Description
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six.
A lifetime holding it together. One party will bring it crashing down.
Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit.
Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over-especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva. The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud-because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.
Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there. And Kit has a couple secrets of her own-including a guest she invited without consulting anyone. By midnight the party will be completely out of control.
By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface. Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them .
. . and what they will leave behind.
Sarah Turner –
I was a huge fan of Daisy Jones and the Six – so definitely keep an eye out for this author now. It took me a while to get round to reading it – as I thought the blurb and the cover made it out to be about a celebrity party in Malibu – and this book has so much more depth than that. Ultimately a story about family bonds and the love between siblings – how they grew up, apart and together again. Nina, the eldest of 4 is the unofficial matriarch of the family, and as we go back in time to discover the story of how their parents met and fell in love, we discover why Nina was pushed into this role. Supported by her brothers Jay and Hudson, and her younger sister Kit. Nina is getting over a failed marriage, and trying to find out what her true role in life is – having spent so long looking out for others.
the beach party on the cover is simply the culmination of over 20 years of story – and the first half of the book is the real strength as we grow to understand the importance of sibling bonds.
A good holiday read, and I think will widen the Daisy Jones audience further.