Playback
Will be published approx. on 25. September 2025
Book
Hardback
162 pages
978-1-64428-487-2 (ISBN)
Description
Witty, touching, and insightful, Playback revisits the 17-year-old Mari Caldwell of Shine Until Tomorrow, now 34, to tell the story of a woman obsessed with the past who must risk the future to learn to live in the present
"Once upon a time there was a summer."
That's the way the bedtime story starts, the one Mari Caldwell tells her little girl. It's also her secret story of waking up one day in San Francisco, 1967, having time-traveled to the tie-dyed Summer of Love.
But she was seventeen then. Now, at 34, where Mari once saw 60's idealism, she now sees only disillusionment. Newly divorced and stuck in a settled-for career, Mari's failed at giving her child the perfect family she'd envisioned. That weird weekend in the sixties- the rock band she crashed with, the musician she loved, the hit song he wrote for her- lives in the way-back of her mind. Did it even happen? She's not so sure... Until it happens again.
Playback rewinds Mari's life as she makes a second visit to Haight-Ashbury in 1967, now autumn. The band, Mari's rival, and her first love all see the 17-year-old girl they met in June. But inside, adult Mari faces both tender and devastating choices. What if, regardless of how the times have a-changed, love changes everything after all? What if it even changes her?
"Once upon a time there was a summer."
That's the way the bedtime story starts, the one Mari Caldwell tells her little girl. It's also her secret story of waking up one day in San Francisco, 1967, having time-traveled to the tie-dyed Summer of Love.
But she was seventeen then. Now, at 34, where Mari once saw 60's idealism, she now sees only disillusionment. Newly divorced and stuck in a settled-for career, Mari's failed at giving her child the perfect family she'd envisioned. That weird weekend in the sixties- the rock band she crashed with, the musician she loved, the hit song he wrote for her- lives in the way-back of her mind. Did it even happen? She's not so sure... Until it happens again.
Playback rewinds Mari's life as she makes a second visit to Haight-Ashbury in 1967, now autumn. The band, Mari's rival, and her first love all see the 17-year-old girl they met in June. But inside, adult Mari faces both tender and devastating choices. What if, regardless of how the times have a-changed, love changes everything after all? What if it even changes her?
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
California
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
395 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-64428-487-2 (9781644284872)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Raised in Los Angeles, Carla Malden began her career working in motion picture production and development before becoming a screenwriter. Along with her father, Academy Award winning actor Karl Malden, she co-authored his critically acclaimed memoir When Do I Start?
Carla's feature writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, highlighting the marvels and foibles of Southern California and Hollywood. She sits on the Board of the Geffen Playhouse. Her previous novels include Search Heartache, Shine Until Tomorrow, and My Two and Only.
Carla Malden lives in Brentwood with her husband and ten minutes (depending on traffic) from her daughter.
Carla's feature writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, highlighting the marvels and foibles of Southern California and Hollywood. She sits on the Board of the Geffen Playhouse. Her previous novels include Search Heartache, Shine Until Tomorrow, and My Two and Only.
Carla Malden lives in Brentwood with her husband and ten minutes (depending on traffic) from her daughter.