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The author of New York Times bestseller and Reese's Book Club pick Lucky returns with a spellbinding story of rock 'n' roll and star-crossed love—about grunge-era musician Jane Pyre's journey to find out what really happened to her husband and partner in music, who abruptly disappeared years earlier.
He was the troubled face of rock 'n' roll…until he suddenly disappeared without a trace.
Jane Pyre was once half of the famous rock 'n' roll duo, the Lightning Bottles. Years later, she's perhaps the most hated—and least understood—woman in music. She was never as popular with fans as her bandmate (and soulmate), Elijah Hart—even if Jane was the one who wrote the songs that catapulted the Lightning Bottles to instant, dizzying fame, first in the Seattle grunge scene, then around the world.
But ever since Elijah disappeared five years earlier and the band's meteoric rise to fame came crashing down, the public hatred of Jane has taken on new levels, and all she wants to do is retreat. What she doesn't anticipate is the bombshell that awaits her at her new home in the German countryside: the sullen teenaged girl next door—a Lightning Bottles superfan—who claims to have proof that not only is Elijah still alive, he's also been leaving secret messages for Jane. And they need to find them right away.
A cross-continent road trip about two misunderstood outsiders brought together by their shared love of music, The Lightning Bottles is both a love letter to the 90s and a searing portrait of the cost of fame.
"Readers looking to indulge their nostalgia may find something worth discovering in these pages; anyone searching for quality prose should look elsewhere. A literary misfire soaked in 1990s musical nostalgia." —Kirkus Reviews
"While the novel plausibly conveys the pitfalls of fame, Stapley introduces but neglects to explore heavier themes of codependency and exploitation. There's a bit too much filler in this '90s nostalgia trip." —Publishers Weekly
"Fiercely visceral and exquisitely written, The Lightning Bottles is an ode to rock and roll, the 90s and the power of music to hurt and heal in equal measure. This one will satisfy readers looking for a tumultuous love story, as well as those in the mood for a twisty mystery. Be prepared for the wildly talented, charismatic duo that is The Lightning Bottles to take up permanent residence in your head and heart." —People
"Both a page-turning mystery and a love letter to the grunge era. The set-up is simple and compelling: what if Courtney Love set out on a road trip across Europe with her internet sleuthing neighbor to uncover the real truth behind Kurt's death? The parallels to Kurt and Courtney aren't that exact... Still, we all know what we're meant to be listening to while reading it." —Lit Hub
"Moving back and forth in time, Stapley deftly depicts Jane's coming of age as a musician and establishes her as a complex protagonist…With the backdrop of the 1990s Seattle grunge scene, Jane's story will appeal to fans of musicians like Courtney Love and Kathleen Hanna." —Booklist
"A hopeful and heartbreaking tale of love and loss … The Lightning Bottles is a rollercoaster ride of emotions. From the thrilling rise to stardom to the high price of fame, Marissa Stapley vividly brings the nineties rock scene to life." —Ashley Elston, New York Times bestselling author of First Lie Wins
"In this must-read for lovers of Daisy Jones and the Six and A Star is Born, a golden couple achieve a meteoric rise, only to find their dreams shattered by the price of fame. Stapley's latest is a deep dive into the treatment of women in the music industry, as well as a delicious mystery featuring an international scavenger hunt. A wild ride of a novel that will leave you breathless." —Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Spectacular
"Marissa Stapley's The Lightning Bottles is a passionate story about the driving urge to create, the ferociousness of love, and how it all can disappear beneath the chaotic terror of fame and fandom. Be careful: once you start, you won't turn away from this thrilling tale of music, madness, love and forgiveness." —Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane
This information about The Lightning Bottles was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Marissa Stapley is the New York Times bestselling author of Lucky, a Reese's Book Club pick, and several other internationally bestselling novels, many of which have been optioned for television and translated into several languages. She has worked as a journalist, magazine editor, and creative writing teacher, and currently resides in Toronto with her family.
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