Unless you were interested in playing the wicked step-groupies in the Cinderella videos, there wasn’t a lot of room for a pair of young women in the heavy-metal scene of the ’80s. Certainly not as musicians in their own right. That’s the daunting landscape that confronts Sapphire and Destiny, the heroines of author Dawn LeFevre’s keenly observed and lovingly rendered period novel, The Metal Sisters.

Inspired by LeFevre’s passion for headbanging music, the book is set in 1985, when burning riffs were everywhere and the allure of dominating the Sunset Strip was overwhelming. Into that maelstrom wade a college-bound honor student and a tequila-soaked bad girl who are united by their love of playing guitar. Can their band climb the mountain of metal to a height that justifies putting their life plans on indefinite hold? Or will poverty, unreliable bandmates, and a palpable lack of label interest make it all go up in smoke?