Deep Down True by Juliette Fay

In DEEP DOWN TRUE (Penguin Paperback: January 25, 2011), Juliette Fay explores the world of Dana Stellgarten, a former ‘perennially pleasant’ mother of two who suddenly finds it hard to remain quite so nice. In the midst of a divorce and the realization that her children are struggling – one with bulimia, the other acting out — Dana comes face to face with the very same instinct in herself that she is trying to fix in her troubled middle school age daughter: the desperate desire to be liked.

Fay has a real knack for creating characters that readers will care about, and the ones in this book are no exception. My favorite in this book is Alder, Dana’s 16 year old niece who shows up unannounced-and gets into a car accident right in front of Dana’s house-asking to live with Dana. When the book ended I found myself trying to imagine what would happen next, and that’s a mark of excellent storytelling for me.

Juliette Fay is the mother of four children, ages 8 to 17, and has a background in child services. Her experiences were the inspiration for many themes running throughout the book, including:

* The pressures women and girls feel to be “perfect” and how that can steer us wildly off course.
* Going beyond “superficial truths” to discover a deeper self
* Overcoming the crippling insecurities that stem from the desire to fit in
* Drawing inspiration from unlikely sources

Pick up Deep Down True using my Amazon Associate link below or look for it at bookstores. It’s humorous, heart-warming and you won’t want to put it down!

 

disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of Deep Down True.

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