Marianne’s Pick of the Week: The Future Saints by Ashley Winstead

In the past few months, I’ve read some “heavy” books. Novels that addressed topics such as climate change, famine, and disease. So, I was in the mood for something that would give me joy, or at least a distraction. Enter: The Future Saints by Ashley Winstead.

Grief, addiction, hope, fame, and acceptance do not on the surface seem like “lighter” topics. Winstead, however, has created a novel that addresses these subjects (and a tender love story) without weighing the reader down. Hannah Cortland is lead singer/songwriter of the indie rock group, the Future Saints. The trio had a bright future ahead of them with one of their songs even getting used for a car commercial. The sudden death of their manager (and Hannah’s sister) Ginny throws the band members, especially Hannah for a loop.

Attempting to numb her grief Hannah turns to alcohol and drugs. The group resorts to playing dive bars for progressively shrinking crowds. Enter: Theo, a music executive nicknamed the “Fixer” or as the band calls him the “Suit.” Theo attends a Saints concert at a tiny venue. After an uninspired show Hannah and the band introduce a new song, “Six Feet Under.” Theo and the other concertgoers are stunned by both the song and Hannah’s gutsy, raw, and emotional performance. The Saints become a viral sensation, exploding on TikTok and Instagram.

Theo, as directed by the Saints’ label, is determined to get a final album out of the group and earn himself a promotion. He takes the band on the road and gets a first-hand look at Hannah’s creative process and pain. The Saints become more than just a problem to solve the more time he spends with them.

We watch as the Saints’ fame rises and as Hannah spins more out of control, hurting herself and those closest to her. Readers are privy to the conversations between Hannah and Ginny. Is Ginny a ghost, figment of Hannah’s imagination, a coping mechanism? Can Hannah survive the paparazzi following her from town to town? And while we’re at it, who is alerting the photographers about Hannah’s movements?

This really is a feel-good story. And while it tackles emotional topics it does so in a funny, sweet way. Theo and Hannah’s enemies to lovers romance is tender and charming. Kenny and Ripper, Hannah’s bandmates, are eccentric and quirky. The record label president is as big a jerk as you would expect. Read this one if you liked Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid or The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner.