» REVIEW: Utopia Avenue by David MitchellThe Booktopian

With nearly 5 years between novels, there are a lot of us out there that have been itching with excitement to read Utopia Avenue, the new offering from David Mitchell. If you’re expecting another Cloud Atlas, this book is not that. Instead, this novel sees Mitchell try his hand at the rock novel along the lines of Daisy Jones & the Six, in a show of realism we haven’t seen from the author since Black Swan Green.

David Mitchell (Photo by Paul Stuart).

The story follows the formation and meteoric rise of fictional band Utopia Avenue in late ‘60s-era London. Think secret London clubs where you brush shoulders with Brian Jones, meeting Leonard Cohen in an elevator, bumping into young ingenue David Bowie on a street corner, invites to parties at the Chelsea Hotel with Janis Joplin, and taking your first trip at Jerry Garcia’s house.

We also see the darker side of the music biz. Dodgy deals, dodgy drugs, mental illness, sexual politics, and a whole spectrum of complicated family relationships make this book more than just an exercise in literary wish fulfilment. There are a couple of cheeky nods to previous novels too; Jasper de Zoet’s name is a clear reference to The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet and, without giving too many spoilers away, I can confirm that the horologists from The Bone Clocks make a brief appearance.

The rock’n roll cliches are bursting from the seams of this novel, which in less deft hands would see me curl my lip. But in Mitchell’s hands these tropes are like a warm, safe, and familiar place from which to explore four complex characters and the upheavals they experience being young in the ’60s.

–Jo Lewin, Head of Trade Books

Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell (Hachette Australia) is out on the 14th of July.

Utopia Avenue

by David Mitchell

Utopia Avenue might be the most curious British band you've never heard of.

Emerging from London's psychedelic scene in 1967, folksinger Elf Holloway, blues bassist Dean Moss, guitar virtuoso Jasper de Zoet and jazz drummer Griff Griffin together created a unique sound, with lyrics that captured their turbulent lives and times. The band produced only two albums in two years, yet their musical legacy lives on. This is the story of the band's brief, blazing journey from Soho clubs and draughty ballrooms to the promised land of America...

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