Do you love soapy historical dramas, but are getting tired of Regency fashion and world wars? You need Taylor Jenkins Reid. The author follows up her dishy love letter to ‘70s rock, Daisy Jones & the Six, with a beachside melodrama set over one August weekend in 1983. Even though her failed marriage is all over the tabloids, supermodel Nina Riva feels obliged to throw her annual blowout party. All three of Nina’s siblings are dealing with romantic baggage, too—including a love triangle involving both of her brothers. Reid also flashes back to the whirlwind 1950s romance of the pack’s parents—teenage waitress June and aspiring rocker Mick Riva—and tracks them through the implosion of their marriage. And we’re treated to vignettes of the bad behavior of guests at the Riva’s boozy-druggy-sexy bacchanal. Malibu Rising is a gleeful melodrama that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
