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From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Fitch follows her bestselling debut, White Oleander, by revisiting the insidious effects of a powerful, narcissistic mother on an only child. Michael Faraday is a Harvard dropout who paints in the L.A. art world of 1981; his suicide happens a few pages in, and sets the stage for a Fitch's masterful shifts in time and perspective. Josie Tyrell, an artist's model and denizen of the punk rock, had an intense relationship with Michael, but never managed to free him from his mother, renowned concert pianist Meredith Loewy, who moves in a bleak, loveless world of wealth and privilege. Yet their very different loves for Michael bring about a surprising alliance between the imperious Meredith and Josie, a white trash escapee whose inborn grace, style and sense of self sustain her—along with art, music and alcohol. The two find unexpected comfort in each other's shared loss, allowing Fitch to contrast the inner and outer resources of women whose lives couldn't be more different, and to flash back deeply into their histories. Fitch excels at painting a negative personality with sure-handed depth and fairness, and her prose penetrates the inner lives of the two with immediacy and bite. In Josie, she has created an indomitable young woman whose pluck and growing self-awareness beautifully offset Meredith's emptiness. Their relationship transforms a big cliché—the artist's suicide—into a page-turning psychodrama. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Set in 1980s Los Angeles, Fitch's follow-up to the Oprah selection White Oleander (1999) opens with Josie Tyrell receiving a devastating call informing her that the body of her boyfriend, Michael Faraday, has been found in a hotel room. Josie can't understand why Michael would take his own life; in her eyes, their relationship had been perfect. Michael's wealthy mother, Meredith, a concert pianist, believes the blame for her son's death rests on his lower-class, art-model girlfriend. She chases Josie from the funeral, then seeks her out days later, helplessly drawn to the last person her son was close to. Josie resents Meredith's disdain, but is similarly curious about the woman who raised Michael. An unlikely pair, Josie and Meredith circle each other warily until Meredith decides to remake Josie in her image, possibly at the expense of Josie's identity. Layered and piercing, Fitch's second outing explores the many levels of grief and sets up an unexpected recovery in a tale certain to please Fitch's countless fans. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
I loved it,
By
This review is from: Paint It Black: A Novel (Paperback)
I just love how Janet Fitch gets so inside her characters' heads that it feels like we the reader are thinking and feeling everything in real time right along with them. She so beautifully portrays the human stuggle to find those rare fleeting moments of beauty where, just for a second, everything makes sense and is as it should be in a completely messed up world. This is great writing in my book.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Paint It Black,
By
This review is from: Paint It Black: A Novel (Hardcover)
While this book is dark and sad at times, it is also beautifully written and descriptive and impossible to put down. Janet Fitch takes you in and lays out a wonderfully story that is beautiful, ironic, sad, and inspiring.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Warning--Read with Happy Thoughts!,
By suzy q "Avid Reader" (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Paint It Black: A Novel (Hardcover)
I loved Ms. Fitch's first book 'White Oleander" and looked forward to an equally compelling read in her new novel. What I found however was a very depressing follow-up that gave little in the way of explanation of one of the major events that occur in the story. I don't want to spoil it for others but unless you are a very optimistic person, skip this one. It left me feeling depressed and frustrated.
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