Publication Date: May 13, 2025
Leah O’Connor is torn between her current existence and the allure of a phantom life that can no longer be hers.
Swept off her feet by the gentle charm of Lucas O’Connor, Leah’s unexpected pregnancy changes the course of her carefree and nomadic existence. Over a decade and three children later, Leah is unraveling. She resents the world in which her artistic aspirations have been sidelined by the overwhelming demands of motherhood, and the ever-present rift between herself and her mother-in-law, Christine, is best dulled by increasingly fuller glasses of wine.
Christine represents a model of selfless motherhood that Leah can neither achieve nor accept. To heighten the strain, Lucas’s business venture, a trendy restaurant that honors his mother, has taken all his attention, which places the domestic demands squarely on Leah’s shoulders. Seeking an ally in her sweet sister-in-law Amy, Leah shares a secret that, if made known to the wider family, could disrupt the curated ecosystems that keep the O’Connors connected.
As Leah dances with the devil while descending further into darkness, her behavior becomes more erratic and further alienates her from both Lucas and the wider family. Leah’s drinking threatens the welfare of her family, prompting Amy to turn to Christine for support. A duel for loyalty ensues. When the inevitable waves come crashing down, it’s the O’Connor women who give Leah a lifeline: the truth of what they’ve all endured. But Leah alone must uncover the villain of her own story, learn how to ask for help, and decide if the family she has rejected will be her salvation or ultimate undoing.
This masterful blend of book club and literary women’s fiction offers a frank rebuttal to Wine Mom culture and is perfect for fans of Celeste Ng and Liane Moriarty.
Drawing on her own struggles with sobriety, author Jessica Guerrieri brings a mother’s struggle to life.
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, focuses on Leah. On the surface, she and Lucas O’Connor are the happily married parents of three children.
Yet it doesn’t take long for readers to see the cracks featuring Leah’s relationship with her mother-in-law. Usually, that might not be a big deal, but the three O’Connor boys are close to their parents, meaning plenty of family events.
Between her husband’s preoccupation with opening an O’Connor family restaurant and very little time for Leah to devote to her art, the sense of being overwhelmed is palpable when adding three children to the mix, one of whom is a toddler.
The contrast between Leah and her sisters-in-law grows more evident as the story evolves, particularly as Amy’s pregnancy progresses. Full of messy emotions and perceived slights, Leah finds herself using alcohol to self-medicate. Ultimately, she will have to decide between a liquid escape and her family.
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea illustrates a mother’s battle with alcohol and the potential for collateral damage.
Originally from the Bay Area, Jessica Guerrieri lives in Davis, California, with her husband and three daughters. Jessica has a background teaching special education but left the field to pursue a career in writing. Her debut novel, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, won the Maurice Prize for Fiction from her alma mater, UC Davis. With over a decade of sobriety, Jessica is a fierce advocate for addiction recovery.
