Renowned journalist and former concert pianist, Leila Cobo is a native of Cali, Colombia. The Executive Director of Latin Content & Programming for Billboard, she is a frequent contributor to NPR and has written liner notes for acts such as Ricky Martin, Shakira and Chayanne. She is also the host of the television show Estudio Billboard, which features in-depth interviews with top Latin acts. Leila is a Fulbright scholar with a graduate degree from the Annenberg School of Communications at USC and holds dual degrees in journalism, from Bogota’s Universidad Javeriana, and in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music.

INGRAM MAGAZINE’S “NEW VOICES” PICK OF  2010

Now on its third printing!

TELL ME SOMETHING TRUE

A young Colombian-American woman discovers the truth about her deceased mother’s undisclosed past in the stunning debut novel Tell Me Something True from celebrated Billboard Magazine music writer and television host Leila Cobo.

 

There is a picture of my mother. She’s kneeling in front of a bed of roses in the garden of our Los Angeles home, one hand holding down a huge straw hat against an obvious gust of wind, the other clutching weeds and roots she’s just dug up from the moist soil. Her long, curly hair is blowing around her face and she’s smiling and she looks beautiful and impossibly happy.

I had that picture in my bedroom, and it was my favorite for many years, before I learned that my mother hated gardening. That every plant she ever touched, died. That the beautiful day in that beautiful garden was a fluke. That at the time that picture was taken, she was probably already thinking of another life, another place, far from me, far from us.

Tell Me Something True is an apt title for this stunning novel. Thought and action frequently find themselves at odds in this fiction debut from journalist and television host Leila Cobo—we start out dipping our toes in what appears to be a clear stream with a firm sandy bottom, but we soon find ourselves in much deeper waters. As the impeccably drawn characters in this narrative begin to reveal themselves, what they choose to share with us isn’t always the truth.” -Barbara Clark, bookpage.com

“This first novel, one of the best that I have read all year, throws question after question at the reader and tosses us all back to our first loves and the choices we may or may not have made. Gabriella loses herself and finds herself in this entangled story. And we do the same.” -ReviewBroads

Tell Me Something True, while a debut novel, should be successful because it is raw, passionate, honest and fearless. -Examiner.com

“Definitely a book worth reading.  This is a great novel about coming to terms with your past and understand what effect it has, and doesn’t have, on your future.” –Krishna’s Books

“A plot that leaves the reader asking for the follow-up.” -Semana

“This heartwrenching story focuses on how memories permeate the everyday relationships between mothers and daughters.” -RT (4/5 stars)

“A poignant tale of truths hidden and laid bare.” –Booklist

“A sweet debut novel […] the smooth prose and authentic Colombian setting provide a unique spin to familiar territory.” Publisher’s Weekly

“A good story, delicately told with pathos and compassion.”

A Fulbright scholar from Cali, Colombia, Leila Cobo is Executive Editor for Latin Content and Programming for Billboard. Under her tenure, Billboard has expanded its coverage of Latin Music and for the first time in its more than 100-year history, the magazine has a complete weekly section dedicated solely to Latin music. Ms. Cobo is also in charge of coordinating the yearly Billboard Latin Music Conference, the largest gathering of the Latin music industry in the U.S. (and probably the world). more…