Jessica Guerrieri- Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

In this Jessica Guerrieri interview, we discuss her debut, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, and how 12 years of sobriety shaped this unforgettable tale.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a raw and emotionally resonant debut that examines the insidious nature of alcohol addiction and how it distorts relationships, parenting, and one woman’s self-perception. In this conversation, Jessica shares how her twelve-year sobriety journey shaped the story and why telling the truth about addiction matters.

In this heartfelt and powerful conversation, Jessica and I discuss:

How Jessica’s sobriety journey helped her write Leah’s addiction story with such emotional clarity
The mental gymnastics of addiction—and what she wants readers to understand about recovery
How the sober community rallied around her and helped usher her novel into the world
The truths about AA meetings that might surprise readers
Why she chose to blur the lines between literary fiction and women’s fiction in her genre-bending debut

This episode is part of our Summer Author Series, which features fourteen incredible voices from our 2025 Summer Reading Guide.

This week, I’m sharing a companion book list of 19 addiction fiction reads with new release and backlist titles that speak to the ripple effects of substance use across families and generations.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Book Summary

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.

Meet Jessica Guerrieri

Originally from the Bay Area, Jessica Guerrieri lives in Davis, California, with her husband and three young 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.

This Raw Debut Shows Addiction’s True Cost

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