Women's Fiction, Family & Friendship - Fiction, Conflicts - Fiction, Love & Relationships - Fiction

Deep Down True

Name: Deep Down True
Author: Fay, Juliette
ISBN: 9780143118510

by Fay, Juliette

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Overview

From the author of Shelter Me—a funny and poignant novel about having your heart in the right place.

Newly divorced Dana Stellgarten has always been unfailingly nice- even to telemarketers-but now her temper is wearing thin. Money is tight, her kids are reeling from their dad's departure, and her Goth teenage niece has just landed on her doorstep. As she enters the slipstream of post-divorce romance and is befriended by the town queen bee, Dana finds that the tension between being true to yourself and being liked doesn't end in middle school... and that sometimes it takes a real friend to help you embrace adulthood in all its flawed complexity.

About the Author, Fay, Juliette

Juliette Fay received a bachelor's degree from Boston College and a master's degree from Harvard University. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and four children. Shelter Me was her first novel. Deep Down True is her second.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Familiar material--a newly divorced woman navigating the choppy waters of single parenthood--gets sensitive treatment in this subtle novel by the author of Shelter Me. Connecticut homemaker Dana Stellgarten tends to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, even her philandering ex-husband, but she's having a tough time staying nice as she deals with the discovery of her preteen daughter's bulimia, her seven-year-old son's acting out, a friend's betrayal, and her teenage niece's emotional crash landing at her house. Nevertheless, Dana reaches out to the family of a terminally ill doctor, deals with a bull-in-a-china-shop suitor, and even finds love in an unexpected place. Fay deals honestly with Dana's emotional journey as she strives "to understand how what had been true before had changed into what was true now" and gives readers a believable cast, from the daughter struggling with the wolf-pack mentality of middle school to Dana's sometimes obnoxious yet fiercely loving sister. It expertly walks a heavily trodden path. (Feb.)

Library Journal

Dana Stellgarten was on top of her suburban game when her husband pulled the rug out from under her, and now the 45-year-old Connecticut mom can't handle one more thing. Then, her seven-year-old son, Grady, is suddenly moody and belligerent with his friends; the dentist tells Dana that her 12-year-old daughter, Morgan, shows signs of purging; and ex-husband Kenneth backs off on his financial contributions, forcing Dana to accept a temporary part-time job at the dentist's office. When Dana's teenage niece arrives on her doorstep, needing a break from Dana's sister and a change of scene, even romantic overtures from Grady's football coach and an invitation of friendship from a stylish neighbor may not be enough to get Dana back on solid ground. VERDICT Fay (Shelter Me) imbues Dana with the smarts and insecurities that war within most of us. With her comfort zone obliterated, Dana draws on her inner strengths to reconstruct a new foundation for her children in a world where she gets to be the alpha wolf. Highly recommended for fans of women's fiction featuring resilient heroines. [Eight-city tour; reading group guide.]—Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal