Nancy Johnson, Emmy-nominated, award-winning television journalist and author, will join South End Writes to discuss her debut novel, The Kindest Lie. The novel has been named one of the most anticipated books of 2021 by Marie Claire and PopSugar.
About the Book: 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 they made to give her 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 of their lives.
The Kindest Lie examines the heartbreaking divide between black and white communities and plumbs the emotional depths of the struggles faced by ordinary Americans in the wake of the financial crisis. Capturing the profound racial injustices and class inequalities roiling society, Nancy Johnson’s debut novel offers an unflinching view of motherhood in contemporary America and the never-ending quest to achieve the American Dream.
Praise for The Kindest Lie:
Named Most Anticipated of 2021 by Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day, MSN, Refinery 29, Hello! Magazine, PopSugar, Black Business Guide, SheReads, and more!
“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. This beautifully crafted debut will keep you asking these questions and more.” —JODI PICOULT
Nancy’s earlier work has been published in O, The Oprah Magazine and has received support from the Hurston/Wright Foundation, Tin House, and Kimbilio Fiction.
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