MARCH 2021 - AudioFile
Narrator Shayna Small’s sumptuous voice and on-the-mark character portrayals enhance this beautiful story, rich with themes of familial bonds, reconciliation, and racial prejudice. Ruth Tuttle, a successful engineer living in Chicago, returns to her hometown in search of the child she was forced to give up for adoption as a teenager. She finds much more. Small’s lush voice is elegant and soothing, effectively creating a sense of foreboding as Ruth uncovers secrets and works to reconcile with her past. As Ruth rediscovers the power of maternal ties and family, Small captures her complex emotions. Additionally, her portrayals of the boys, Midnight and Corey, sound authentic and effectively highlight the deep-rooted effects of prejudice. Small gives an affecting performance of this moving story. M.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 12/14/2020
Johnson’s sharp debut takes a deep dive into the life of a Black Chicago woman after the 2008 presidential election. Ruth Tuttle, 29, feels like she’s made it: she’s married to a Pepsi exec and thriving in her own career as a chemical engineer. However, her marriage hits a rocky spot when, during a talk with her husband, Xavier, about having children, she reveals she had a son at age 17. Her grandmother, Mama, who raised her, encouraged Ruth to give up her son to fulfill her dreams, and now, after Ruth asks for help in finding him, Mama tells Ruth not to go digging up the past. Still, Ruth returns to Ganton, determined to find her son before she starts a family with Xavier. With the auto plant that employed her brother, Eli, and her grandfather now closed, the town is reeling. Here, Johnson’s lens widens to address the increasing racial divide following Obama’s election, and she dramatizes it through a friendship forged between Ruth and an 11-year-old white boy named Midnight, whose abusive father also lost his job. Midnight is friends with a Black boy named Corey Cunningham, who Ruth deduces is her son after Eli defends him from a racially motivated attack by a group of white boys. As Ruth learns more about what’s happened to her town and reckons with what she left behind, 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. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
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
“Similar to The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, The Kindest Lie is an engrossing story about race, class, and coming to grips with your past… The Kindest Lie will not only pull at your heartstrings, but it will also make you want to call your family, fight racial injustice, and hold on tighter to those you love. With every page you turn, you'll see just how powerful unconditional love really is." — Popsugar
“The Kindest Lie is the story of one family that reveals the larger story of America itself. Taut and surprising, Nancy Johnson’s debut novel tackles complex issues—ambition, romance, class—with the lightest of touches.” — Rumaan Alam, New York Times bestselling author of Leave the World Behind
"Race, class, family, and secrets are all on a collision course in Johnson’s extraordinarily moving, timely read. Like a heat-seeking missile, her novel hones in on who we think we belong to and why, following the merging lives of Ruth, a black female engineer who seeks out the child she gave away, and Midnight, a young white boy struggling to find his place in the very poverty Ruth managed to escape. A gloriously written, stunning heart scorcher about who we are and what we could be." — Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and Cruel Beautiful World
“The Kindest Lie is a deep dive into how we define family, what it means to be a mother, what secrets we owe to those we love, and what it means to grow up Black. Does our past become the skeleton upon which our future fleshes out — or can we erase our beginnings? This beautifully crafted debut will keep you asking these questions and more." — Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Two Ways and Small Great Things
"In this winning portrait of circumstance, sacrifice, and forgiveness, the lines that separate past from present and right from wrong are erased and redrawn—oftentimes with earth-shattering consequences. Rife with rich language, shocking revelations, and easy-to-fall-into characters, The Kindest Lie is the kind of novel you'll feel in your bones." — Zakiya Dalila Harris, New York Times bestselling author of The Other Black Girl
"In The Kindest Lie Nancy Johnson takes us both into a bygone time, the dawning of the Obama era, and into the tender heart of her protagonist Ruth. This is a novel that seeks to discover the beauty of our journeys despite the lies we tell each other and ourselves." — Rion Amilcar Scott, award-winning author of The World Doesn't Require You and Insurrections
"One of the most buzzed about books of the season." — New York Post
“Johnson makes powerful points about our connections and communities.”— — Real Simple
"This profound and beautiful debut is a sharp exploration of racial divides and community in America." — Newsweek
"It takes tremendous talent to seamlessly combine social commentary with a powder keg of a plot, and Nancy Johnson accomplishes just that in her gripping debut novel, The Kindest Lie, addressing issues of race, class, privilege and upward mobility.... A fictional callback to Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste, The Kindest Lie also brings to mind Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half, in which another young Black woman returns to her hometown to try to reconcile her past, present and future. Don’t miss this powerful debut." — BookPage, starred review
