Journalist Dawnie Walton's debut, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is THE book of the moment. An unabashedly provocative story, it speaks to the social/political issues of the present by telling the tale of a fictional music duo’s rise to fame and their planned-for revival concert in 2016. The story is told through distinct-yet-perfect framing: This book is an oral history, which gets shaped into a fictional book being written about the revival (and the history that came before it) by S. Sunny Shelton, the daughter of the duo’s original drummer, Jimmy. Sunny’s interviews with all the main characters make up the majority of the book, as well as her own editorial notes and recollections about events. It’s similar to Taylor Jenkin Reid’s rock/oral history novel, Daisy Jones and the Six. Yet, while Daisy mined the history of the band to reveal the answer to a mystery and deconstruct a quasi-romance, Opal & Nev uses that history to solve a mystery, while also commenting on racism, politics, sexism, feminism, and fame.

Opal, a Black singer from Detroit, recorded two albums for Rivington Records with Nev, a British singer/songwriter. Their collaboration didn’t generate much fanfare, until they ended up sharing a festival line-up with the Bond Brothers, their label’s most-famous yet troublesome act. The Bond Brothers, a country band from Florida, irks Opal and the more sensible producers at the label due to their excessive drinking and drugging, dallying with groupies, and, especially their flagrant use of the Confederate flag--on their vests and as a prop for their stage show. They bring a huge Confederate flag to the showcase (as well as a rowdy, drunk motorcycle gang that sexually harasses the women in the other bands), which eventually causes all hell to break loose. The gang members beat up and eventually kill Sunny’s Dad (and Opal’s lover), Jimmy. During the riot, an image is taken and gets a showcase in The New York Times. It’s Nev, carrying Opal on his back out of the melee. The notoriety from the photo revives the duo’s fledgling career, and they enjoy a short but intense time as rock stars who break all the rules by singing about the denigrated and downtrodden members of society fighting against “the man.” One extremely provocative song in particular achieves infamous notoriety.

I don’t want to spoil too many plot points, but this riot is the event that propels the varied storylines, particularly how the ultra-compelling character of Opal (it’s no fluke that she, not Nev, is featured on the book’s cover) navigates the racial, sexist, familial, and personal challenges in her path. She’s an amazing character. A punk-rock goddess who is both empowering in her fashion and in using her voice to speak out against society’s ills (as a singer and an activist), but, at the same time, ignorant of nefarious forces that ultimately affected her career. Sunny, as her fan/antagonist/fellow Black woman, has an engrossing relationship with Opal--it’s the beating heart beneath the explosive social issues this novel explores.

Walton does a wonderful job making each character’s voice distinct (LOVE Virgil!), while also honestly and openly commenting on how the divisive political atmosphere of our country has reignited talk and exploration of the racist and sexist challenges plaguing our electorate. Through the fiction, she openly and honestly addresses a wide range of hot-button issues in a completely believable and thoroughly engrossing way.

Whether you’re a music fan, a lover of contemporary fiction, an activist, or a person interested in the politicized issues of today, you’ll love this searing, engrossing novel.