Delving into the familiar trope of sex, drugs and rock and roll – albeit with a distinct Australian twist and a mercurial female narrator in the form of Nina Dall – debut novelist Jenny Valentish chronicles the meteoric rise of teen pop-punk band The Dolls. Drawing on her years of experience as both a musician and a music journalist, Valentish uses her novel as a launchpad to explore the weighty topics of child abuse, parental neglect and drug exploitation.
At the heart of Valentish’s story is Nina Dall. Bold, volatile and immensely talented, Nina is the eyes through which we glimpse the sordid world of record deals, album making and gruelling tour schedules that she and her cousin Rose Dall find themselves in. The antithesis to Nina, Rose Dall is immaculate, well-coiffed and obsessively compulsive. The interplay between the two well-characterised Dalls is the undercurrent pushing the narrative forward; their love-hate relationship and the inherent differences in their upbringing and temperaments becoming starkly obvious as the story progresses.
Valentish uses The Dolls’ strikingly similar outward appearances to contrast how divergent their lives really are. What drives Nina to do a lot of what she does is divulged to readers in a shocking revelation early in the novel, allowing Valentish to explore a difficult topic that is often overlooked in female narratives. The delicate subject is treated carefully – the mixture of contempt, unease and shame Nina feels when recalling long-buried memories is an effective strategy for rendering the past.
The danger of looking up to the wrong role models is also deftly demonstrated in the girls’ mutual admiration of their Aunt Alannah. Kicking off each chapter is an excerpt from former 80s popstar Alannah Dall’s autobiography Pour Me Another – hilarious in its obvious parodying of successful music stars and illuminating in its capacity to draw parallels between The Dolls’ experiences and their aunt’s past life in another era. Alannah herself is a mass of contradictions and loose ethics, as she steadily morphs from an endearing has-been into a selfish and destructive force in the two girls’ lives.
By debunking the established rock-star image of old staid men and making the subject of her novel two teenage girls, it would be remiss for Valentish to not touch on the unrealistic expectations placed on women in the limelight and the sheer lack of women-fronted bands. Instead of banging readers over the head with heavy-handed observations however, Valentish nimbly interweaves critical standpoints into Nina’s inner-musings. As Nina once notices, ‘Women always played bass, accepting their role in life as the four-string serving wench to the boys’ lead-guitarist club.’
Valentish utilises different plot devices throughout to comical effect. A fake Molly Meldrum review of Nina’s parents’ separation – fashioned in the style of an album review – touches on a sticky subject in an accessible and hilarious manner. Similarly, Valentish’s quirk of detailing what Nina and Rose each wear at different points of the story adds a very visual, stylistic dimension to the reading of Cherry Bomb.
Additionally, the listicles that pepper the novel, from ‘Top 10 Pieces of Advice From Alannah’ to ‘Top 5 Responses to Awkward Questions’ provide a welcome departure from the first-person narrative that makes up much of the book, while reviews of The Dolls’ live shows and albums add verisimilitude to the story.
Pop culture references run rampant throughout – from the very title of the book to mentions of Australian Idol and Countdown – and the inclusion of Australian cities such as Parramatta (the ‘suburban hell’ Nina wants to escape) and Tamworth (the country town to which Nina escapes to hoping for an epiphany) firmly grounds the novel in Australia. It makes the story a relatable one, despite the high improbability of anyone having led a life remotely like Nina’s.
At once a bildungsroman and a searing examination of the fallout of middle-class living, Valentish’s Cherry Bomb is a page-turner that is constantly hurtling forward with surprising bursts of hilarity and tenderness. Early in the novel, music producer John Villiers’ – and Nina’s sustained love interest – comment on what he is trying to do with The Dolls’ music perfectly encapsulates the ethos of Valentish’s debut novel.
‘He said it was all about capturing the unbearable urgency of being a teenager; that sense that everything comes in limited supply with a short window of opportunity.’
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Cherry Bomb
By Jenny Valentish
373 pages
RRP: $29.99
ISBN: 9781760110819
Allen & Unwin