"Johnson's powerful debut novel examines the racial injustices and class." — E! Online
"In The Kindest Lie, Nancy Johnson gives us two unforgettable characters. Ruth and Midnight represent different Americas: one trending up, one spiraling down. Johnson—through graceful sentences, tenderness, dramatic expertise, and overflowing empathy—is able to twist these Americas into a singular portrait of a country in transition. This enviable debut enlightens while breaking your heart. A truly beautiful achievement." — Gabriel Bump, author of Everywhere You Don’t Belong
"A heart-wrenching portrayal of an unlikely bond, and a profound nod to the fallacy of post-racial America—The Kindest Lie is nuanced, spellbinding, and necessary." — Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, award-winning author of The Revisioners
"Johnson has built a cast of beautifully complex characters.... This story speaks to race, class, and what it means to be a family." — SheReads
“Essential, powerful, wrenching: Nancy Johnson’s debut novel tells a history of family secrets and lies shaped by the racism that permeates modern America.... A riveting story, a searing lesson on why Black Lives Matter is today’s crucial social justice movement.” — Sara Paretsky, New York Times bestselling author
“The Kindest Lie is a soul-stirring, vividly told saga that demands to be read! Johnson presents a story with dazzling prose and textured, complicated characters that haunt you long after you've closed the book. It's hard to believe The Kindest Lie is Johnson's debut as it's told with such an assured voice and graceful conviction. I thoroughly enjoyed and HIGHLY recommend it!” — Catherine Adel West, author of Saving Ruby King
“The Kindest Lie is not only a superb debut novel, it is without qualification a superb novel. Nancy Johnson endows her characters with a generous grace that slowly embraces the reader as the plot unfolds, accomplishing what the very best novels do—tell the stories of strangers so well we are ultimately compelled to discover the strangers within us all.” — James Anderson, award-winning author of The Never-Open Desert Diner and Lullaby Road
“Nancy Johnson’s eloquently written, introspective, and emotionally resonant debut novel, The Kindest Lie, is a timely commentary on social justice, race relations, and what it means to be Black in today’s America…With subtle details as rich as they are emotionally resonant, Johnson takes readers into Ruth’s intimate struggle to find peace and come to terms with being an imperfect mother. The Kindest Lie is a visceral depiction of being Black in America, the quest for understanding and acceptance, the struggles of motherhood, and the strength of family amid the backdrop of a racially divided country.” — Washington Independent Review of Books
"Johnson’s debut novel will appeal to a wide range of readers, who will be drawn into the despairing lives of her characters. Ruth’s predicament comes to a most satisfying conclusion." — Library Journal
“[T]imely, layered, and perfect for your Zoom book club.” — HelloGiggles
New York Times Book Review
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.
Washington Post
The Kindest Lie is a layered, complex exploration of race and class.
Booklist
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.
Woman’s Day
"This heart-wrenching story teaches us how long love really endures."
Good Morning America
"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."
O magazine
Hope and change upend quickly in Johnson’s timely, heartwarming debut.
|Los Angeles Times
"[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."
Good Housekeeping
"A heart-wrenching story of family, racism, poverty and love."
Refinery 29
"A profound look at racial and economic injustices in America."
Booklist
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.
Washington Post
The Kindest Lie is a layered, complex exploration of race and class.
Los Angeles Times
"[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."
E! Online
"Johnson's powerful debut novel examines the racial injustices and class."
Newsweek
"This profound and beautiful debut is a sharp exploration of racial divides and community in America."
Washington Independent Review of Books
Nancy Johnson’s eloquently written, introspective, and emotionally resonant debut novel, The Kindest Lie, is a timely commentary on social justice, race relations, and what it means to be Black in today’s America…With subtle details as rich as they are emotionally resonant, Johnson takes readers into Ruth’s intimate struggle to find peace and come to terms with being an imperfect mother. The Kindest Lie is a visceral depiction of being Black in America, the quest for understanding and acceptance, the struggles of motherhood, and the strength of family amid the backdrop of a racially divided country.
Jodi Picoult
The Kindest Lie is a deep dive into how we define family, what it means to be a mother, what secrets we owe to those we love, and what it means to grow up Black. Does our past become the skeleton upon which our future fleshes out — or can we erase our beginnings? This beautifully crafted debut will keep you asking these questions and more."
Rumaan Alam
The Kindest Lie is the story of one family that reveals the larger story of America itself. Taut and surprising, Nancy Johnson’s debut novel tackles complex issues—ambition, romance, class—with the lightest of touches.
Sara Paretsky
Essential, powerful, wrenching: Nancy Johnson’s debut novel tells a history of family secrets and lies shaped by the racism that permeates modern America.... A riveting story, a searing lesson on why Black Lives Matter is today’s crucial social justice movement.
