Featuring . . . The Truth about Delilah Blue by Trish Cohen

This Friday and every Friday for the next several months I'll be featuring a book in the Harper Perennial Imprint. Some were recently published, some will be released later this year, all are worth a closer look.

Today's novel, The Truth about Delilah Blue, is by veteran author Trish Cohen. The protagonist may be only twenty years old, but the issues she faces are more fundamental than those that concern the vast majority of her peers.

Here's how the publisher describes the novel:

Delilah Blue Lovett has always been a bit of an outsider, ever since her father moved her from Toronto to L.A. when she was eight, claiming Delilah's mother no longer wanted to be part of their family. Twenty now and broke, but determined to be an artist like her errant mom, Delilah attends art class for free—by modeling nude at the front of the room, a decision that lifts the veil from her once insular world. While she struggles to find her talent, her father, her only real companion, is beginning to exhibit telltale signs of early-onset Alzheimer's. And her mother, who Delilah always assumed had selfishly abandoned them, is about to reappear with a young daughter in tow . . . and a secret that will change everything. Delilah no longer knows which parent to trust—the only one she can really rely on is the most broken person of all: herself.

In a new novel as witty, sparkling, and poignant as her acclaimed Inside Out Girl, author Tish Cohen uncovers the humor and heart within the most dysfunctional of families.

It's no secret that I like books that make me think and that give me a new perspective on how I see the world. In this novel, Cohen takes the chaos that is common to dysfunctional families and lets us see the funny side while bringing out our compassion for a young girl who is caught in the middle.

The Truth about Delilah Blue was reviewed by a number of bloggers last summer. Here are three reviews that caught my attention (click on the links for the full reviews):

• Jenn of Jenn's Bookshelves noted that Cohen writes "about strong, deep characters who must overcome some sort of battle. . . . I highly recommend reading The Truth about Delilah Blue. . . . It’s the perfect book club read.
• Jennifer of Crazy for Books said "Overall, this is a story about a fractured family attempting to come together again. . . . It's a wonderful character study and I enjoyed it immensely."
• ChefDruck at Chefdruck Musings thought that "The Truth about Delilah Blue is the perfect summer read with its intriguing plot and creative characters. . . . Cohen writes descriptively, really taking the reader into the moment using all the senses."

Oh, and I just had to share this fun book trailer for Delilah Blue. I don't think I'll be complaining about my so-called troubles after meeting Delilah.

Trish Cohen has a website where you can learn more about her and her work. Harper Perennial has a reading guide that can be used by book clubs or to help you gather your thoughts.

This book was featured as part of my Spotlight on the Harper Perennial imprint. For information about the imprint, please read Erica Barmash's welcome note posted here on June 18, 2010. I encourage you to add your reviews of Harper Perennial books to the review link-up page; it's a great way to discover Good Books for Cool People. See the alphabetized review index to see what others are saying. And don't miss the The Olive Reader, the Harper Perennial blog.

The Truth about Delilah Blue at an Indie

The Truth about Delilah Blue at Powell's

The Truth about Delilah Blue at Book Depository
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Published by HarperCollins / Harper Perennial, June 2010
ISBN-13: 9780061875977