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- I received an advanced copy of this book from Henry Holt & Co.This novel will publish on May 2nd, so reserve your copy. Crystal will be joining us for our summer author series!This sweeping multigenerational saga is worthy of its own miniseries as a family uncovers their incredible legacy and what Black women must do to survive, set against the backdrop of old Hollywood glamour. If Evelyn Hugo and The Vanishing Half had a baby, it would be a powerful story that examines race and privilege.Eighty-one-year-old Kitty Karr Tate has died, and her death has dominated the week's news. She was an American icon, an Academy Award winner, a writer, a television star, and a philanthropist. But, along with praise for her career, there are also wild conspiracy theories about her mysterious life and the circumstances of her demise.In one final mysterious plot twist, Kitty has bequeathed her entire fortune- approximately six million dollars to the Black daughters of her co-star in a sitcom aired almost fifty years ago. As these women are thrust further into the spotlight, they are left to grapple with why they received these funds. After all, they are daughters who had been multimillionaires by birth. Why do they receive this unexpected windfall?We get to solve this mystery along with the St. Johns family in this dual-timeline story, beginning in the 1930s and shifting to 2017. The story starts with Hazel, who works for the white, wealthy Lake family, whose financial wealth was built by black hands. Their family legacy is tobacco grown, cured, and manufactured under their family's name in Winston-Salem.Hazel’s beauty catches the eye of one of their sons, and, like many women before her, she is raped and ends up pregnant with his child. Rather than give the baby up, Hazel keeps her daughter and names her Mary Magdalene because she believes she will one day "absolve the sin of her creation." This baby appears as white as any other child, and at this discovery of her fair skin, Hazel decides that maybe there really is a God after all. Hazel’s goal is for Mary to have the life she never could, and it is a sacrifice that starts early.In this world of passing, we follow Mary's childhood days as her mother takes her to a neighboring town where she can play and have experiences like a white child, while her mother monitors her as the help rather than her mother. She offers Mary the continued legacy as she paves her way to Hollywood, breaking all ties to her so she can pass as white. There she is, newly named Kitty Karr. She starts her new life in California, quickly finding her way into Hollywood after showing a genuine interest in what is happening in a nearby movie lot.Rising to the top of Hollywood isn't easy; it isn't just her talent and beauty that gets her there. It is made possible through a secret network of women who can also pass and help her along the way. They teach each other the skills they need to survive, including avoiding any behaviors that could give them away: no spicy foods, staying out of the sun, not using grease in their hair, and hiding their Jet magazine issues. For Kitty, it is initially quite exhausting, but those who can pass as white climb up the ladder and can help other women do the same.This network's job is to keep these Black women in Hollywood's top roles, keep the most powerful people informed of important headline news, and fund crucial nonprofit work that helps their mission.As Kitty adjusts, she also must acknowledge that there are days when she isn’t really white and that she “no longer feels splintered but someone else entirely.” As she straddles these two very different worlds, we feel torn.This ambitious novel is over four hundred pages long and an outstanding saga. Crystal Smith Paul's scope in our fractured world acknowledges the grim realities of racial disparities while offering the reader reprieves through fantastical Hollywood escapes.While I found the present timeline less compelling than Kitty's rich history, the way the author ended this present timeline’s message ends with profound wisdom while honoring the legacy of this fictional starlet, which felt altogether real.
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0Reply The start was very slow and it took me quite some time to really get into this book. It was worth it though, it ended up to be a very compelling story that touched upon some very important topics that are still relevant in this day and age.
0 0ReplyI have literally just finished! It is SUCH a powerful book - a bit of a slow burner, so if you’re like me who is used to an almost-immediate ‘pull’ at every beginning, my advice is to just trust it, because it gets REALLY good. One thing I didn’t like about it at first was that the first few chapters were… overly descriptive, it felt unnatural to read and because of that, didn’t feel ‘fluid’. As the story goes, it does stop, but it did make me think that perhaps the writing wasn’t standardised because the tones have a small difference from the first half, and the second half.
But this doesn’t take away how important, empowering and as I said, powerful, this story is. You could tell it was written by an intellect, with a lot of heart put into it. Loved it!0 0Reply- 0 0Reply
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I loved this! Set partly in present day and partly in the 1950's to 60s, it tells the life story of famous white actress Kitty Karr and why she left her fortune to three young, black sisters.
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3.5 stars (rounded up). This book really reminded me of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It was well written and I enjoyed the flashbacks to the past. There were a lot of characters introduced in the beginning that made it kind of hard to follow up first, but once things got settled, it was easy to keep up. I listened to this book on audio and thought the narrators did a great job. Overall while this book was good and I thought the plot and character development were also good, I had a hard time wanting to pay attention or press play. It just wasn’t the vibe I was looking for at this time.
0 0Replynote: listened to this on audiobook, but think I would have enjoyed more in print (the narrators stumbled over their words & had issues with cadence that made it difficult to follow) don't be fooled by the glitzy cover: this isn't a lightweight historical fiction like Evelyn Hugo. the story deals with heavy trauma and difficult conversations about race, identity, and reparations. While not the most nuanced or deep dive into these topics, the story did give me new perspective on the horrors of being black during Jim Crow, even outside the south. while the story itself was enjoyable, I got many of the characters confused, especially in the modern-day timeline. They didn't have strong defining characteristics and tended to blend together.
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