United States
![Nancy Johnson - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B001K8XWVK.jpg)
The Kindest Lie: A Novel
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.
"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.
Editorial Reviews
"Johnson's rich examinations of ambiguities in this moral dilemma take center stage, but institutional racism and its constant, draining impact are the boards these players stand on. And can't escape…The Kindest Lie is an easy, accessible novel filled with hard, important truths." -- New York Times Book Review, Editor's Choice
"A fantastic story of a marriage and what happens when one spouse secretly had a child prior to knowing the other.... This modern-day depiction of a woman in crisis and what she discovers about what she left behind is well-written, timely, and oh-so-memorable." -- Good Morning America
"Hope and change upend quickly in Johnson's timely, heartwarming debut." -- O magazine
"The Kindest Lie is a layered, complex exploration of race and class." -- Washington Post
"[A] triumph, a deeply affecting work of truth and reconciliation over what it means to live the American Dream-and not just for the winners." -- Los Angeles Times
"A profound look at racial and economic injustices in America." -- Refinery 29
"A heart-wrenching story of family, racism, poverty and love." -- Good Housekeeping
"This heart-wrenching story teaches us how long love really endures." -- Woman's Day
"Johnson's sharp debut takes a deep dive into the life of a Black Chicago woman after the 2008 presidential election… Powerful insights emerge on the plurality of Black American experience and the divisions between rural and urban life, and the wealthy and the working class. Johnson's clear-eyed saga hits hard." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Generational secrets, class divides, motherhood, and American life on the edge of political and economic change are all examined in Johnson's engaging debut…. Through well-developed characters, Johnson provides a realistic portrayal of middle America in the tumultuous era of economic collapse." -- Booklist
"A fantastic story of a marriage and what happens when one spouse secretly had a child prior to knowing the other.... This modern-day depiction of a woman in crisis and what she discovers about what she left behind is well-written, timely, and oh-so-memorable." -- Good Morning America
"Hope and change upend quickly in Johnson's timely, heartwarming debut." -- O magazine
"The Kindest Lie is a layered, complex exploration of race and class." -- Washington Post
"[A] triumph, a deeply affecting work of truth and reconciliation over what it means to live the American Dream-and not just for the winners." -- Los Angeles Times
"A profound look at racial and economic injustices in America." -- Refinery 29
"A heart-wrenching story of family, racism, poverty and love." -- Good Housekeeping
"This heart-wrenching story teaches us how long love really endures." -- Woman's Day
"Johnson's sharp debut takes a deep dive into the life of a Black Chicago woman after the 2008 presidential election… Powerful insights emerge on the plurality of Black American experience and the divisions between rural and urban life, and the wealthy and the working class. Johnson's clear-eyed saga hits hard." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Generational secrets, class divides, motherhood, and American life on the edge of political and economic change are all examined in Johnson's engaging debut…. Through well-developed characters, Johnson provides a realistic portrayal of middle America in the tumultuous era of economic collapse." -- Booklist
Readers Top Reviews
Kindle SierraKi
I was anxious to read this highly praised novel and while I found the writing well done, the story left me disappointed. Ruth's epiphany at the end was way too late in coming. There were loose ends. What happened to the drug dealers? Does Midnight go back and sell "candy"? Why did she make the White child deprived and the Black child so fortunate? Would she have taken Corey if he was with a poor family? So many contradictions....
JackiKindle Sie
Ruth goes on a journey to find the baby she gave up for adoption. I was right there with Ruth on her journey. Her pain was on the page. The characters in this book were well developed and the story pulled me in. I couldn't go to sleep until I saw how the story ended. Well done, Nancy Johnson.
V. SchaferJackiKi
I loved the characters in this book and especially Ruth. It touched on the very real problems and choices one makes in wrenching ones self from poverty. My own daughter lost her first son to adoption due to drugs. As in this book, redemption is possible and later in life she became a mother again and is successfully raising her second child. I hope that there is a sequel(s) to this story and that we will see how Ruth, Corey, and Midnight develop.
Kathy KJocosa Wad
I kept hoping for the main character to grow, but she was just selfish and, frankly, an idiot when it came to other people. The author tried to save her the last few pages, but it didn’t work for me. Most of the time I was amazed and horrified by her thoughts and her really naive and self focused ways of looking at the world.
