It appears that I'm in a glamorous phase, this is another book about the life story of a legendary Hollywood actress in the 50s and 60s. Crystal Smith Paul's debut novel went a direction I did not expect when I started reading it, but I wouldn't call it a plot twist, it was pretty clear once you started reading where the story was going. This book deals with rape, pregnancy, abortion, alcoholism and addiction, death, eating disorders, fatphobia, police brutality, and racism.
When Kitty Karr dies, the white, silver-screen legend leaves her substantial fortune to the three black St. Clair sisters, who grew up next door to Kitty but are now full grown women with fortunes of their own. After all, their mother is a well-known actress and their father is a successful musician. They even have a Ferris wheel on their grounds, they grew up with all the luxuries money could buy. And now, two of the sisters are establishing acting careers of their own while the third just graduated from law school. Worst of all, no one knows why, exactly, Kitty left the money to these women. She certainly didn't leave any explanation, not even to the sisters themselves. It's not until the eldest sister, Elise, starts to sort through Kitty's things that an unexpected picture of Kitty's life starts to form, and some answers start to arise.
For the most part, I enjoyed this book. The beginning was a little slow, but once we start to learn about Kitty's life, I was captivated. Kitty and her mother are wonderful characters, well thought out and complex, with reasons to love them, and reasons not to. This book takes place over several generations of women, switching back and forth between the points of view of a handful of different women. Elise is the first and last point of view you read, and she is my least favorite of them. I find her dialogue to be a little stilted and unnatural. The beginning of this book was a bit slow and it was hard for me to stay engaged, the middle was excellent, the end was slightly disappointing. Not that I disagreed with the decision the St. Clair sisters come to, but it seems a little too...optimistic. I didn't find it particularly realistic.
I'm giving Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul 3.75 stars out of 5. The plot was different from anything I've read recently and the majority of the characters were well developed. I'll be interested to check out any future books that Smith Paul releases.
For more from the author, check out https://crystalsmithpaul.com/
Pairs well with a handwritten letter and some fried chicken, although this is another book that could also use a Nicotine patch.
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