From the bestselling author of White Oleander, comes a powerful story of first love, passion, and a young woman's search for truth in the aftermath of loss

Now a major film directed by Amber Tamblyn starring Alia Shawkat and Janet McTeer

'Janet Fitch writes the way women think in a way that is so different and poetic and brutal' Amber Tamblyn, Fast Company

'Real . . . filled with sensual detail' Oprah Winfrey

'Amy Poehler had given me the book . . . and said, "You should just read this, it's amazing" And I did, and I was so blown away' Amber Tamblyn, WWD

A young woman's search for truth in the aftermath of loss.

Josie Tyrell, artists' model, teen runaway, at home in LA's punk rock scene, finds a chance at real love with art student Michael Faraday. A Harvard dropout and son of a renowned pianist, Micheal takes her into his sophisticated world. But then comes a call from the Los Angeles County Corner asking her to identify her lover's dead body.

Passionate, wounded, fiercely alive, Josie walks the brink of her own destruction as she fights to discover what is left of the brilliant future she and Michael had dreamed.

Fitch has a gift for lush prose and rich, evocative descriptions, particularly of Los Angeles . . . In Paint it Black she has created a dark, crooked beauty that fulfils all the promise of White Oleander and confirms that she is an artist of the very hig