Rebecca Lockhart moved to Vancouver to start a new life. What she found felt more like the end.
Raised with Victorian values and classically trained as a pianist, seventeen-year-old Rebecca takes solace in the prose of Jane Austen and the music of Debussy. But when a virtuoso guitar player exposes her to the free spirit of rock and roll, Rebecca's outlook on the world begins to change. She dares to take risks her old self couldn't imagine.
Hallway rumors of her new behavior reach the high school office, and Rebecca comes face-to-face with the vice-principal - Catherine Lockhart, her mother. Desperate to remain in mom's good graces, she lies. Before she can blink, Rebecca is caught in a web of deceit that envelopes her entire life. If she reveals the truth, she and her mother will have to face an unspeakable secret from their past. If she doesn't, a fellow student could be sentenced to prison.
Only the Good Die Young is a coming-of-age story for the teenager in all of us, laced with the dry, deadpan humor of a shy girl struggling to find her way.
- 5 Star Amazon.ca review:
In Only the Good Die Young, Douglas Trueman displays a remarkable insight into the teenage girl's inner monologue. With acerbic wit and sensitivity, he examines the high school experience through the eyes of a unique outsider. His Rebecca Lockhart comes from an old-fashioned household that values sophistication and academics over pop culture and popularity. Thus, she is unaware of many of the trends and tropes the average teenager navigates on a minute to minute basis, making her vulnerable to any attention from her peers. Trueman deftly portrays her experience as panic and lies spiral out of control. Since Rebecca is a musician, Trueman also successfully weaves musical interludes and metaphors in a most descriptive and detailed manner. Fans of coming-of-age stories won't be disappointed in this mature and entertaining read.