“McNeil’s latest is a dreamy, melancholy look back at young love… Fans of wistful love stories and intellectual music retrospectives will appreciate the astronomical metaphors throughout, intertwining music, math, and the planets into this complicated love story.” —Booklist
From the Publisher: “A legendary band, an iconic lead singer, and their mysterious connection to a woman whose love helped create the music of a generation. Timing is everything in a powerful novel about fate, regret, and moving on by the author of A Day Like This.
In the 1990s, Carter Wills was the lead singer of the English alt-rock band Mayluna, securing his place among music legends. His tortured-heart lyrics struck a chord. And so did his secret connection to a woman whose love changed all their lives. Who was she?
Evie Waters’s two grown children discover an iconic photo in an old magazine of a ‘mystery girl’ with Carter: their mother. It all started in a wistful time and place for Evie, her twenty-fifth summer. A young columnist forging her career. Backstage euphoria. A long-shot interview. And an almost cosmic connection with an enigmatic musician on the rise.
What happened between them is a hidden story no one, not even Evie’s family, knows. Until now. Worlds apart, Carter and Evie finally reveal the story—joyful, regretful, and unforgettable. It was a time when the stars aligned for a love so profound the whole world felt it. It was as if it would last forever.”
More info About the Author: Kelley McNeil is the critically acclaimed author of Mayluna and A Day Like This. She was born and raised in Pittsburgh and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh. She worked in the music and entertainment industry for over a decade, which helped inspire her latest novel. She now lives in South Florida most of the time and in London the rest of the time, with a good pen, good music, and her two daughters close by.”
Author Site
What inspired the story of Mayluna?
Music has been a major part of my life since childhood, and (much like writing) I often used it as a sort of escapism. I became fascinated by live music during my teen years, and knew I wanted to work in the music industry, and more specifically, in the concert industry, which is what I went on to do for a good while. I’d be working backstage at these massive concerts and it felt like the electricity of an impending thunderstorm; just this incredible amount of energy from thousands of fans excited to see the musicians they love. I also remember the musicians themselves, existing and living in their own kind of private universe, in ways that felt like two different people – offstage and on. I wanted to capture those feelings while also writing a complicated love story that feels a bit like a song, portraying the elation and sadness of that magical time in a person’s life.
It was important to me that the main character, Carter Wills, have a unique personality that would be very unlike what one might expect of a legendary rock musician. He tells of a strange experience he had with the moon one night as a child, and it shaped his personality in a way that allows him to see the world in a more magical and romantic way, despite the hardships of his life. The Greenwich Observatory, outside of London, is also one of my favorite places and I knew I wanted to include it in the story. It can be a very intriguing place!
There is so much yearning and regret in this novel and early reviews are telling people to keep a box of Kleenex handy. What do you hope readers will take away from reading it?
Mayluna isn’t a romance novel, but it is a love story that is intensely tragic and yet hopeful, so it was important to me to keep a healthy balance of these emotions throughout the story. I’ve been hearing from early readers and it’s so interesting because some readers are in their 70s and 80s, connecting deeply with Evie’s life, while at the same time, there are readers in their 20s doing the same. This feels like success to me. No matter the stage of life one might be in, I hoped Carter and Evie’s story would connect with the universal human feeling of longing to be deeply loved, while also understanding that such a thing is often deeply flawed. And that maybe that’s okay too. The key is to be able to find that flicker of hope and the possibility for light at the end of it all.
What was the hardest part of writing this book?
The book is written in an unconventional structure. It’s told in a partially retrospective, dual timeline, with multiple perspectives that all braid together by the end. I had done something similar with my first book, A Day Like This, but this one took it a step further and it was very challenging. It was also difficult because I had to leave so many scenes on the cutting room floor. And it’s already quite a long book! I don’t edit as I write, so I don’t pay attention to things like word count and pacing until I finish my first draft and begin editing. The scenes just kept coming and it was like this endless waterfall, so I realized early on that I would have to cut quite a bit. Ultimately the book is better for it of course, but as any novelist will tell you, it’s not always easy.
Where can readers buy Mayluna?
Wherever you like to buy your books! I love the local bookstores in Pittsburgh, they’re so wonderful and each have such character. So please visit them first. And of course, Amazon, B&N, and Bookshop.org.
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