MADreads

Not for the squeamish

October 13th, 2006 Ann M.

The title of Janet Fitch’s new novel, Paint It Black, says it all.  This book is very dark, depressing, and at times, painful to read.   Josie Tyrell is a trailer trash teen runaway who works as an artist’s model and actress in LA’s 1980 punk rock scene.  She meets and falls in love with Michael Faraday, an art student, Harvard dropout and son of a renowned pianist.  They live in a tiny cottage where they create their own idealized dream world, until one day, shortly after the book begins, Josie is notified by the coroner that Michael has committed suicide.

At Michael’s funeral we meet his mother, Meredith Loewy, and learn about the world of wealth and privilege in which he was raised.  Meredith and Josie are both repelled and attracted to one another as they try to understand the very different Michaels that each of them knew, and, through this understanding, fathom his suicide.  As she learns more about Michael from his mother, Josie slowly and painfully reexamines her relationship with her lover, moving through the various stages of grief, eventually emerging as a stronger person.

What keeps you reading is Fitch’s mesmerizing prose and her ability to create realistic worlds peopled with believeable characters.  Not for the squeamish.

Entry Filed under: Literary Fiction