We Don't Talk About Carol
A Novel
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- $199.00
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- $199.00
Descripción editorial
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A dedicated journalist unearths a generations-old family secret—and a connection to a string of missing girls that hits way too close to home—in this “nail-biting debut” (Booklist).
“A well-written, emotionally wrenching tale.”—Associated Press
A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
In the wake of her grandmother's passing, Sydney Singleton finds a hidden photograph of a little girl who looks more like Sydney than her own sister or mother. She soon discovers the mystery girl in the photograph is her aunt, Carol, who was one of six North Carolina Black girls to go missing in the 1960s. For the last several decades, not a soul has talked about Carol or what really happened to her. But now, with her grandmother gone and Sydney looking to start a family of her own, she is determined to unravel the truth behind her long-lost aunt’s disappearance, and the sinister silence that surrounds her.
Unfortunately, this is familiar territory for Sydney: Years earlier, while she worked the crime beat as a journalist, her obsession with the case of another missing girl led to a psychotic break. And now, in the suffocating grip of fertility treatments and a marriage that's beginning to crumble, Sydney’s relentless pursuit for answers might just lead her down the same path of self-destruction. As she delves deeper into Carol's fate, her own troubled past reemerges, clawing its way to the surface with a vengeance. The web of secrets and lies entangling her family leaves Sydney questioning everything—her fixation on the missing girls, her future as a mom, and her trust in those she knows and loves.
Delving into family, community, secrets, and motherhood, We Don’t Talk About Carol is a gripping and deeply emotional story about overcoming the rot at the roots of our family trees—and what we’ll do for those we love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Berry debuts with a striking and soulful crime novel about a woman investigating her aunt's decades-old disappearance. Publicist Sydney Singleton draws on her skills as a former investigative reporter when she learns, after her grandmother's death, that she had an aunt she never knew about. After a little digging, Sydney discovers that Carol Singleton, her father's sister, was one of six young Black women who vanished between 1963 and 1965 in Raleigh, N.C., with little follow up from law enforcement. Certain that the disappearances are linked, she trawls old newspaper articles for clues and posts on true crime sites until she attracts the attention of a well-known true crime podcast and prompts the Raleigh PD to reopen the case. Meanwhile, she juggles a strained marriage, arduous IVF treatments, and painful childhood memories while attempting to repair her relationship with her younger sister, Sasha. Berry maintains suspense via the central mystery, but she's as interested in character as she is in plot, to the novel's immense credit. With an eye toward racial disparities in crime solving, Berry traces the emotional fallout of Carol's disappearance on Sydney's family and their neighbors, and delivers a stirring ode to the power of community. Readers will be wowed.
