Originally published: March 2019 (This edition January 2020)

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Published by: Arrow Books

Genre: Historical Fiction

Length: 416 pages

Reading dates: 22-25 February 2020

I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo last summer whilst on holiday – (it had been languishing on the TBR a while) – and I absolutely loved it.  I loved the glamour and the history – it was just perfect.  Daisy Jones & The Six has been on my radar since it came out and luckily our book club chose it for our February read!

Daisy Jones & The Six were the biggest band in the 1970s – they wrote a best selling album and toured to sell out venues all over America.  Their albums were on every turntable, their sound defined an era. But on 12 July 1979 they split.

This is the story of why that split happened.

Told in an interview style, everyone who was involved in the band at the time has their say.  The story starts when brothers Billy and Graham form a rock band – Billy is the sexy lead singer, Graham plays lead guitar. In 1967, they are joined by Warren on the drums, Pete on bass, Karen on keyboard and Eddie on rhythm guitar and soon became successful as The Six.

Meanwhile we follow rich, beautiful girl Daisy Jones who releases her first album in 1975.  She ends up doing a duet with Eddie and The Six and the chemistry is so successful, she ends up touring with them before formally joining the band and co-writing their next album with Eddie.

I loved the style of this book – it is the first time I have read a fictional book, written as an interview.  It worked really well – I wondered if we’d really get a feel for the characters but I totally felt I got their personalities. Each “voice” was unique and you could feel their frustrations, pain and triumphs shining through.

As you’d expect from the ’70s rock band, they are no angels and there is lots of substance abuse, drinking and sex.  Eddie ends up in rehab quite early on in the band’s story. There are also lots of egos in play – all the band members end up clashing at some point or other over their roles in the band and how they want to play their music.  When you see it from the inside, it makes you wonder how any band manages to stay together without killing each other!

Usually if you were reading an interview with a band you’d have an background or an idea what happened to them. I had no idea what was going to happen to them which was very exciting! I feel a little bit gutted that they aren’t real and I can’t read about them more!

An original and clever idea for a book, I really enjoyed this novel…although I am a bit distressed it is “historical fiction” – I’m always a bit surprised that history is now a period when I was alive!  I was fully invested in the characters (I am still thinking of them as real people) and I can’t stop thinking about it!

Spotify Playlist:

Someone told me there is a Spotify playlist for the book, including music that was around at the same time as the book was set, including artists like Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Bruce Springsteen.  The author has also included a whole albums worth of lyrics in the back of the book!

TV Show

Really excited to learn that Daisy Jones & The Six is an upcoming American TV shows. No news on a release date but the miniseries is set to consist of thirteen episodes and will air on Amazon Video. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_Jones_%26_The_Six

About the author:

Taylor Jenkins Reid is the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, One True Loves, Maybe in Another Life, After I Do, and Forever, Interrupted. Her novels have been Indie Next Picks, chosen by Book of the Month, and featured in People, US Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, Good Morning America, and more. Her newest novel, Daisy Jones and the Six, is a New York Times bestseller. She lives in Los Angeles.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tjenkinsreid
Website: https://taylorjenkinsreid.com/