Imprint Friday: Deep Down True by Juliette Fay

Welcome to Imprint Friday and today's featured imprint: Pamela Dorman Books. Stop by each week to be introduced to a must-read title from one of my favorite imprints. I know you'll be adding many of these books to your wish list.

Juliette Fay's second novel, Deep Down True, is grounded in an all-too-common life-changing event for contemporary women: divorce. Fay, however, doesn't stop there; instead she uses that base as a springboard to explore a variety of difficult modern issues. Here's the publisher's summary:

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.

I am particularly interested in the idea that no matter how old we get, no matter our personal achievements, it can be so easy for women to find themselves reverting back to seventh-grade behavior. You see it in church groups, in local housing associations, at high school reunions, and even in social media communities.

Fay touches on other themes that will be sure to prompt discussions at book clubs and with your friends. Among these topics are eating disorders, the wisdom of always saying yes when one is asked to help, and the complex relationship separated parents have with each other and with their children.

Here are some other views on Deep Down True:

• Swapna at S. Krishna's Books says: "Fay does an excellent job incorporating . . . important discussion points into the story and treats them very realistically. In fact, that is a word that perfectly describes this entire book--realistic."
• Natalie at Book, Line, and Sinker notes: "I found myself wholly engrossed with Juliette Fay’s writing--honest and devoid of gimmicks. A book that could easily be categorized as ‘chick-lit’ becomes much more under Fay’s direction. Her prose is simple yet elegant."
• Norah Piehl writing for Bookreporter says: "What seems on the surface to be a fairly lightweight, breezy sort of novel actually tackles a host of serious issues in a remarkably thoughtful fashion."

To learn more about Juliette Fay, visit her website where you can read an excerpt and view the book trailer. The publisher's website includes an author interview and discussion questions for the novel.

Pamela Dorman Books is a featured imprint on Beth Fish Reads. For more information about the imprint, please read Pamela Dorman's introductory letter, posted here on December 3, 2010.

Deep Down True at an Indie

Deep Down True at Powell's

Deep Down True at Book Depository
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Published by Viking / Pamela Dorman Books, February 2011
ISBN-13: 9780143118510