I knew nothing of Opal and Nev before reading this book. Their story is interesting and emotional. I loved the author's note at the beginning of the book. It took me a little while to get into the writing style but once I did, it was a quick read!

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’m judging a 2021 fiction contest. It’d be generous to call what I’m doing upon my first cursory glance—reading. I also don’t take this task lightly. As a fellow writer and lover of words and books, I took this position—in hopes of being a good literary citizen. My heart aches for all the writers who have a debut at this time. What I can share now is the thing that held my attention and got this book from the perspective pile into the read further pile.

I’m not sure exactly where this novel begins… is with the editor’s note? Either way I find it deeply compelling the idea that the author or the narrator depending on when the fiction begins and the auto-ends… is personally familiar with the characters The novel itself is described as a fictional oral history. I like what Walton’s done with the structure having each of the characters jump in and say their piece.

An oral history of a fictional rock duo, Opal Jewel and Nev Charles. All the usual rock n roll drama is here: wild performances, drug addictions, love affairs, creative differences. But the real conflict of the book revolves around race. Opal is a Black woman who started performing in churches in Detroit and Alabama. Nev is a British singer-songwriter with roots in folk. Both musicians are larger than life and their musical visions, worldviews, and egos inevitably clash.

What makes this book stand out is the voice of the oral history editor, Sunny Shelton, and the focus on how fans make meaning of music and its creators as much as the band and music executives do. Sunny's voice is the most fluid and compelling in the assortment of voices and brings the oral history into the present.

Full review forthcoming in the Historical Novel Review, May 2021.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for the eARC!

Oral history seems like such a natural vehicle for telling stories about pop culture. There is a Pop Culture Oral History list on Goodreads that well exemplifies this, with a sizeable presence from the world of punk rock. The Behind the Music documentary model also drives this trend.

It makes sense. In the art world, the feelings of the people recounting their role in the history say as much as the history itself. There is an indelible element of authenticity when history is captured expressly in the voice of participants. That too is heightened in the arts, where authenticity is so highly valued in itself.

In the real world, I recently read exhaustive histories of MTV and SNL told as oral history, and they were simply fascinating. In the world of fiction, last year's popular novel Daisy Jones &The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid tells the story of the rise and fall of a rock band told in the form of oral history, with the interviewer/editor becoming part of the story.

Dawnie Walton must have been shocked when that book came out last year. Based her afterword, she has clearly been working on The Final Revival of Opal & Nev for years. Then suddenly there appears a book built on the same idea -- an oral history of English songwriter Nev Charles and audacious singer Opal Jewel, interviewed by and written up by the daughter of their drummer, who was killed during a concert, the resulting race riot propelling Opal & Nev to fame.

But no worries for Walton -- Opal & Nev is every bit as good as Daisy Jones (which was a 5-star read for me). It stands on its own with unique characters and themes and writing style. If anything, it is more literary in the nuances and complexity of its character development. And it certainly tackles broader issues of gender and race that transcend character that Daisy Jones never begins to contemplate. While still handling the greater theme of artistic creativity.

Kudos as well to Dawnie Walton for having the courage to turn to writing novels later in life. Last year I published my first novel over the age of 60 -- but that doesn't really count, since I published it myself and only had a few family and friends read it. Walton has the real deal here, full traditional publishing, and what I hope and expect will be a bright immediate and long-term future as a literary novelist.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this forthcoming novel.

An excellent fictional oral history of a famed music duo, Opal and Nev. As the 1970's wear on, controversy haunts the popular group and elements of race and culture intersect with their music. Highly recommended for readers of non-fiction oral histories because it reads in that format, but tells the story in a rich and interesting way.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Dawnie Walton's debut novel is a five star read. In fictional oral history style, this novel resonates with many of the same issues that we are facing in 2020. The story of Opal & Nev is wrapped around race, flawed characters, rock n' roll and fictional bands set in a 1970's backdrop. There is humor, laughter, tears, and moments of pure inspiration. Dawnie's remarkable writing style makes the reader believe that they are reading a biography of this musical duo and not a work of fiction. Opal is a wonderfully proud woman with a soaring spirit and the heroine of this novel. She is unforgettable.
This will be a 'must read' for 2021 … and a sure-fire winner!

