The Kindest Lie

A Novel

By: Nancy Johnson

Narrated by: Shayna Small

Recommended by O Magazine * GMA * Elle * Marie Claire * Good Housekeeping * NBC News * Shondaland * Chicago Tribune * Woman's Day * Refinery 29 * Bustle * The Millions * New York Post * Parade * Hello! Magazine * PopSugar * and more!

“The Kindest Lie is a deep dive into how we define family, what it means to be a mother, and what it means to grow up Black...beautifully crafted.” —JODI PICOULT

"A fantastic story...well-written, timely, and oh-so-memorable."—Good Morning America

“The Kindest Lie is a layered, complex exploration of race and class." —The Washington Post

Every family has its secrets...

It’s 2008, and the inauguration of President Barack Obama ushers in a new kind of hope. In Chicago, Ruth Tuttle, an Ivy-League educated Black engineer, is married to a kind and successful man. He’s eager to start a family, but Ruth is uncertain. She has never gotten over the baby she gave birth to—and was forced to leave behind—when she was a teenager. She had promised her family she’d never look back, but Ruth knows that to move forward, she must make peace with the past.

Returning home, Ruth discovers the Indiana factory town of her youth is plagued by unemployment, racism, and despair. As she begins digging into the past, she unexpectedly befriends Midnight, a young white boy who is also adrift and looking for connection. Just as Ruth is about to uncover a burning secret her family desperately wants to keep hidden, a heart-stopping incident strains the town’s already searing racial tensions, sending Ruth and Midnight on a collision course that could upend both their lives.

Powerful and unforgettable, The Kindest Lie is the story of an American family and reveals the secrets we keep and the promises we make to protect one another.

©2021 Nancy E. Johnson (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

forgiveness

Life takes you wherever it's supposed to. you don't have a choice on how the world moves.. yet forgiveness you can.. Forgive!

must listen too book

its a love story of life with all of the beauty and pain. I loved the juxtaposing of a modern educated black women going back to her roots looking for answers to help her live her truth. expect to cry and laugh and cry again in relief as all characters find their safe space in this crazy world where BLMatters is such a needed battle cry for equality.

Almost Enough

I understand perfectly what the book was all about but I felt slightly cheated that midnight would not get a better ending. Perhaps the implication was that Ruth would do something for him. But it was not expressed and I missed having hope for this young child

Great audiobook !

The Kindest Lie starts in Chicago on the night in 2008 when Obama was elected to be President.
Ruth and Xavier are a young, successful couple excited to see the first black man elected to be President. With all the hope for the future, Xavier wants to start a family. Little does he know, Ruth gave birth to a baby when she was 17 in 1997 that was immediately taken from her and put up for adoption. When Ruth comes clean about her secret, she realizes she wants to know what became of her baby. However, what will she risk to find him ?

There were so many layers to The Kindest Lie - it was a fabulous book club pick, so much to unpack. So much could be said about society and race and class and motherhood and how the circumstances people find themselves in can be so vast and varying. The teen pregnancy, giving a child up for adoption, the choices her grandmother made for Ruth, and her sort of stunted development in relationships afterward especially as relating to her husband Xavier. The complexity of the familial relationships—both Ruth’s and the others presented in the story--were so well written and developed. 
Something that stood out to me was the way that Nancy Johnson paired the friendship between Midnight and Corey, juxtaposing the two 11 year old boys.  Their characters tell two different stories of boyhood, one white and one Black, exemplifying the stark difference between the two. 

A fascinating listen with lots to ponder on !

Great Story

This story was great from beginning to end. Ruth was just a child when she got pregnant and her grandmother did what she thought was right. Her grandmother wanted her to have a chance at a good life and she knew that a baby may have prevented that. But the way that she handled the adoption wasn’t right at all.
The one thing that I didn’t like was how Ruth didn’t let her husband know what all was happening. I’m sure that he would’ve supported her.

Growing up black in our country

This book has given me some understanding of what it must be like to grow up black in a mostly white society. The author did not shy away from the real problems of life in our country. It was very well done.

Pulled me in!

I was so invested in this story. I liked revisiting Obama Era. And always the difficulty of race is still struggling for a resolution yet to come. A strong storyteller and great narrator!

How I was drawn in so that it was an immersive experience.

I liked the narration. I liked the going back and forth to the past and present. I liked the ending.

love love love

The story had me from the very beginning. Just might listen to the book one more time.

Love it

But it took a while to really get good and interesting, I mean not until around chapters 17 or 18. Then I couldn’t put it down. An amazing story that’s so true about today. Also the narrator’s voice just added so much more.