Title: The Kitty Committee
Author: Kathryn Berla
Published: August 2018, Amberjack Publishing
Format: Paperback, 234 pages
Source: Publisher via Publicist
Summary:
Every year, it comes.
And every year, it reminds Grace that someone knows her deepest
secret—the secret whose silence has tormented Grace over the years. That
secret began with an innocent gang of teenage friends who called
themselves The Kitty Committee.
The Kitty Committee of Grace’s
youth was ostensibly a group of friendship and support. But the friends
fell victim to the ringleader’s manipulative personality and
recklessness, which set the girls on a course of vigilante justice,
culminating in an act that will forever change their lives, an act that
becomes their shared secret.
Grace’s silence and guilt has led to
over twenty years of disappointing relationships, an inability to
commit, and a crisis of morality. And no matter how much Grace has
suffered and lost, still it comes every year. The reminder that someone
out there wants The Kitty Committee to suffer–someone who won’t forget
and won’t forgive.
Kathryn Berla’s fifth book, The Kitty
Committee is a thrilling story of guilt, relationships, sin and
atonement for a decades-old secret shared between a circle of
once-inseparable friends.
My thoughts: This is the first book I’ve read by Kathryn Berla, and when I was pitched this book, I have to say I was unsure about it. But, the idea of a decades-old secret shared between friends totally hooked me and I’m glad I gave it a try – it was a good read.
One of the things that kept me glued to this book was the secret…once it was hinted at, I was desperate to find out what it was. And so, I found myself flipping the pages until it was finally revealed. This book deals with a lot and while it is a little slow to get into, eventually I found my groove with it and settled in.
The story moves back and forth between the present and the past, where we gets hints of the secret, all very slowly unraveling what really happened. Grace was part of The Kitty Committee, and they did everything together, until things went too far. The ring-leader was strong-willed, manipulative and a bully and Grace, who was young and naive, fell victim. Now, 20 years later, Grace is still bearing guilt from what happened, and someone outside their group knows what happened…but who?
This novel has depth. It shows how a decision you make can have such far-reaching consequences in your life and can haunt you for decades. The journey that takes us back into Grace’s high school days gives us the necessary background to see just what went on and who was involved, but then it also takes us into the present to show us who is sending the notes, and having the two alternate back and forth provides a much clearer picture for when the time comes to finally give us the much needed answer we are so desperately wanting.
All in all, this was a good book and I’m glad I gave it a try. The secret is what kept me going and it wasn’t one I saw coming.
