Did You Hear About Kitty Karr by Crystal Smith Paul

I do a lot of reading of lists. The Booker Prize long list, the New York Times notable books list, the National Book Award short list to name a few. On a lighter note, I have been reading the Reese Witherspoon recommendations--I find these enjoyable, thought provoking, and they are stories written by women about women, which is an added plus. This is one such book. This is a story about blacks passing as whites. I get why in a racist society that would hold an attraction. What I didn't get is what the downside is, and this story really fleshes that out. This is a grand, epic tale that spans multiple generations. Kitty Karr was a white actress and celebrity icon. When she passes away, the world is shocked to find out she left her massive multi-million dollar estate to her next door neighbors: the St. John sisters, three young, wealthy Black women. This tells the complicated why of it. The denying of who you are, where you are from, and how you got to be who you are is soul sucking. That becomes very clear in this story, as it did in Passing (both the book and the movie). This is a good read.