Daisy Jones & The Six, a novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, is the perfect story for readers fascinated by the rock ‘n roll scene of 1970s Los Angeles. Recurring themes of staying strong in one’s values and wanting what, or who, you cannot have drive the narratives of the eccentric Daisy Jones and members of The Six — a rock band whose songs are climbing the charts thanks to their collaboration with Daisy’s enchanting voice and her overall coolness and complex relationship with The Six’s lead singer, Billy Dunne.
Written in an oral history format, this novel allows Reid’s characters to quickly work their way into the hearts of readers. You know a book is going to be great when you find yourself thinking about the characters in all your spare time, and that is exactly what happened to me. I kept wondering if Camila, Billy’s wife, was ever going to lose faith in him, if Daisy and Billy were really going to become the next Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, if a member of the band was ever going to punch Billy for being too controlling or if anything was going to actually happen between Karen and Graham, keyboardist and guitarist for The Six. No matter the tension that two characters have between them, the band’s drummer, Warren, provides a kind of comic relief that makes him such a loveable character.
Other than the band’s behind-the-scenes antics, conversations around gender roles explain why the characters in this story are the way they are. While Daisy’s displays of feminism are empowering, I related most to Karen’s desires in life and found her relationship with Camila to be one of my favorite parts of the whole novel. Although Karen and Camila want drastically different lives, the support and understanding that they have for each other is the kind of friendship that anyone would be lucky to find. It is Karen’s strength in fighting for the life she wants and Camila’s own faith in Billy that are true testaments to women’s resilience in this novel.
As a fan of Fleetwood Mac, I expected that I would enjoy this story simply because of its setting and the dynamics between Daisy and the rest of the band members. However, I was not expecting to gain such a deep understanding of why people resist the things they want most in the world. This novel is not just about a rock band’s rise to stardom; it is about avoiding one’s vices and living with weaknesses that ultimately push us to become what we desire most: the best versions of ourselves.
Daisy Jones & The Six is being adapted into a thirteen-episode television miniseries. It will be available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
By Molly Perry, Features Editor