Author: Rich Marcello
Genre: Drama
The Big Wide Calm is as much a tale of love as it is of success. The book tells us the story of a young aspiring musician called Paige Plant. The book starts with her looking forward to meeting an older man, John Bustin, who has had a long and successful life in the music industry. Paige hopes that he will be the lucky break she needs to kick-start her career. In their first meeting, she plays a couple of songs for John, and they discuss music.
John is impressed with her talent and offers her the chance to work with him. Paige jumps at the opportunity to work on her masterpiece “The Grammy-winning album, The Big Wide Calm.”
During the course of the book, Paige has brief dalliances with some of the other characters, Bono, P, and Z. They are just passing interests for Paige – ultimately, her heart is harmed by the wise and enigmatic John, who occupies the role of both lover and ‘sugar daddy’ in her life. But John has had a profound personal tragedy in his life, and he is not as easy to seduce as one would suspect – he is a classic portrayal of the archetypal ‘wounded healer,’ a wise person who helps others but ultimately has also been very deeply hurt himself. Paige attracts many people with her beauty and her talent, but her emotional bond with John remains constant.
The book covers Paige’s inner landscapes and developing emotions that surface around her music and career, as well as her relationship. For Paige this is a music industry fairy tale, and despite some of her initial concerns, she triumphs over adversity – like Cinderella at the ball all her dreams come true. Ultimately the book chronicles Paige’s spiritual journey and her consequential growth of an artist via her experiences – and her final piece of music is special.
The characters in the book are well-rounded, and the narrative is gripping – The Big Wide Calm is a book that will appeal to the inner artist and musician in all of us.