It’s always interesting to see how a smash-hit book can spur the rise of a mini-genre, and there’s no denying that Taylor Jenkins-Reid’s Daisy Jones & the Six generated a lot of interest in music-related fiction. As a long-time music fan/obsessive, I naturally am very taken by the genre — not only is Daisy Jones… one of my recent favourites, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed many other novels that have popped up in the sub-genre (e.g., Emma Brodie’s Songs in Ursa Major). So, I’m always on the look-out for more music-related fiction.
In The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers, due out in February 2024, Sarah Tomlinson takes an intriguing new approach to the genre. Here’s the synopsis:
Three Rock & Roll icons. Two explosive tell-all memoirs. One ghostwriter caught in the middle.
Anke Berben is ready to tell all. A legendary model and style icon, she reveled in headline-grabbing romances with not one but three members of the hugely influential rock band the Midnight Ramblers. The band members were as famous for their backstage drama as for their music, and Anke is the only one who fully understands the tangled relationships, betrayals, and suspicions that have added to the Ramblers’ enduring appeal and mystique. That is most evident in the mystery around Anke’s role in the death of Mal, the band’s founder and Anke’s husband, in 1969.
When Mari Hawthorn accepts the job to work with Anke on her memoir, she is dead set on getting to the truth of Mal’s death. She has always been deft at navigating the fatal charms of celebrities, having grown up with a narcissistic, alcoholic father. As she ingratiates herself into the world of the band, she grows enchanted, against her better judgment, by these legendary rock stars. She knows she can’t get pulled in too deep, otherwise she’ll compromise her objectivity — and her integrity.
Love the premise, and am very much looking forward to reading this.
Sarah Tomlinson’s The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers is due to be published by Flatiron Books in North America and in the UK, on February 13th, 2024.