Jenny Boyd - 'Jennifer Juniper: A Journey Beyond The Muse'

A powerful attestation to finding your own way in the world of rock 'n' roll and love, Jenny Boyd's autobiography is a captivating, showstopping story of an amazing woman who has faced it all and come out the other side. 

Along with the likes of Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton and her sister, Pattie Boyd, Jenny Boyd is seen as one of the defining faces of the Swinging Sixties, having modelled for designers such as Foale and Tuffin. After a trip to San Francisco in 1967 and discovering transcendental meditation, Jenny quit her modelling career, later saying modelling was a 'waste of her time'.

In March 2020, her autobiography was published, titled 'Jennifer Juniper', after the song which Scottish singer/songwriter Donovan wrote about her. I wanted a copy of her book badly, but only got round to obtaining one in late May... but my God, from the first page I was hooked.

This is, before you read any further, not an article where I compare the sisters' work; Pattie's 'Wonderful Tonight' and Jenny's 'Jennifer Juniper', and conclude at the end as to which is best. I want to make that quite clear. They're both amazing pieces of literature, and I enjoyed them both immensely. This is a review of only Jenny Boyd's book.

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Starting from her early days in Kenya, Jenny's book seemed so personal that it was like a window to her soul. Every page was like a personal diary, a recollection of what most of us would regard as our deepest, most private thoughts and feelings - but not Jenny.

Jenny, who twice married drummer of Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood, and then later married drummer Ian Wallace, is a muse beyond words and inspired songs which are still loved today. Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones told her that she had inspired one of his songs - though to this day she doesn't know which one it was.

'Jennifer Juniper' seemed to focus on the personal life of Jenny Boyd, rather than that of the music, which I feel was a fresh take on something which has been exhausted; in the last fifteen years, there have been biographies and autobiographies published regularly, but none touched me quite as this one did. It tugged at my heartstrings and made me ache with longing, embarrassment, love and every other emotion which was covered in the admittedly short book... I loved how the book was written and felt that it was beyond personal, and that was what made it so easy to read and relate to and be a part of. Jenny included you in her past, bringing you into the loop and telling you secrets which I assume would only have been told to close friends, or even kept within the family.

When she found her calling later in life, the way that she wrote about it was inspiring. To read about a woman who had gone through so much and then found the thing which she was meant to do was truly special and proved that a dog is never too old to be taught new tricks (pardon the idiom). It seems that Jenny found her mantra, and is still following it and helping others.

It truly was amazing to read about Jenny Boyd throughout the years and see how far she went from her early days in Kenya to Carnaby Street and San Francisco, India with The Beatles, Los Angeles with her husbands and two daughters before finally settling in England with her third husband, David - and the many stops along the way. This is a tale of love and loss, of gain and adventure, and of the music which has inspired generations... but most of all, it is the story of one extraordinary woman; Helen Mary 'Jenny' Boyd.

You can buy a copy of 'Jennifer Juniper' from Amazon UK here: