Racism

The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson is a brilliant, exquisite, and beautifully written Black parent-child relationship story. It opens with the awe and hope our country embraced when our first Black president, Barack Obama, was elected. Certainly, would we not make historic growth in healing the racial differences in our country now?

Ruth is the central figure in this Black parent-child relationship story. Ruth’s mother, addicted to drugs, had left her young daughter and son with her parents. The parents are a life-long struggling and nurturing family of color, who recognized and supported Ruth’s intelligence. We initially meet Ruth after she has received a full scholarship, worked hard, and graduated from her Ivy League college. She has subsequently landed an excellent engineering position, married a wonderful partner, and they have created an idyllic life. Ruth’s husband then wants to have a family, never dreaming of the major crisis that will ensue.

Central to the story from then on is how Ruth’s grandmother guided her after she became a pregnant teen prior to her acceptance to her Ivy League college. I commit to no spoilers hereafter. From this point on, “the kindest lie” is a thread that slowly reveals itself throughout the remainder of this novel. I could not agree more with Johnson’s title choice.

This story is a tender and loving sharing into the lives of good Black people that easily shows our commonality. It also shows the progress needed, as in acceptance of the Black people as equal to all of us who came here. I particularly appreciated the introduction of the homeless, young white boy found during Ruth’s search for her Black child.

Surely, The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson is one of the top five novels I will read this year.