Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?: A Novel

By Crystal Smith Paul

REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK BOOK OF THE MONTH 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.

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Published May 2, 2023

408 pages

Average rating: 7.07

373 RATINGS

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Readers say *Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?* by Crystal Smith Paul offers a compelling look at race, identity, and Hollywood's Golden Era through inte...

Larry Burns
7/10 stars
historical fiction that is well done and an interesting multi generational storyline. 
SunnyLutz
8/10 stars
Informative, insightful and entertaining! This was a quick read which held my interest from beginning to end. It covers lots of dimensions with suspense, romance, sadness and glitz. I only recently learned about “passing” and thought the author @csmithpaul did a wonderful job exposing the risks and rewards associated with it. Thank you @henryholt
Maddieholmes
8/10 stars
Content warning for racism, violence, murder, lynching, blackmail, and related topics. I continued my trend of preferring the historical timeline to the contemporary one. Kitty is an incredible narrator, but I didn't like Elise as much. There is a huge cast in this novel, way more named characters than I thought were necessary to convey the plot. I think this could have benefitted from another round of edits, some of the sentence-level writing felt underdeveloped, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the story. A really interesting historical fiction read!
bdgump
6/10 stars
Much preferred the past story telling to the current
Ashaleedwc@gmail.com
9/10 stars
I have 30 pages left and it's already a 10. Update: storyline is a 10. Delivery, follow through, coherence - 7.5-8. I loved the unveilings and the underground work.

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