Malibu Rising is set against the backdrop of the intoxicating Malibu surf culture of the 1980s.
Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, champion surfer and photographer and their little sister, Kit.
The siblings are a source of fascination because they are the children of legendary singer, Mick Riva who abandoned them as kids. As the eldest, Nina has spent her entire life holding it together and caring for her siblings.
The celebrity siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of summer, but it soon spirals completely out of control. By midnight the party will be uncontrollable, the Lichtenstein is ripped off the wall as the house is trashed.
Meanwhile, the Riva’s long-absent, serially unfaithful further turns up, along with a young woman who could be another sibling.
Before dawn, the Riva mansion will have been destroyed by flames. But before the very first spark, the secrets that shaped their lives will be exposed. Their lives will change forever.
Malibu Rising is a fast paced family drama structured around the 24 hours leading up to the highly anticipated party. The plot follows the build-up to the party while exploring the family’s complicated past.
“A few years ago, I had the idea to write about a group of siblings trying to keep it together — specifically, an elder daughter shouldering the burden of raising her siblings — set on the beach, in one of my favourite places in the world, Malibu,” says Taylor.
Taylor Jenkins Reid is the author of several novels, including Daisy Jones & The Six, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Forever, Interrupted. Follow Taylor Jenkins Reid online and watch the Malibu Rising video trailer here. Plus, read an extract here.
Reviewer: Andrea Molloy
Hutchinson, RRP $37.00