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A review by jessie_cobb
Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul
5.0
When Kitty Karr, White icon of the silver screen, dies and leaves her entire estate to the St. John sisters, daughters of her Black costar, people (especially the press) start asking why.
What the public doesn’t know is that Kitty and the St. John’s grandmother were best friends, and even until her passing the family and Kitty were neighbors. Elise, eldest of the sisters, is placed in charge of fulfilling Kitty’s last wishes, a task which leads her to uncovering Kitty’s hidden past and some her own family’s secrets.
For fans of the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and The Vanishing Half, this debut novel by Crystal Smith Paul offers a multigenerational examination of race and privilege played out against a backdrop of old Hollywood and the Jim Crow South.
I really enjoyed this one more than I had expected since this novel had flown a bit more under the radar. I found myself thinking about it throughout my day, eager to get home and dive back into the story.
What the public doesn’t know is that Kitty and the St. John’s grandmother were best friends, and even until her passing the family and Kitty were neighbors. Elise, eldest of the sisters, is placed in charge of fulfilling Kitty’s last wishes, a task which leads her to uncovering Kitty’s hidden past and some her own family’s secrets.
For fans of the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and The Vanishing Half, this debut novel by Crystal Smith Paul offers a multigenerational examination of race and privilege played out against a backdrop of old Hollywood and the Jim Crow South.
I really enjoyed this one more than I had expected since this novel had flown a bit more under the radar. I found myself thinking about it throughout my day, eager to get home and dive back into the story.