I really liked White Oleander, the previous novel written by this author, but this book didn’t really capture my interest. Paint it Black is the story of a woman named Josie whose boyfriend Michael kills himself. The novel focuses on the grief that Josie feels and her relationship with her boyfriend’s possibly crazy mother, who tries to strangle Josie at Michael’s funeral.
The book really drags for a while as Josie tries to live a life without Michael. It picks up when Michael’s mother Meredith forces her way into Josie’s life, as her every move seems sinister and her interest in Josie becomes suspect. But the story never really takes off, it just kind of drifts along.
Josie is a sympathetic character and her grief process really does ring true. It’s just hard to read chapter after chapter of grief and self destruction. The book does manage to end on a hopeful note—of sorts—and the journey down the 10 Freeway that the main character takes is an interesting one, especially for someone who grew up seeing the same landmarks.
