Dawnie Walton

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton is an intriguing and, for those of us who remember this period, nostalgic trip through the struggles of the time as told through the personal struggles of very well-rounded characters.

Walton's style drew me in immediately. Like any good book that tries to portray fiction as a real historical document there needs to be an immediate jump into events so the reader doesn't have time to remember it is fiction. I think the use of the "Editor's Note" show more served this purpose well. These were real people from the beginning, with all of the emotional baggage that comes with that.

I understand that some readers of fiction will be thrown by the format, and that is to be expected with any work that doesn't stick with a standard approach. I would suggest that if you enjoy entertainment biographies and/or books that use interviews to tell real stories, then you won't have any trouble with the style here. This may not be common in fiction but is not uncommon in nonfiction, so if you're familiar with interview heavy nonfiction you will feel comfortable in this fictional world.

As an aside, I still have a hard time acknowledging that times I recall quite readily qualify as a period for historical fiction. I feel so old!

I would recommend this to readers who like fiction that takes place in the entertainment world but that also keeps the human elements front and center while highlighting the social and cultural turmoil of the time.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

Behind The Music of Opal Jewel & Neville Charles
Review of the Simon & Schuster Canadian paperback edition (March 30, 2021) released simultaneously with the 37 Ink hardcover.

The fictional music biography genre has gathered momentum in the past few years, especially after the success of Daisy Jones & The Six (2019). We had Adrianne Geffel (2020) last year and now both The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (March, 2021) and Bootleg Stardust: A Novel (April, 2021) in the past few months. Depending of show more the possible success of the future TV series adaptation (2022?) of Daisy Jones & The Six we could see the genre blossoming even further.

For readers and listeners of a certain age (I count myself among them), this provides the pleasure of nostalgia for an era that we likely perceive as more hopeful and free-spirited than the current one of corporate, political and media dystopias. It is also flattering to those same readers as it consists of writing about our era, one that we actually lived through and feel that we know best, certainly better than the writers, who are usually much younger than we are. As the writers work to capture those moments, we judge them accordingly as to how well they do so.

The best of these, such as The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, are able to provide the above but also to retrofit / retcon contemporary issues such as gender identity, racism and feminism into their 1960s &1970s historical fiction worlds and show them as seeds germinating from that earlier time.

Opal & Nev imagines a proto punk/glam rock duo in the early 1970s consisting of American black singer Opal Jewel and British white singer/guitarist Neville Charles. Debut novel writer Dawnie Walton provides various hints of both of their real-life prototypes and lets you fashion your own picture of their sounds and styles. Opal (to my mind) is a glam-punk version of Nina Simone, who is able to sing like Merry Clayton (of Gimme Shelter fame) and Rose Stone (of Sly and the Family Stone). Nev (again, to my mind) starts out the quirky Brit solo singer/songwriter, think Syd Barrett, Nick Drake, early David Bowie, who is later the solo star icon trading on nostalgia, perhaps Rod Stewart, Elton John. They are not any one of these people of course, they are the best aspects of all of them.

Walton builds a world where these two unite in an early flame of glory that is destroyed by various tensions, e.g. the obligatory substance abuse subplot. There is a terrifying racial incident with the biker gang fans of a Southern Rock band that is immortalized in a photograph that ignites their early cult following. The book takes place in a recent contemporary world of 2016 where the fictional book writer is interviewing all parties in support of a Behind the Music expose for her fictional popular music media conglomerate called Aural. This is to act as tie-in publicity for a planned revival tour by the duo, who have not performed together since the 1970s. During the course of the interviews, secrets of the past are uncovered that lay bare the dark side of the quest for fame and adulation. This puts both the career of the writer & her book, and the projected tour in jeopardy. And corporate greed does not smile fondly on those who seek to block its path.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev effectively captures both its early 1970s era and the current corporate 2010/2020s world. It is an impressive debut for Dawnie Walton and I'm eager to read what she will create in the future.