SheReads
"Johnson has built a cast of beautifully complex characters.... This story speaks to race, class, and what it means to be a family."
Real Simple
Johnson makes powerful points about our connections and communities.”—
Caroline Leavitt
"Race, class, family, and secrets are all on a collision course in Johnson’s extraordinarily moving, timely read. Like a heat-seeking missile, her novel hones in on who we think we belong to and why, following the merging lives of Ruth, a black female engineer who seeks out the child she gave away, and Midnight, a young white boy struggling to find his place in the very poverty Ruth managed to escape. A gloriously written, stunning heart scorcher about who we are and what we could be."
HelloGiggles
[T]imely, layered, and perfect for your Zoom book club.
Zakiya Dalila Harris
"In this winning portrait of circumstance, sacrifice, and forgiveness, the lines that separate past from present and right from wrong are erased and redrawn—oftentimes with earth-shattering consequences. Rife with rich language, shocking revelations, and easy-to-fall-into characters, The Kindest Lie is the kind of novel you'll feel in your bones."
Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
"A heart-wrenching portrayal of an unlikely bond, and a profound nod to the fallacy of post-racial America—The Kindest Lie is nuanced, spellbinding, and necessary."
James Anderson
The Kindest Lie is not only a superb debut novel, it is without qualification a superb novel. Nancy Johnson endows her characters with a generous grace that slowly embraces the reader as the plot unfolds, accomplishing what the very best novels do—tell the stories of strangers so well we are ultimately compelled to discover the strangers within us all.”
Catherine Adel West
“The Kindest Lie is a soul-stirring, vividly told saga that demands to be read! Johnson presents a story with dazzling prose and textured, complicated characters that haunt you long after you've closed the book. It's hard to believe The Kindest Lie is Johnson's debut as it's told with such an assured voice and graceful conviction. I thoroughly enjoyed and HIGHLY recommend it!
Popsugar
Similar to The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, The Kindest Lie is an engrossing story about race, class, and coming to grips with your past… The Kindest Lie will not only pull at your heartstrings, but it will also make you want to call your family, fight racial injustice, and hold on tighter to those you love. With every page you turn, you'll see just how powerful unconditional love really is."
Rion Amilcar Scott
"In The Kindest Lie Nancy Johnson takes us both into a bygone time, the dawning of the Obama era, and into the tender heart of her protagonist Ruth. This is a novel that seeks to discover the beauty of our journeys despite the lies we tell each other and ourselves."
Gabriel Bump
"In The Kindest Lie, Nancy Johnson gives us two unforgettable characters. Ruth and Midnight represent different Americas: one trending up, one spiraling down. Johnson—through graceful sentences, tenderness, dramatic expertise, and overflowing empathy—is able to twist these Americas into a singular portrait of a country in transition. This enviable debut enlightens while breaking your heart. A truly beautiful achievement."
starred review BookPage
"It takes tremendous talent to seamlessly combine social commentary with a powder keg of a plot, and Nancy Johnson accomplishes just that in her gripping debut novel, The Kindest Lie, addressing issues of race, class, privilege and upward mobility.... A fictional callback to Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste, The Kindest Lie also brings to mind Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half, in which another young Black woman returns to her hometown to try to reconcile her past, present and future. Don’t miss this powerful debut."
New York Post
"One of the most buzzed about books of the season."
Newsweek
"This profound and beautiful debut is a sharp exploration of racial divides and community in America."
Woman’s Day
"This heart-wrenching story teaches us how long love really endures."
The New York Times Book Review
“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.”
Library Journal
09/01/2020
Before she can start a family, Ruth Tuttle, an Ivy League-educated Black engineer, must reconcile with having given up the baby she had as a teenager. Leaving Chicago for her Indiana hometown, she explores family secrets, befriends a white boy, and watches racial tensions begin to tear her town apart. A debut novel with a 100,000-copy first printing.
MARCH 2021 - AudioFile
Narrator Shayna Small’s sumptuous voice and on-the-mark character portrayals enhance this beautiful story, rich with themes of familial bonds, reconciliation, and racial prejudice. Ruth Tuttle, a successful engineer living in Chicago, returns to her hometown in search of the child she was forced to give up for adoption as a teenager. She finds much more. Small’s lush voice is elegant and soothing, effectively creating a sense of foreboding as Ruth uncovers secrets and works to reconcile with her past. As Ruth rediscovers the power of maternal ties and family, Small captures her complex emotions. Additionally, her portrayals of the boys, Midnight and Corey, sound authentic and effectively highlight the deep-rooted effects of prejudice. Small gives an affecting performance of this moving story. M.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
