Set in 2008, The Kindest Lie is a look at the racial, societal, and motherhood issues swirling in America. While well written and engaging, I wish it had gone deeper into the thoughts, actions, and personalities of the main characters. Thought provoking read with plenty to discuss and mull over.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity read and review this debut novel.

I found this to be a very well written debut. It explored themes of race, motherhood, pride and family secrets. What great lengths we go to in order to protect the children we love and to better their futures. I loved Ruth finding the child her family had made her give up 17 years ago and how she had to ultimately make the best decision for him. I loved her relationship with Midnight throughout the book. I loved the authentic and honest way Ruth's relationship with Xavier unfolded as she tells him about yhe child he never knew she had and given up before they married.

Set after the election of Barack Obama, this debut novel is an interesting meditation on motherhood, race, and class. Ruth had a baby at seventeen, who was adopted, and this secret surfaces as she and her husband start planning to have a children. Midnight is a kid struggling with the loss of his mother. The two characters' lives intertwine in this tale examining the sacrifices we make for our family and learning when to let go.

Set in the wake of Obama's presidential victory in 2008, The Kindest Lie follows Ruth, a Black engineer living in Chicago as she returns to her small Indiana hometown to track down the child she gave birth to when she was 17. As she searches for information about her son from her reluctant family members and willing friends, she reconnects to the town, its people, and her own memories. The themes of motherhood, race, class, gender, family, and community give the novel its complexity and its beauty. Ultimately, Johnson's debut is a heartbreaking and moving tale about love and its subsequent sacrifices.

This book wasn’t an easy read. It dives deeply into issues of racism and classism, weaving in motherhood and family secrets. It reminded me that the world can be an unforgiving place and we have a lot of work to do to address systemic racism, income inequality, and the income gap between American workers and the 1 percent.

One small quibble I have is that I felt the book lacked a sense of resolution, especially with Midnight’s story. But after I thought about it, it makes sense. That’s life. Everyone doesn’t always get a happy ending wrapped up in a cozy little epilogue. It’s a fitting reminder of how much work remains to be done so that every kid in America has a true shot at the American Dream.

Overall, it’s a solid debut and I’m sure that you will be seeing it pop up around #bookstagram soon. The publication date is February 9, 2021. I think it would make a great book club pick for 2021, especially for fans of The Mothers by Brit Bennett and Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid.

Book synopsis: It’s 2008, and the rise of 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 abandoned—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. While her family is happy to see her, they remind her of the painful sacrifices to give Ruth a shot at a better future—like the comfortable middle-class life she now enjoys.

Determined, Ruth begins digging into the past. As she uncovers burning secrets her family desperately wants to hide, she unexpectedly befriends Midnight, a young white boy who is also adrift and looking for connection. When a traumatic incident strains the town’s already searing racial tensions, Ruth and Midnight find themselves on a collision course that could upend both their lives.

#netgalley #thekindestlie #ownvoices #blackfiction #blackvoices #debutnovel #2021books

I really liked this story of a girl going back to her home town to find out what happened to her baby. The characters were very real and the ending was practical. Not nearly tied up with a pretty now. I would recommend this

This was an excellent debut novel by Nancy Johnson. It takes place in 2008 just after the election of Barack Obama and focuses on Ruth, a successful Black woman in her late twenties, who gave up her son for adoption when she was 17. Her husband wants to start a family and she finally tells him about the child she gave up. She returns to her hometown to find the son she gave up. The book does a great job of covering issues of race, motherhood and family relationships. It would make a great book club selection. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Wow. I could not put Nancy Johnson's book The Kindest Lie down. This would be a perfect book club book because there is so much to discuss. Johnson tackles themes like race and class with amazing storytelling. This is a book that stays with you long after you finish.

While I liked the characters and the fast pace of the book, it seemed like a storyline we've read many times before--giving up a baby for adoption and searching for the child years later.

Great characterization and pacing make this an engrossing read, particularly in light of current events. This expertly written narrative explores the divide between white and black communities and the commitments and sacrifices made by a mother. Do we allow the decisions of the past to define our future? To say no would itself be the kindest lie. The truths explored here reveal there is no simple answer to this question. A timely read. I found myself rooting for Ruth to not only overcome her own personal barriers but those of racism as well. As in all good books, I was left wanting more.

Because of great sacrifices made by the lower-middle class grandparents who raised her, Ruth was able to have an Ivy-league education and is now employed as an engineer and living a very comfortable life with her wonderful husband Xavier. When Xavier starts pressing Ruth about starting a family, she reveals to him that she gave a baby up for adoption when she was in high school. This revelation instantly puts a strain on Ruth and Xavier's marriage and brings to the surface many emotions Ruth has suppressed throughout the years. She decides to return to her small hometown and see if she can find out who adopted her son. There she uncovers some uncomfortable secrets and deals with issues of race, privilege, class, and family. I found the story very believable and one that is very relevant for the times we are living in here in 2020. This is an exceptional debut novel and I was lucky enough to be offered an ARC ebook edition from Netgalley.

