In
Paint It Black, Josie Tyrell is an art model who loves the punk music scene in Los Angeles in the 1980s. Her boyfriend is Michael Faraday, an art student and son of the famous concert pianist, Meredith Faraday, and he shows Josie the life she's always dreamed of. When Michael commits suicide, Josie is devastated, not only by the loss of her lover, but by the loss of the life she had with him. She tries to drown her sorrows with vodka while Meredith, also despondent over Michael's death, blames her for his death. Josie remembers her life with Michael and its effect on her, while being drawn toward Meredith, each woman trading both barbs and sympathy. The two women, from opposite lifestyles, share their love for Michael and must rebuild their lives without him. The second novel from Janet Fitch (
White Oleander) has received mostly positive reviews with the Rocky Mountain News saying, "
Paint It Black is a mesmerizing novel. Fitch creates amazing landscapes - from the view from Josie and Michael's apartment of the Hollywood sign, Griffith Park, and the green copper domes of the observatory, to the stark desert wasteland of Twentynine Palms. The emotional landscape she creates is just as rich, peopled by characters that buzz off the page, crackling with despair and determination."
