The Maidenheads

In Peterson’s big-hearted debut, a queer woman returns to her indie music roots and the bandmate who broke her heart. Ten years before the start of the novel, when Jamie Cain was a teen in 2002, her band the Maidenheads were beginning to gain notoriety in Washington, D.C. But after she broke up with her bandmate and girlfriend, Mari Dvali, the pain was too much and Jamie left the band. Now, she’s toiling as an editor for an alt-weekly in Baltimore and hooking up with her ex-boyfriend, Peter, while Mari, a singer who sounds like “if Tom Waits were a twentysomething dyke,” has begun to garner attention with her new group, Les Somnambules. Using her press credentials, Jamie attends a Les Soms show and reconnects with Mari. After Jamie visits a practice and ends up singing with the band, Mari makes the unilateral decision to invite Jamie into Les Soms. The move causes discord within the band, specifically with guitar player Amanda, Mari’s ex. As Mari and Jamie begin secretly dating, Jamie must reckon with their volatile history and face old fears of where she belongs in the queer community. The sheer joy of making music comes through on every page, as does Jamie’s determination to be herself. Indie music fans should snatch this up. Agent: Julia Kardon, HG Literary. (May)