I have no nostalgic need to 'revisit' the Seventies, especially it's rock and roll scene with its drugs and sex. I basically missed it the first time. 1972 found me married at age 19, working while my husband finished his professional degree. For fun we took Ewall Gibbons to the woods, organic gardened, and listened to John Denver or Russian Orthodox chants while drinking Earl Grey tea.
I never heard Stevie Nicks or Fleetwood Mac or other bands who inspired Taylor Jenkins Reid. I had just heard their names. I am that clueless. So it took me a long while to warm up to the idea of reading
Daisy Jones and the Six.
Then, the First Look Book Club shared the beginning of the book. I liked it. I had noted rave reviews the audiobook. So I went online to Libby and put a hold on an audiobook through my local library. And six weeks later I started to listen to it.
Twenty-four hours later I had finished all nine hours of the audiobook. And I don't really like audiobooks. I did not even have a lot of hand quilting to keep me busy while listening. Not only did I stay awake--I could not stop listening. I just sat there and listened.
The book is written like a documentary, a collection of oral histories pieced together to tell the story of the rock and roll band The Six, its lead singer Billy Dunne, and Daisy Jones who is beautiful and fragile and self-destructive and fierce.
People don't communicate effectively in real life, and miscommunication---and no communication---between self-absorbed people drive much of the angst in the book. But there is also strength and hope and the daily decision to do the right thing by the people we love.
If the tension between Billy and Daisy is central, it is Billy's relationship with his wife Camilla that is most interesting. Camilla knows what she wants and what she is willing to give up. When she gets pregnant Billy marries her and she is relentless in insisting on having the life she wants for herself and her children. Her faith in their future keeps Billy straight while he daily battles the lure of his past addictions, determined to be the man his wife believes he can be.
Billy has Camilla's faith. But the beautiful Daisy was never cherished by her folks or by the men she sleeps with. Since she was a young teen, she was allowed to party and do whatever she wanted. She has one friend who is there for her. Daisy wants to sing and write her own songs. After signing a contract she discovers the studio wants to mold her image and repertoire. It is the price she must pay to be allowed to sing.
Fatefully, she ends up on a tour opening for Billy and The Six. One night she sings with Billy and a musical legend is born. Their voices are made for each other. Perhaps they are made for each other. But Billy can't go there, Camilla is his lodestar. And the attraction turns their relationship ugly as their music skyrockets to the top of the charts.
The other band member's stories are also complicated and interesting. Keyboardist Karen is determined to have a successful career, which for a woman in the 70s involves a huge sacrifice. Graham as Billy's younger brother willingly takes a back seat but is pushed away the one time he really needs Billy. The musicians in the band want a voice and equal time and resent that Billy is the self-appointed lead artist who makes all the decisions.
Success can't guarantee happiness. The band members spiral into their personal hells. In a heartbreaking scene, Billy is saved by a stranger. And Camilla, that remarkable woman, unmistakeably stakes her claim, yet with love and concern.
There is a surprise twist at the end. Poignant, but perhaps unnecessary.
I loved this story. I would read the book even after listening to it. The book I wanted to ignore wants a place on my bookshelf. Not because it is what the
New York Times reviewer Eleanor Henderson calls "A Snapshot of the Bell-Bottoms Seventies" but because Reid has created characters of such depth that I care about them and remember them.
Daisy Jones and the Six
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Publication March 2019
Ballantine Books
Audiobook
ISBN 1524798622 (ISBN13: 9781524798628)
