I just reviewed The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by
Dawnie Walton
There has been a fair amount of hype about this book, The Final Revival of Opal and Nev, and frankly, I didn’t expect it to live up to it. I’m pleased to say I was wrong! The book has been compared to Daisy and the Six, another fictional bio of a fictional rock band, and a book that I also enjoyed. The mismatched pair of Opal and Nev, him a pampered English white boy songwriter and her a gawky, balding black girl from Detroit, find one another and create something totally different than either would ever have without the other. On the cusp of their big break a tragic event occurs that hurtles them into fame and the spotlight, but also spells the end of their relationship. The book unfolds as a series of interviews some forty years after the fact with the principals and those surrounding them by an ambitious young, black female journalist who has a close personal connection to the story. Issues of racism, sexism, and social injustice, which are so sadly relevant still today, propel the story forward.