Did You Hear About Kitty Karr by Crystal Smith Paul: Fame, Colorism and Generational Trauma

This week, I talk with Crystal Smith Paul about her stunning debut novel Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? We discuss the pitfalls of fame, the demands for transparency and the allure of Hollywood, as well as how Crystal's time as a journalist and in film school affected the writing process of her first book. Follow Crystal on Instagram or check out her website Did You Hear About Kitty Karr Synopsis 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. All the Bookwild Links: Check Out the Bookwild Substack Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Check Out Author Social Media Packages Follow Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba Erin Ashley @bellametaphor