The Lost Love Song

Can It Find Its Way Home

The Lost Love Song is a bewitching novel about love, second chances and the power of music, from the author of the critically acclaimed, bestselling Star-crossed...

This is the story of a love song... And like any good love song, it has two parts.

In Australia, Arie Johnson waits impatiently for classical pianist Diana Clare to return from a world tour, hopeful that after seven years together she'll finally agree to marry him.

On her travels, Diana composes a song for Arie. It's the perfect way to express her love, knowing they'll spend their lives together... Won't they?

Then late one night, her love song is overheard, and begins its own journey across the world.

In Scotland, Evie Greenlees is drifting. It's been years since she left Australia with a backpack, a one-way ticket and a dream of becoming a poet. Now she spends her days making coffee and her nights serving beer. And she's not even sure whether the guy she lives with is really her boyfriend or just a flatmate.

Then one day she hears an exquisite love song. One that will connect her to a man with a broken heart...  

Minnie Darke is the author of the bestselling novel Star-crossed, winner of the Margaret Scott People's Choice Award, and which has now been published in over 30 countries. Her fantastic new novel, The Lost Love Song, will be released in March 2020. She lives in Tasmania with her husband and family.

The Lost Love Song
Penguin Australia
Author: Minnie Darke
ISBN: 9780143792307
RRP: $32.99

Interview with Minnie Darke

Question: What inspired your new book The Lost Love Song?

Minnie Darke: I wrote this book because I adore music, and because I'm in awe of its emotional power. Music can move us, inspire us, soothe us, ignite us, and echo into the world the feelings that we hold in our hearts. I wanted to try to capture the relationship between music and love … not just romantic love (although I promise there's plenty of that!) but love in all its guises and dimensions.

Like my first book, Star-crossed, The Lost Love Song is a book about fate. In Star-crossed, it's the stars that are (or might be?) the mysterious force that make love happen. In The Lost Love Song, it's a song. The song is written by a woman, for her lover. For … reasons … she never plays it for him. But the song has a life of its own, in a way, and it begins a journey across the world, travelling from ear to ear, and heart to heart, influencing all kinds of love stories on the way. When I started this book, I wanted to see if the song could make its way back to the person it was always meant for, and also to find out what it could achieve on its travels.


Question: Are the characters based on anyone you know?

Minnie Darke: Not really … and, yes of course! Writers are magpies, and they pinch little things here and there, but part of the business of writing is stitching those stolen pieces into new wholes. Your characters might be a lot like people you know, but with interesting little twists or variations.


Question: What was the best part about creating the character of Arie and Diana?

Minnie Darke: Creating characters is the best part of writing. I wanted Arie to be the kind of guy that any sensible woman would absolutely fall in love with, so in order to make him up, I stole little bits of a whole heap of men that I thought were lovable. Diana is a concert pianist, and a very good one, so in order to piece her together I took special notice of those people who are super high achievers in their fields. She has a kind of single-mindedness that makes other things – like cooking and cleaning and tidying up – completely unimportant to her! Her determination to get what she wants also affects the way she does relationships. And … don't forget, there's Evie, too. Evie is probably my favourite character in the story because, unlike Diana, she's quite uncertain a lot of the time. But, like Diana, she's very creative and talented.


Question: How much of your inspiration comes from real life and real people?

Minnie Darke: There's a saying that goes 'you can't stand in the same river twice', meaning that because the river flows, the water you're standing in one minute is different to the water you're standing in the next minute. I think writing's a bit like that. Even if you're not consciously or deliberately drawing from real life, I don't think you could write exactly the same book at two different times in your life. The things that are washing past you are, inevitably, influencing and inspiring you. Some things are just more present right now. For example, one of the characters in the book is a teenage girl called Beatrix. At this point in my life (mother of a teenage daughter…) I found it super easy to write a conflict between Beatrix and her father!


Question: What's next, for you?

Minnie Darke: I think the next book will feature a single mother and her teenage daughter, both of them facing the trials and tribulations of love at the same time…

Interview by Brooke Hunter

The Lost Love Song 
Penguin Australia
Author: Minnie Darke
ISBN: 9780143792307
RRP: $32.99