Book Review: The Lightning Bottles

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.

The Lightning Bottles by Marissa Stapley will be published September 24, 2024. Simon and Schuster provided an early galley for review.

As her introductory author's note states, Stapley was a 90's teen passionate about the music and artists of that time. That love and longing translates perfectly into the character of Hen, the sullen teen who Jane encounters shortly after her arrival in the country.

While the present day acts as the roadmap of the story, the flashback chapters provided much-needed backstory to the relationship between Jane and Elijah. I had to smile with the BBS (bulletin-board system) exchanges; early Internet chatrooms were something one does not forget. The use of letters between characters also works very well here (it is a literary technique I don't think about utilizing that often myself). I also liked that the flashbacks are written in past tense while the "present day" chapters are written in present tense. It is a subtle thing (it took me almost a third of the book to register it) that works well.

Stapley mixes real world musicians like Bono and Michael Stipe with those she has made up for her tale (like the reimagined Seattle music scene and her stand-in for Sinéad O'Connor, one of the artists Stapley praises in her opening author's note). For those who know their 90's music trivia, these nods and reworkings will be very familiar. Whether one considers these reinterpretations of people and events as creative license or an literary shortcuts will vary. In any case, the story makes it way to a satisfying conclusion.

I like the added bonus of three song lyrics at the end. That is a nice touch too.