NEED TO KNOW
\nVeteran entertainment journalist Juliet Izon is releasing her debut novel The EncoreThe book follows an indie rock star’s “chance encounter” with a brilliant composer at a conservatory in 2003 and 20 years later, the teenaged piano prodigy\u00a0that ties them togetherThe Encore hits shelves March 3, 2026, and PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the cover<\/p>\n
Juliet Izon<\/a> loves live music.\n<\/p>\n In the past few weeks alone, the New York-based journalist has shared snaps from concerts for Haim<\/a> and Chappell Roan<\/a>. As she wrote it in her post<\/a> about the latter show, she loves live music “so much that I wrote a whole novel about it.”\n<\/p>\n It\u2019s true: Izon\u2019s first novel, The Encore<\/a>, is by, for and about music lovers. Heavy on the \u201cby\u201d part: A large chunk of the book’s 368 pages essentially poured out of the writer, according to her Instagram.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI started writing something just to get it out of my system (lol) and now it’s 30,000 words. Halp.\u201d\n<\/p>\n That’s a text Izon wrote to a friend and fellow author after penning the first portion of The Encore<\/a>, according to her post<\/a> announcing the novel in May 2024. The book may not hit shelves until March 2026 \u2014 via publisher Union Square & Co \u2014 but in the meantime, PEOPLE can exclusively reveal its cover.\n<\/p>\n ‘The Encore’ by Juliet Izon.<\/p>\n Hachette Books<\/p>\n “As a veteran entertainment journalist, it was so much fun to create a world partially based on my own experiences covering red carpets, concerts and celebrity news,\u201d Izon tells PEOPLE of the book. \u201cAnd, as a writer who is so used to only penning articles that are squarely in reality, it was invigorating and freeing to let my imagination fly into this universe of musicians and music.\u201d\n<\/p>\n The Encore spans two decades, beginning at a prestigious Boston conservatory in 2003, where readers meet a future indie rock star who will spend the subsequent years trying to outrun her demons, per Izon.\n<\/p>\n At the conservatory, \u201ca chance encounter sparks an inimitable friendship between driven pianist and singer Anna Buckley and composer wunderkind Will Pendleton,\u201d per the synopsis. \u201cAs they strive toward careers as professional musicians, their bond deepens both from shared skill and the inexplicable sense that they\u2019re kindred souls.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cBut soon after graduation, one night forever alters the trajectory of their lives, destroying their relationship in the process,\u201d the synopsis teases.\n<\/p>\n Fast forward 20 years \u2014 and travel a couple hundred miles northeast \u2014 and readers meet Lottie Thomas, a 16-year-old piano virtuoso in New York with a lot on her mind.\n<\/p>\n Author Juliet Izon.<\/p>\n Katie Ward<\/p>\n The teen \u201cis grappling with the rigors of her elite prep school and the confounding disappearance of the woman who gave her up at birth,\u201d per the synopsis.\n<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Lottie suddenly discovers the startling truth of her identity, the revelation catalyzes a chain of events that not only reunites Lottie with her birth parents, but forces them together on a rock tour bus for a careening cross-country journey. It is there, trapped in these tight confines, that the three must finally reconcile with irrevocable choices from the past.\u201d\n<\/p>\n “I can’t wait for readers to discover Anna, Will, and Lottie,\u201d Izon tells PEOPLE of the characters, \u201cand I hope they love their journey as much as I enjoyed writing it.”\n<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n