The Kindest Lie is set the south side of Chicago and in working-class Indiana, alongside the recent election of the President Barack Obama. Ruth Tuttle has escaped the small town she grew up in and has never looked back. When her husband begins to discuss planning to have a family, Ruth's past catches up with her and she thinks about the son that she gave up for adoption at age 17, in order to leave her hometown and chase her dreams at Yale. This book was exceptional, and wove together so many complex feelings and emotions in such a stunning way.

An honest and thoughtful novel about a Black woman seeking to make peace with her past and a child she gave up and a white boy craving connection he cannot find with his broken family. Layer in a community struggling with the financial crisis, racial inequities, and racial inequality, and you have a book ripe for discussion. This will be a popular book club pick in 2021 and, hopefully, a sign of healing to come. Thank you to William Morrow for the advanced review copy of this book.

A book about family with secrets ultimately salvaged by love for each other. How far will a parent go to give their children a better life? In the present time of helicopter parents, Nancy Johnson has written a special story about family and the ties and lies that bind one family in hope-filled 2008. In the period after the election two families are facing hard truths in an Indiana factory town experiencing the effects of the recession. The unlikely friendship between an Ivy League educated Black woman and an adrift young white boy is the catalyst for family secrets to surface and a fraught situation that could have come from this week’s headlines. This book is a highly recommended read.

This was a beautifully intense read about motherhood, racism, and family lies and dysfunction in the name of love. Nancy Johnson's written a page-turner during the early Obama years about a Black woman who grew up poor but through extraordinary means of her family and her own intellect, is able to rise up economically to "succeed" in a career. But she carries such shame about her family, there are lies she can't even tell her own husband. I found Ruth and Xavier's story very compelling, I wish we had more from both of their lives. Ruth's "Mama", really her grandmother, is a stunning character. This is not an "easy" read, but still quite the page-turner. I loved each of these characters. So many areas of conversation will spark from this book, I can see it being a big spring 2021 book club read.

The Kindest Lie was a wonderful debut novel. Topics covered include family secrets, race and class. It's a touching novel about a choice made for loved one, a choice believed to be for the best outcome and the impacts it had on the family. Did the benefits of the choice outway the cost? How does keeping a secret impact the rest of the family? The story also touches on race and the opportunities that exist or don't based on race and perceptions.

The characters, emotions and relationships were well developed. This story will stick with me! I look forward to Nancy's next novel.

The Kindest Lie is the story of Ruth, a Black woman who begins having conflicting emotions when her husband wants to start a family. Why? Because years ago she had a child as a teenager that her grandmother gave up for adoption. Ruth ends up in her hometown trying to find her son and forming a relationship with a poor white boy who lost his mother years ago in childbirth. The story definitely has it's good moments, and takes a slightly different tack of a Black adult who is comfortable financially dealing with a white child that doesn't have much of anything. And the relationship is a good one; although there's moments where it feels a little bit forced even as the author creates a backstory where the two characters would naturally come into contact. I also struggle with how Ruth seems pretty career-driven, refuses to have anything to do with her past and not really interested in starting a family until her husband gets mad at her for keeping her past pregnancy a secret and then suddenly she's overcome with the need to go home, concern for her son and wanting to find and form a relationship with him. I want to like this book more than I do, especially since it explores race relations in a different way than many stories, but I just struggle with things not quite gelling enough for me to put it in the keep pile or move it to the recommendation list as a "must-read" for others.

Enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to others. A good story line and cultural theme. The author touched on ethnic actualities that take place in present day as well as the past.

A wonderful, gripping novel about an accomplished, Yale-educated engineer, Ruth, who comes to the realization that she can no longer hide behind the lie that she has concealed from everyone in her life that she holds dear, including her unsuspecting husband, Xavier. After Ruth confesses her truth - that 13 years ago she was a teenage mother and gave her baby up for adoption so she could pursue her dream of leaving her small hometown for the promise of a new life and career possibilities that a Yale education would afford her - Ruth returns to her hometown to seek the truth about the circumstances surrounding the adoption of her baby and to find her son. Ruth's story takes place shortly after Obama was elected President, yet is a timely telling of topics, such as race relations, that are at the forefront today. Along with the truths that Ruth must confront about her past during her search, family relationships and friendships are tested when Ruth meets a troubled young boy, Midnight, in her old hometown. The characters of Ruth and Midnight were developed so well, that I had trouble reading at some points because they were so real to me and I didn't want to see them get hurt although I knew that trouble waited for them ahead! If you love stories that pull you in and won't let you go, this one's for you!

Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC of this novel. A well written story of race, motherhood and secrets.
Ruth is living a very successful life with her husband Xavier. When the story opens, President Obama has won his first term as president, and Ruth and her husband have high expections for the future. Xavier wants to start a family, buth Ruth has been keeping a secret from her husband and friends. She had a child at 17, and the baby was taken from her at birth. She has no idea what has happened to the baby and decides to return to her hometown and family to find out. When she returns home, lies and secrets unravel. While there she befriends a young troubled white boy named Midnight. The story is told in chapters narrated by Ruth and Midnight. The characters came to life for me, and the story also educated me about race relations.