Starred review from June 19, 2006
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.
Starred review from August 15, 2006
Beauty and its pretenders prowl around the edges of Fitch's long-awaited second novel. Just as she did so masterfully in "White Oleander", Fitch portrays the world of a young woman who is searching for a way to live after being dealt an incredibly lousy hand. Opting for the antithesis of beauty, Josie Tyrell exists within the punk club scene of 1980s Los Angeles, and, unfortunately, she finds familiar terrain in that subculture's harshness and brutal sexuality. Not until she meets Michael Faraday, a child of affluence and privilege, does Josie know that there is such a thing as true beauty in the world. He teaches her about the beauty of the night sky; of music, art, and poetry. But his obsession becomes his undoing as he cannot find enough of this transcendent beauty to protect him from his demons. Giving in to the inescapable lure of his family's ghosts, he commits suicide. Michael was the sole source of light for Josie and his tortured, tortuous mother: now both women engage in a dangerous struggle to survive in a world of darkness. As Josie unravels the story of Michael's despair, she becomes able to move from self-destruction to self-determination. Suspenseful, compelling, and superbly crafted, this work shows Fitch once again taking the art of writing to its highest level. Highly recommended for all contemporary fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ "5/15/06.]" -Susanne Wells, P.L. of Cincinnati and Hamilton Cty."
Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 15, 2006
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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)