Congratulations on the publication of THE LIGHTNING BOTTLES by Marissa Stapley publishing today with Simon & Schuster!
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.
Praise for THE LIGHTNING BOTTLES:
“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
“A riveting journey inside the ’90s grunge scene, where soulmates Elijah and Jane skyrocket to stardom before Elijah’s sudden, suspicious death. The novel is part love story, part mystery, and a sharp commentary on the price of fame. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!” –Carley Fortune, author of Meet Me at the Lake
“Stapley has emotionally laid me out flat with her latest. I was blown away by her tight storytelling, sympathetic yet complex characters, and her ability to capture the atmosphere of the 90s and alt rock culture within a story that is at once an epic romance and a cautionary tale…. Emotional, thrilling, thought-provoking and engrossing, The Lightning Bottles is unlike anything I’ve read before. It will stand as one of my top reads of 2024.”—Heather Marshall, bestselling author of Looking for Jane and The Secret History of Audrey James
“Perfect for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, THE LIGHTNING BOTTLES speaks to the pitfalls and perils of fame. Full of nostalgia and angst, and peppered with sharp insights and beautiful simplicity, Stapley has penned both a tender romance depicting tingle-inducing young love and a treatise on the dangers and complexities of the ever-moving targets of success. The women in this story lived in my thoughts even when I put the book down, and I was sad to say goodbye. A truly captivating read!” —Charlene Carr, author or Hold My Girl and We Rip the World Apart
“Be still, my 90s-music-infatuated heart. I knew three pages into this glorious book that THE LIGHTNING BOTTLES would be a new favourite. What a journey it took me on—from the euphoria of first love to the dizzying heights of fame to rock bottom and back again. I fell completely in love with these characters, with their adoration for each other and for music, their imperfect grasping at happiness, their resilience. A nostalgic, exciting, heartbreaking read. I’m obsessed with THE LIGHTNING BOTTLES—both the novel and the fictitious band therein.”
—Suzy Krause, bestselling author of Sorry I Missed You and I Think We’ve Been Here Before
“Marissa Stapley’s THE LIGHTNING BOTTLES is a vivid and steely-eyed view of the music scene of the 1990s, an industry that sanctified its golden boys and took strong women down. It’s a page-turner, for sure, but it’s also an absolute heartbreaker about two damaged souls who find and lose each other, and how sometimes the thinnest thread of hope is all you get to try to claw your way back to happiness. I’m envious of anyone who hasn’t yet read this gorgeous, deeply felt novel.”—Lauren Fox, New York Times-bestselling author of Send For Me
“Part mystery, part love-story, part ode to a great era in music, THE LIGHTNING BOTTLES is a heart-wrenching page-turner about addiction, loss, and the high price of fame.” —Robyn Harding, Internationally bestselling author of The Haters
“A fiercely visceral, exquisitely written ode to rock and roll, the 90s, and the power of music to hurt and heal in equal measure. With THE LIGHTNING BOTTLES, Marissa Stapley has created both a beautiful love story and a singularly unique mystery. Readers will quickly turn pages to find out what really happened to former rock star Elijah Hart—only to be swept away by the tumultuous journey of two lovers finding that fame comes at a higher cost than they can afford. Be prepared for the wildly talented duo that is THE LIGHTNING BOTTLES to take up permanent residence in your head, and in your heart.” —Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, author of Till Death Do Us Part and The Girls Are All So Nice Here
“It’s hard to write a rock’n’roll novel that’s both authentic and entertaining. Marissa Stapley has nailed it with this one.”—Alan Cross, radio broadcaster and writer
“My heart is still pounding after closing this book. An exhilarating love story on every level, Marissa Stapley masterfully weaves music and mystery, grief and hope, and courageously delves into the often untold, profoundly poetic and sometimes dangerous connection between artists who are also lovers. THE LIGHTNING BOTTLES is so true to what it was like in the music world in the 1990s, I forgot I was reading fiction. Gritty and shockingly real about the treacherous nature of fame, this book painfully reveals the traps on the quest for authentic expression and immortal love. I was left with the directive to always follow your art, no matter where it leads. A brilliant offering; tender, immersive, poetic and powerful. A standing ovation!” —Tara Maclean, bestselling author and award-winning singer/songwriter
“A compelling mystery, an ode to the ’90s scene and the power of music, a gorgeous love story, a feminist awakening—this book is everything.”— Kerry Clare, author of Asking for a Friend and Waiting for a Star to Fall
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.
Marissa is represented by Samantha Haywood.
Congratulations!