Tell Me Something True    by Leila Cobo Order:  USA  Can Grand Central, 2009 (2009) Softcover, e-Book     Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth Gabriella lost her mother when she was four. Although she never lacked for love – with a doting father in Los Angeles and an adoring grandmother in Columbia – she always felt the loss. She managed to live an unconventional life between the two cities. Meeting the son of an imprisoned drug lord and falling in love with him was not in her plans. But things just happen. Life was good. Until she found her mother's diaries. The tales told to her about her mother did not match what her mother wrote in her journals. Life then was not what Gabriella was led to believe. Her mother's secret life is revealed to Gabriella – her mother's innermost, intimate thoughts laid out for her in her mother's own handwriting. A big question remains. When her mother returned to Columbia for two days, was it to reunite with her lover or to tell him that she was going to remain with her husband and daughter? This seems to be a tale that came about because someone thought 'what if?' and wrote a story around that possibility. Whatever the motivation, it's a good story, delicately told with pathos and compassion. It reveals how an abuela – grandmother – learns from her mistakes and determines not to make the same ones again. Gabriella's cousin shows his true colors when she refuses to take advice from him. In her mind, woman is not subservient to man. Can Gabriella come to terms with her dead mother? Tell Me Something True is a good novel from new author Leila Cobo. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Contemporary books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews