The Maidenheads

By: Benny B. Peterson

A big-hearted debut novel about queer yearning, indie musicians, and bushwhacking a thorny path back to your first love.

Jamie is bad at endings, which is why she's stuck at a dead-end Baltimore newspaper job, continuing to have break-up sex with her first-ever hetero partner, and still being haunted by the what-ifs of her ex-girlfriend Mari—a charismatic and brilliant musician—and their former band together, The Maidenheads. Since they (and their band) broke-up nearly a decade ago, Jamie hasn't been able to sing.

But when the unexpected opportunity to perform with Mari's successful new D.C. band arises, Jamie jumps at it. Her brain knows it might not be the best idea, but her heart isn't sure it can survive Mari's gravitational pull a second time . . .

Electric, spine-tingling, and filled to the brim with tenderness and honesty, THE MAIDENHEADS is a portrait of the complex and neverending pull of first love and an ode to the life-changing power of music. Like the very best concert, it'll leave your ears ringing and your body totally spent.