Paint it Black
Ratings5
Average rating3.8
Josie Tyrell, art model, runaway, and denizen of LA's rock scene finds a chance at real love with Michael Faraday, a Harvard dropout and son of a renowned pianist. But when she receives a call from the coroner, asking her to identify her lover's body, her bright dreams all turn to black.
As Josie struggles to understand Michael's death and to hold onto the world they shared, she is both attracted to and repelled by his pianist mother, Meredith, who blames Josie for her son's torment. Soon the two women are drawn into a twisted relationship that reflects equal parts distrust and blind need.
With the luxurious prose and fever pitch intensity that are her hallmarks, Janet Fitch weaves a spellbinding tale of love, betrayal, and the possibility of transcendence.
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Like other previous reviewers, I was hoping this would be as good as [b:White Oleander 32234 White Oleander Janet Fitch https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1501159524l/32234.SY75.jpg 1223333] but, unfortunately it was not the case. Paint it Black was a depressing, and at times tedious story, about a young woman grieving over her boyfriend who committed suicide. She spends the entire book feeling sorry for herself, making it really difficult for me to feel sorry for her. It's not as deep and rich as White Oleander. It felt like the writer was trying to pretend it was more meaningful than it was. Still, it's far from unreadable. I enjoyed the “punk” setting, the bits where she was acting in the independent film (an interest of mine), and her slowly unraveling the mystery of all the things she didn't know about her boyfriend and his mother. It shares a theme with WO of getting out from under overbearing parents. If I'd read this when I was a teenager, my younger self would have related to Josie and been all caught up in the emotion and the drama.
