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Title details for Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul - Available

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?

A Novel

by Crystal Smith Paul
Ariel Blake
Audiobook
9 of 16 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
9 of 16 copies available

REESE'S BOOK CLUB MAY 2023 PICK

A multigenerational saga that traverses the glamour of old Hollywood and the seductive draw of modern-day showbiz

When Kitty Karr Tate, a White icon of the silver screen, dies and bequeaths her multimillion-dollar estate to the St. John sisters, three young, wealthy Black women, it prompts questions. Lots of questions.
A celebrity in her own right, Elise St. John would rather focus on sorting out Kitty's affairs than deal with the press. But what she discovers in one of Kitty's journals rocks her world harder than any other brewing scandal could—and between a cheating fiancé and the fallout from a controversial social media post, there are plenty.
The truth behind Kitty's ascent to stardom from her beginnings in the segregated South threatens to expose a web of unexpected family ties, debts owed, and debatable crimes that could, with one pull, unravel the all-American fabric of the St. John sisters and those closest to them.
As Elise digs deeper into Kitty's past, she must also turn the lens upon herself, confronting the gifts and burdens of her own choices and the power that the secrets of the dead hold over the living. Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? is a sprawling page-turner set against the backdrop of the Hollywood machine, an insightful and nuanced look at the inheritances of family, race, and gender—and the choices some women make to break free of them.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 2, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781250899422
      • File size: 379450 KB
      • Duration: 13:10:31

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 20, 2023
      In Paul’s appealing if overlong debut, a Black Hollywood family reckons with a surprising and complicated past. The St. Johns live in a Bel Air mansion that features a garden maze and a Ferris wheel. Elise is the family’s latest star of the silver screen and up for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Her mother, Sarah, is also a storied actor, while her father, James is a renowned musician. Elise is preoccupied with managing her image and avoiding the paparazzi, until the death of neighbor Kitty Karr, Elise’s beloved mentor, who leaves a fortune to Elise and her two sisters. As Elsie goes through Kitty’s journals, the narrative winds back to Kitty’s hardships in 1930s North Carolina and mid-century Hollywood glamour, and Elise learns that while Kitty passed as white, she was actually a light-skinned Black woman. Though Paul crowds the narrative with far too many underdeveloped characters and makes a few too many implausible plot leaps, she ably describes Kitty’s transformation and unflinchingly details the racism, misogyny, and exploitation Kitty faced as a young woman. Though a bit clunky, the dramatic story and hefty subject matter would make a fine adaptation to the silver screen.

    • Library Journal

      June 10, 2024

      Paul debuts with a novel that shatters the glamorous facade of Hollywood and reveals its uncomfortable secrets and biases. Elise St. John, a young Black actress whose star is on the rise, is trying to navigate life in the spotlight and the drama and paparazzi that goes with it. Elise is shocked to discover that she and her sisters have inherited the multimillion-dollar estate of Kitty Karr, the award-winning white actress who helped Elise get her start. Everyone is buzzing, wondering why three Black women would be named as Kitty's heirs. As Elise starts going through Kitty's estate, she learns about the shocking connection between their two families, discovering that Kitty was actually her grandmother, who was passing for white. Narrators Ariel Blake, Kineta Kunutu, and Lynnette Nicholas gently unveil the mystery of Kitty Karr, taking listeners from 1950s Hollywood to Kitty's growing up in 1930s North Carolina. The narrators' combined voices make for a welcome ensemble, although listeners may struggle to distinguish between the novel's many characters and shifting timelines. VERDICT Expect much demand for this Reese's Book Club pick. Recommended for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.--Heather Davidson Maneiro

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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