The Songs

Charles Elton was a director of the literary agency Curtis Brown before becoming an independent TV producer in 1991. In 2000 he joined ITV as executive producer in drama and left in 2010 when his bestselling first novel Mr Toppit, a Richard & Judy Book Club pick, was published. He lives in London and Somerset. The Songs is his second novel.

From the bestselling author of Mr Toppit, a Richard & Judy Book Club pick, comes a riotous, darkly comic story of siblings searching for the truth about their musician father - for fans of The Rosie Project, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The HumansIz Herzl, renowned political activist and protest singer, has always refused to dwell on the past. Now eighty, he sits in his house in Muswell Hill, while his lovers - some past, some present - dance attendance upon him. Downstairs, Iz's children - teenage maths wunderkind Rose, and her dying brother Huddie - spend their days picking through the myths and secrecy that have always swirled around their unknowable father.But Iz can't keep the past at bay forever. Into their lives comes Joseph: his first child, whom Rose and Huddie have never met. And his arrival will change things in ways that Rose and Huddie could never have anticipated.

From the bestselling author of Mr Toppit, a Richard & Judy Book Club pick, comes a riotous, darkly comic story of siblings searching for the truth about their musician father - for fans of The Rosie Project, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Humans

Like Mr Toppit, The Songs explores themes of family, fame and show business - a world Elton knows, having worked for years in publishing and television.