Review of Thats Why I Wrote This Song by Susanne Gervay with Tory Gervay / Angus and Robertson To Pip, music is everything. It’s how she translates her life, it helps her negotiate the complex relationships of family, friends and boyfriends, and is the binding strength between her friends Karen... more

Review of Thats Why I Wrote This Song by Susanne Gervay with Tory Gervay / Angus and Robertson To Pip, music is everything. It’s how she translates her life, it helps her negotiate the complex relationships of family, friends and boyfriends, and is the binding strength between her friends Karen, Angie and Irina who all form the band, Not Perfect. The girls are passionate about their music, going to concerts and writing songs that express the situations and emotions they are going through. Their stories weave together the relationships they have with their parents and the difficulties they face. In particular Pip is struggling to live with her father, a volatile, troubled man who is fighting his own demons. The lynchpin of the story is Pip’s mother and the wonderful relationship she shares with her daughter. As Pip lurches through highs and lows, negotiating boyfriend and father territory, her mother is the one constant that she can rely on. This novel is very much a mother-daughter collaboration. Whilst Susanne wrote the story, her daughter, Tory, wrote the song lyrics which give shape to the band and provide insight into Pip’s emotional world. The strength of this story for me is the mother-daughter relationship