Trivia and Link
Writer Dawnie Walton on the Pop Culture of Her Life. show less

Contemporary story in the form of an oral history, chronicling the rise and fall of a (fictional) groundbreaking 1970s rock duo, Opal and Nev. Neville Charles, a white British musician, hears Opal Jewel, a Black American singer, in bar in Detroit and asks her to join him. Together, Opal and Nev challenge societal norms and racial prejudice. Their collaboration creates a musical sensation, but it is cut short after a violent incident at one of their concerts. Decades later (2016), music show more journalist S. Sunny Shelton, daughter of a drummer who was involved in the incident, decides to revisit the story of Opal and Nev. She conducts interviews and researches their history, uncovering long-buried secrets, controversies, and the real story behind their final performance.

The storyline starts with Nev, but soon focuses more on Opal and Sunny. Short explanatory notes written by Sunny are inserted sporadically after a series of direct interview quotes. The storyline contains elements related to the freedom of artistic expression, power dynamics in the music industry, impact of racism and sexism, and enduring influence of revolutionary figures in popular culture.

The characters are well developed and believable. The voices of the interviewed individuals are distinct and consistent. The structure reminds me of Daisy Jones & the Six, but this book contains piercing social commentary. It points out the similarities between racial issues today and those of the 1970s. In addition, it explores art, activism, feminism, gender identity, social justice, and the complexities of human relationships. It is an impressive debut and look forward to reading this author’s future works. show less

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton is a 2021 37 Ink publication.

Opal and Nev were a dynamic, groundbreaking rock duo during the 70s. But when their recording label signs a group that miraculously makes it onto the music charts, the couple gets caught up in the studio’s attempt to book all their artists in the big Rivington musical festival.

Things go awry when the featured group takes the stage waving a confederate flag, prompting Opal to act. When a melee breaks out it show more leads to the death of Jimmy Curtis, the band’s drummer, and the duo’s promising career…

Nev goes on to success in Britain, while Opal takes a less commercial, excursion into Afropunk music, having taken the brunt of the fallout of the Rivington festival.

Now, there are rumors that Opal and Nev may be planning a reunion. As the first black editor of Aural magazine, Sunny Shelton is set to do a cover story about the duo. But her interest in this story is very, very personal, because Sunny just happens to be Jimmy Curtis’ daughter, and she’s about to interview, Opal- the woman who was having an affair with her father while her mother was pregnant with her…

Well, wow! Just wow!! This book is so realistic that I Googled Opal & Nev to see if they were a real musical duo – or if this story was based on a true story. I had to keep reminding myself the book was fictional!

Nev is certainly a central part of the story, but he’s overshadowed, rightfully so, in my opinion, by Opal.

Opal is quite the character- and while her stylist- Virgil, attempts to steal the show now and again, Opal is absolutely THE star of this show, hands down. She’s outlandish, bold, bald, and outspoken and takes no prisoners.

The story is written exactly as a journalist would approach it- in the format of an oral history. There are many interviews piecing together the events that led to that fateful show and the fallout that followed. But, as the story progresses, it tightens up to a point of supreme, edge of your seat suspense. I was riveted!

The story eventually narrows the spotlight to Sunny and Opal. The author adeptly creates a parallel between them, and their individual struggles, both personally and professionally. Sunny draws strength and inspiration from Opal that she had not anticipated, as the two women come to a special understanding.

Overall, I was drawn to this book by the lure of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, set in the 1970s, but the story goes far deeper than a surface rock saga. (Some are making comparisons to other books that feature 70s fictional bands- also employing an oral history format, but, while I may have enjoyed those books, this story blows them straight out of the water!!! NO comparisons, in my opinion- to be rudely blunt) It is so effective, I really, really wanted Opal & Nev to be real people, and still can't shake the feeling that they aren't.

The story explores many angles of women and race, juxtaposing the past with the present with a dynamic style. The story is deep, gripping, and gritty and dazzling. I couldn’t put it down!! It may be early days yet- but I can assure you, this book will be on my list of favorites in 2022.

Highly recommend!! show less