The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton
Opal is a fiercely independent young woman pushing against the grain in her style and attitude, a Black punk artist before her time. Coming of age in Detroit, she can’t imagine settling for a comfortable job. Despite her unconventional looks, Opal believes she can be a star, so when British singer/songwriter Neville Charles discovers her at a bar’s amateur night, she takes him up on his offer to make rock music together for the fledgling Rivington Records.
In early-seventies New York City, just as she’s finding her niche as part of a flamboyant and funky creative scene, a rival band signed to her label brandishes a Confederate flag at a promotional concert. Opal’s bold protest and the violence that ensues set off a chain of events that will not only change the lives of those she loves but also be a deadly reminder that repercussions are always harsher for women, especially Black women, who dare to speak their truth.
Decades later, as Opal considers a 2016 reunion with Nev, music journalist S. Sunny Shelton seizes the chance to curate an oral history about her idols. Sunny thought she knew most of the stories leading up to the cult duo’s most politicized chapter. But as her interviews dig deeper, a nasty new allegation from an unexpected source threatens to blow up everything.
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The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is, in my perspective, the book of the year. This novel digs deep into a lot of topics and is one of the most immersive stories I’ve ever read. I felt like it was real, and at times, I felt like I was right there with them, with Opal and Nev as these horrific events of the past came to the surface, with the interviewer as she digs into her own painful family history, and with the fans as they watch idols they look up to transform in front of their eyes to something they never thought possible, good and bad. I’m usually not one for the “oral history” format unless listened to through an audiobook but this story was so entrancing that I barely noticed the interview format, I think this would make a killer movie or documentary style film. I highly enjoyed this book and it’s definitely going onto my top 10 reads of 2021 list.
We start off with a letter from the editor. The editor being our main point of view throughout this book. Our interviewer/editor, S. Sunny Shelton, also happens to be the daughter of Opal & Nev’s famous drummer, Jimmy Curtis. Diving into this history with Opal and Nev is both exciting and painful for Miss Shelton as she’s always idolized them but her father died while performing at one of their shows so digging into their history is also digging into a painful history for herself and her family. Throughout her interviews of the band and old friends and producers, she uncovers secrets from the past and struggles with whether or not these secrets should see the light of day. While discussing the hardships and racism of the past, our characters also crash headfirst into the same political issues of the present. Our story taking place in 2016 wasn’t a coincidence and I think lining up this anti-racist narrative with the year Trump was elected POTUS was genius on the author’s part to help parallel the environments of the past to what’s happening in present-day.
My favourite part was the perfectly flawed characters of Opal and Nev. We start with them being these amazing rock legends whom everyone idolizes and romanticizes and we, along with the interviewer, fall into their charisma and charm. But as we go on, we see that they are only human and that they have darkness and imperfections inside them as all of us do (maybe some more than others). I loved how this book was a narration on how dangerous it is to idolize stars and put them on pedestals. Because when they disappoint you, which they inevitably will, the news is all the more devastating. Even this story itself doesn’t go in the direction we expect it to. Change and transformation are imperative not only in the oral history of Opal and Nev but also in our interviewers own story.
This book didn’t shy away from the truth. It confronted systemic racism right from the start and kept that running theme throughout. It shed a pretty bright light on lots of “typical” things that are the cause of deeply rooted systemic racism. From things like the Black woman not being taken as seriously as her white, male counterpart to big issues like the cavalier use of the Confederate flag throughout the US in modern society. Our author tackles these topics head on and explains WHY these things aren’t ok and the many ways in which they’re harmful. I think she did it in a brilliant way by taking us into a Black narrative and seeing it from that perspective through realistic life experiences.
Hands down, one of the best books I think I’ve ever read. I highly recommend for anyone who enjoys biographies, oral histories, or even just historical fiction and rock. I think it would be a great book to introduce into school curriculum’s as well. The rock history is something I think teens would really enjoy while also teaching them valuable lessons on race, politics, and identity. I obviously have given this one 5 stars. I’d give it a million if I could.