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a timely first novel by journalist Dawnie Walton involving a fictional rock and roll duo enmeshed in race relations during the 1970s and again thirty years later in 2016. The theme resonates even more deeply in 2020. It’s a captivating read with a compelling, iconoclastic heroine. The style is different and noteworthy. It reads like a true biography, and some readers will be tricked into believing that it is, indeed, fact, not fiction.

Wow. At first I thought this would be like a 60s Daisy Jones and the Six but oh this was so so so much more and better. Opal and Nev are flawed from the beginning and the narrator is clear about her biases. Yet, the way the plot unraveled was surprising and captivating. I gasped aloud at Chet Bond’s revelation and was unable to put the book down from that moment forward. This book was so much more than a backward glance at a past musical era. It was even more than a profile of a duo between a black woman and white man. It provided commentary relevant for our current world, political environment, and humanity. This is the first book I’ve given five stars in awhile. It really was great!

At first I wasn't sure what to make of this book, which is structured as both an oral history and a book within the book. I was wondering if the meta aspects of it would keep me at arm's length. But ultimately, they didn't. I dove down and felt the story deeply, at times near tears and at times laughing at its biting sense of humor. And Opal is one of those characters I'll never forget.

It's incredible how Walton captures so many different characters' voices. This story of rock-n-roll, wrapped up in race issues, unfolds powerfully--and clear connections are drawn between what was going on in the 70s with what's going on in the world today.

Favorite quote: "Many things can be true at once, and we must find inspiration in the materials we have."

Second favorite quote [ spoken by a fan of Opal's referring to her black-punk musical aesthetic]: "Yeah, a lot of her shit is challenging to listen to...but that shit is vibrating high on some other frequency, right? When you talk about challenging to absorb, so is Bob Dylan's whiny ass, in my opinion, and that fucking 'Ulysses' book I had to read in college... But aren't we supposed to be better and smarter because of the challenging art that makes us uncomfortable?"

Now that I think about it, both of these quotes apply to this novel.

Thanks, NetGalley, for an ARC of this book, which comes out in April 2021.

For lover's of "Daisy Jones & The Six," "The Final Revival of Opal & Nev" also uses the technique of oral history to tell the story of the rise of the unlikely rock & roll duo, the fateful night that catapulted them to relative fame, their potential reunion years later - and the ugly secret at the center of it all. Walton's characters are both real and complex, striking a perfect balance of human and celebrity. She builds the tension of the story in a way that leaves you holding your breath while you wait for the other shoe to drop, and the revelations of what really happened the night of the Rivington Showcase do not disappoint.
Especially poignant during this time of racial reckoning, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev explores what it meant to be Black in the music industry of the '70s, and the relative place of power one gained from being white. Walton does not shy away from this reality, facing it head on and shining light on the inequality and racism that Black musicians faced. A must read that you will be thinking about long after you turn the final page.

A double edged sword of a Netgalley book: I'm very glad I got a chance to read it early, and annoyed I can't tell all my friends to go read it right now. A book very reminiscent of Daisy Jones & the Six without being a retread, it tackles a very different kind of musician and a very different world than Daisy Jones inhabited. The two novels together create a fantastic genre of fictional bands that could stand up with the real acts from that era. A must-read for anyone who likes the crazy world of 70s music, and definitely recommended to anyone else who wants to meet a flashy, flamboyant, angry female artist who doesn't take any shit from anyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC! Loved the history behind Opal and Nev. Learned a lot about Opal and Nev, never heard of the two before now. Would recommend this to others.