Push meets The Help in this semiautobiographical novel about four generations of women haunted by a specter
of domestic abuse

COLOR ME BUTTERFLY
A Novel Inspired by One Family’s Journey from Tragedy to Triumph

By L. Y. Marlow

“With a clear and courageous voice, L. Y. Marlow reveals the unspeakable horrors of a family’s legacy. After four generations of women and children are held captive within a dark chrysalis of domestic violence, one of them finds the strength to break free. Color Me Butterfly is a haunting journey that ultimately leads toward miraculous healing and renewed spirit.” —Beth Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

 “The nonbelievers would call this a sad story, but I like to see it as grace. In my heart of hearts, I am wise enough to know that God don’t give you nothin’ that don’t serve a purpose or reason to make you appreciate all that has come to pass.” So begins L. Y. Marlow’s inspiring and heart-wrenching novel, COLOR ME BUTTERFLY, (Three Rivers Press Original, August 3, 2010) the story of four generations of women who have embraced a legacy of unconditional love, old-fashioned family values, and faith to triumph over lives plagued with unspeakable abuse and pain.

 COLOR ME BUTTERFLY is a story of courage, strength, and hope that is interwoven in each woman, and one that has set the path for generations of women to come. Spanning over sixty years, COLOR ME BUTTERFLY is a compelling blend of fact and fiction, drawing from the story of abuse in Marlow’s own family. With more than thirty-two million Americans affected each year, domestic violence is one of the most serious social and family issues of our time.www.savingpromise.us). 

As a girl, Marlow was traumatized by stories of how her grandfather horrifically abused her grandmother and their eight children—and later, by her father, who continued the pattern of abuse that hospitalized her mother with a death prognosis.  Marlow became the third generation of women in her family to be trapped in the cycle of violence, and years laterafter her daughter became the fourth, she was inspired to write about her family’s legacy.
                                                        

Marlow wrote COLOR ME BUTTERFLY in part to share her experiences with other women and help them to stop the cycle of abuse in their own lives. She has recently launched Saving Promise, a grassroots organization inspired by her granddaughter Promise that she hopes will bring mass awareness to the pandemic of domestic violence (for more on Saving Promise, please see attached and visit

Previously self-published, COLOR ME BUTTERFLY has won, been given honorable mention, or was a finalist for eight book awards, including the National Best Books Award, the National Independent Publisher Book Award, and the Hollywood Book Festival Award.  With Three Rivers Press’s publication of COLOR ME BUTTERFLY and the launch of the Saving Promise brand, Marlow hopes to unite and inspire the millions of Americans affected by domestic violence.

About the Author
L. Y. Marlow is originally from Philadelphia. She is the third generation of her family to have been a victim and survivor of domestic violence: a violence that almost took her own life and the life of her unborn child. L. Y. Marlow is also the founder of Saving Promise, a national grassroots awareness organization that is inspired by her granddaughter, Promise, whose life was threatened in a domestic violence dispute. Ms. Marlow has appeared on local, regional, and national television and radio and has been featured in various magazines. This is her first novel.

COLOR ME BUTTERFLY
A Novel Inspired by One Family’s Journey from Tragedy to Triumph
by L.Y. Marlow
Three Rivers Press * On Sale: August 3, 2010 * 432 pages
$15.00 paperback * ISBN: 978-0-307-71661-3
www.threeriverspress.com or www.colormebutterfly.com

CONTACT: Sarah Breivogel, 212-572-2722, sbreivogel@randomhouse.com