Paint it Black , Janet Fitch's follow-up to the highly acclaimed White Oleander is a stark tale of a young woman's inadvertent search for answers after her boyfriend commits suicide. Josie Tyrell is a young, resolute woman who has "rescued" herself from her bleak, white trash circumstances through her own wit, innate beauty, and sense of self-preservation. While working as an artist's model, she meets and develops a very intense and all-consuming relationship with Michael Faraday, the only-child of wealthy parents and aristocratic breeding who drops out from Harvard when he finds solace in Josie. After meeting Josie, he rejects his privileged background, moves in with her, and appropriates the life of a struggling painter. His suicide early in the story ignites the novel and allows Fitch to deftly explore the lives Michael has impacted via flashback and careful prose.
Unlike White Oleander , however, the setting is almost as important as the characters themselves. Set in the early 1980's against the backdrop of Los Angeles's angry, punk rock scene, the reader gets to experience the city's grittiness first-hand. In particular, Fitch is adept in using the punk rock music scene, and Los Angeles itself as tools in adding another layer of atmosphere within novel. Fitch takes us deep inside Josie's mind as she alternates between blaming Michael for killing himself, and blaming herself for not being able to save him. Josie at first languishes in pain and tries to forget it all by immersing herself in what she does best: guzzling down drugs, drowning herself in alcohol and music, and taking work as an artist's model. Yet she can't help but painstakingly re-live and retreat into her treasured memories with Michael. She struggles to find what is redeeming about life after Michael's death.
Yet after Michael's death, Josie is not the only one left struggling – enter Meredith Loewy, a cool, austere woman of privilege and Josie's polar opposite. A world-renowned concert pianist, she is Michael's mother and blames Josie not only for stealing her son away from her, but also for his suicide. The two women both repel and unexpectedly intrigue each other with their mutual blind love for Michael; both continue to lay claim over him even after his death. Fitch expertly contrasts between these two women as she explores their divergent histories with Michael. Their complex relationship allows for Fitch to skillfully elaborate on their individual personalities and gives readers a glimpse of the enigmatic Michael.
As Josie is drawn more and more into Meredith's world; she begins to realize how and why Michael was never really able to escape Meredith's narcissistic, suffocating hold over him. She also learns that Michael wasn't always what he claimed to be. To Josie, Meredith is both her salvation and her demise. As she begins to experience firsthand Meredith's gravitational pull, Josie begins to question why she should even try to resist it. She also begins to question her love for Michael – did they really love each other or did she only love what he came to represent?
Paint it Black is another strong introspective into a woman's reaction to exacting circumstances. Just as in White Oleander , Fitch again presents us with a headstrong heroine with unique characteristics that a reader can often empathize with yet question. Fitch fans won't be disappointed, but be warned as the melodrama unfolds very, very slowly. Aptly titled, Paint in Black draws the reader into Josie's hazy, desolate world and leaves you breathless.
Paint it Black is another strong introspective into a woman's reaction to exacting circumstances. Just as in White Oleander , Fitch again presents us with a headstrong heroine with unique characteristics that a reader can often empathize with yet question. Fitch fans won't be disappointed, but be warned as the melodrama unfolds very, very slowly. Aptly titled, Paint in Black draws the reader into Josie's hazy, desolate world and leaves you breathless.
