Worldly Goods

🎶 "Every record tells a story. Every story spins a truth." 🎶

His siblings got the worldly goods—business, house, heirlooms. Danny Goods got 7,500 vinyl records and a lingering sense of injustice.

For six years, the collection gathers dust. Then, with plans to sell, Danny begins flipping through the sleeves… and finds something unexpected. Hidden inside select albums are letters from his late father, Bill—each one a portal to a memory, a moment, a melody that shaped a life.

As Danny journeys through genres and decades, what begins as a reluctant inventory becomes a soulful excavation. With each LP, he uncovers not just his father’s past, but his own identity, long buried beneath resentment and regret.

A story of music, memory, and the messy beauty of inheritance, this novel will make you laugh, maybe cry, and definitely think twice about what we leave behind—and what we’re really searching for.

You’ve been warned. And invited. Drop the needle. Let the story spin.

Listen to a playlist of music mentioned in "Worldly Goods" on Spotify, kindly curated by Michael Halliday.

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Author Notes

Early-2019, and I decided to re-set and take a bit of time off writing.

Until I spoke with a friend, Pete T, and he suggested I incorporate records more prevalently into my writing. As he put it, “it’s how I met you, after all, through the label and a record collecting forum.”

Around the same time, I’d picked up a second-hand album, and tucked inside the sleeve was a Valentine Card. Further, my Dad had stayed with me for a few months in late-2018 after he found himself alone, and we’d talked about what he wanted to happen to his worldly goods.

Those elements came together to spark an idea. Not to mention a title. There was no real plan beyond that. I just began writing, and seeing where it took me. Looking back on the novel, it’s a book where I encourage the reader to judge a character or situation, before revealing the truth to them. Very much ‘show it, don’t tell it’. I’d done it before, on ‘Across The Humpty Dumpty Field’ for example, via Mr. Glenn. This was on a different level, though.

Even the cover image is terribly poignant, but you don’t know that until you read about it in the text. My wife created it for me, and I’ve teased her ever since that she can draw like a 5-year-old!

Characters make books. And films and television series, et al. As I said in a recent interview with TIWN Magazine in Wales, “I mean, if you don’t care about the characters, you don’t care what happens to them, so why bother finding out?”

That said, I had no idea at the time of writing, that Tommy Histon and Ally Mac would go on to have books of their own as a result. It is a loose trilogy, ‘Worldly Goods’, ‘Folklorist: The Tommy Histon Story’, and ‘Equilibrium’. They each stand alone, and can be read in any order, but I think of them as being related, certainly.

‘Worldly Goods’ was a game-changer, I suppose. To date, it’s sold more than any other of my books by some distance. Why? It appeals to vinyl record collectors, naturally, and what will become of their collection after they die. But it also appeals to everyone. We all have ‘things’ we value. More importantly, we have things we want to say - tales we wish to tell. But the time mightn’t be right, or ears not receptive. Or we simply don’t feel able.

So the notion of a father, Bill Goods, leaving notes in his albums to be discovered after his demise, addresses that perfectly. Only when the time’s right, though. His son, Danny, must want to explore the legacy. He has to be of a mind to go looking for something…

And, of course, it has a profound effect on him. I confess, the concept is very good. And I think I handled it reasonably well.

Reviews

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The best book I have ever read!

'What makes this book so special? It resonates in so many ways and has you on an emotional roller coaster from chapter one. As a lover of vinyl records this book will always hold a place in my (literary) heart but as a son/father/husband it’s so much more than that too. It’s the story of our lives - all of us - and it proves (in an unashamedly heart-warming way) that it’s never too late. I just wish it was a true story…….but maybe it is.'

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A most wonderful read!

'What a lovely, uplifting, heartbreaking, funny, wistful and wise story....I fell headlong into this book - the characters were believable and human, and I found myself identifying with each of them - their joys and sorrows, their longings and regrets....there were moments that brought me near tears (I actually wiped one or two away on the second to last chapter). I recommend this book to anyone, especially any of us who still collect records. Bracken was able to put into words what I have failed to explain to those who think I simply "hoard" them ..with over 2000 LPs in my collection obtained over 45 years, I’m now considering a similar approach for my kids....Thank you so much for this wonderful volume! Easily worth more than 5 stars!'

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