale of whimsy, but it was so much more than that. It felt so real, conjuring up emotions within me on every page. Sometimes this story was very dark and depressing, while at other times it was overwhelmingly uplifting.
Catch the Moon, Mary is an emotional tale of how our passions can either save us or destroy us, be that a passion for music, nature, drugs, or in my case, reading. Unfortunately my brain and body don’t produce energy like normal people. When I became most poorly about a decade ago, due to a severe relapse, I rediscovered reading, when I had little energy to do anything else, including functions we take for granted, like breathing. Reading has kept me alive, it has helped my heart and soul hold onto and remain passionate about life even when my body wanted to give up. So, when I discover a story as beautiful as this one, I want to share it with the world, as it has now become a part of who I am.
In the same way music gets into the soul of every listener, I suspect this book will capture the hearts of many readers. This is easily one of my favourite books I’ve read this year so far. It has taken me a couple of years to read this book, since buying it in a charity auction, but it was well worth the wait, and very much exceeded my expectations, which were rather high in the first place. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading and has a passion, whatever that may be.
Here are a few of my favourite quotes that I either liked because they made me think, or I just loved the images the words created in my mind:
‘Everybody rushing about in pursuit of nothing, producing little of lasting value. No one stands long enough to hear his own soul crying out for meaning. Who hears my message above the clamour of traders, bankers and malevolent pop music? I would bring enlightenment if only they listened. One receptive soul is all I need to spread the message. For it is a well-documented fact that change begins with one person.’
A young girl lay in bed, her eyes fixed on the moon, the melody bursting from her soul like a genie from an uncorked bottle.
He nodded at the bowl of honeyed bread. ‘Don’t encourage the elves. They’re nasty, ungrateful creatures and they bite.’
‘You’ll recognise him by his glow. Beloved people have a special glow.’
‘Everything real was first imagined. Those stars existed in my imagination long before they were fashioned into stone and fire, long before my Father breathed light into them. Many of them no longer exist, but their light lives on. Are they real? Are they illusion? Speculating about what is real and what is imagined will drive you mad.’
‘Everything kills to protect that which gives it life.’
‘The meaning of words can get lost in translation but music needs no interpreter. It speaks directly to the soul.’
5 Stars
Where to find this book:
LittleMissNoSleep Daydreams of Books 
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