The Kindness of Strangers

Katrina Kittle has attempted to address a subject that very few authors would even consider writing about, let alone be able to accomplish in a novel with such grace and empathy as The Kindness of Strangers. You don't have to have been a victim of incest to understand and experience the terror, shame and confusion that young Jordan is subject to in this eerily accurate account of familial sexual abuse. As the author gives us access to the thoughts and feelings of three main characters and their different reactions to the plot, via assigning them their own chapters in rotation, we get a full circle view of the goings on in this devastating story, and how so many are affected by its brutality. I would only recommend this novel to those show more who have thick skin, as the content is harsh and reprehensible. That being said, child pornography and paedophilia are a tragic reality, and the only way to try to and catch more predators is to educate society on its ugly face. The Kindness of Strangers is about resilience, righteousness and redemption, and for those that can handle it, should not be missed.

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It took me a while to begin reading this book, even though I love reading Katrina Kittles work. The reason is that I knew this was a book about child pornography and incest.
Once I started though, I could not put it down. I read the book in two days, desperately hoping Jordan's parents would be caught and sent to jail, praying Jordan would finally feel safe and secure in his new home. Yet I knew this was fiction. That is the power of good story telling and Katrina Kittle is a master of characterization. Her story people do not feel like characters, they feel very real.
This is a story that may stick with you long after you have reached the final page.

A must read if you can deal with the subject matter . An emotive,compelling tale of the horrors of abuse and how it affects not only the child but also the people it touches. Despite the grim situation, it is incredibly well written with compassion yet without couching the horror in coy terms. It is honest which is sometimes difficult to read, it can make your heart hurt. This issue is so often exploited for shock value or tabloid fodder. There is no sensationalism in this story - but raw truth. The characters that are able to share their unique perspective really draws out the complex reactions to abuse experienced in the wider community but without the characters losing their individual identities. Their emotions and motivations come show more across as genuine. They are ordinary people who have to cope with a tragic set of circumstances while still living their lives.Dont write this off as fiction, it is very grounded in reality.This book reminds you that this does happen, it is likely happening in your neighborhood and pretending it doesnt or ignorning it, is why it happens. While it may be hard to read about, it is even harder for children to live. show less

I absolutely loved this book. It is without a doubt one of the most heartbreaking books I've ever read, but also the most heartwarming, in an alternating pattern that varies throughout the book. Dealing with the aftermath of horrible child abuse in a way that is honest and real, there is no sugarcoating of facts to be found here. Obviously, things aren't blatantly described, but the author has no problem discussing the issue. But, at the same time, this is not a story about child abuse, but rather a story about triumph, survival, and the love and support of a family.

Sarah Laden, a recent widow struggling to now raise two boys entirely on her own, has her world turned upside down when a shocking secret is discovered about her long-time show more friends, the Kendrick family. Faced with the possibility that she may not have really known them at all, and that the woman most responsible for her recovery after the death of her husband may have had a far darker motive for her actions than Sarah could have ever imagined, the already fragile balance that is her everyday existence now seems to be more difficult than ever before. And when the Laden family makes the decision to add another child to the family, the traumatized young Jordan Kendrick, things become even more complicated yet. What hope is there for this family to survive, and can they find the happiness together that seems to have been missing for far too long?

For anyone who has ever followed the news, you know that the most horrible crimes are often committed by the seemingly most unlikely people. Friends and neighbors are almost always heard to say after the truth is discovered that they "had no idea" and "it can't be true, they're such nice people". It was good to read a book that takes this real-life rule to heart. The 'bad guys' here aren't the creepy or strange people that everyone steers clear of. Rather, they're seemingly normal family people who volunteer at school events, participate in their community, and are seemingly good friends or acquaintances to many people, all of whom have no idea of the truth until the police get involved. This book will haunt you, educate you, and hopefully let you understand the deeper issues a bit better. Yes, there are times that you want to grab one of the characters and slap them out of their denial, until you think about how you would feel in their position. For better or worse, the emotions and reactions in this book are true to real life, as unfortunate as that can sometimes be.

Without any doubts, this book definitely warrants 5/5 stars. This is one for the keeper shelf. show less

Katrina Kittle has attempted to address a subject that very few authors would even consider writing about, let alone be able to accomplish in a novel with such grace and empathy as The Kindness of Strangers. You don't have to have been a victim of incest to understand and experience the terror, shame and confusion that young Jordan is subject to in this eerily accurate account of familial sexual abuse. As the author gives us access to the thoughts and feelings of three main characters and their different reactions to the plot, via assigning them their own chapters in rotation, we get a full circle view of the goings on in this devastating story, and how so many are affected by its brutality. I would only recommend this novel to those show more who have thick skin, as the content is harsh and reprehensible. That being said, child pornography and paedophilia are a tragic reality, and the only way to try to and catch more predators is to educate society on its ugly face. The Kindness of Strangers is about resilience, righteousness and redemption, and for those that can handle it, should not be missed. show less

It still seems odd to me that my first “don’t want to put it down” book of the summer is one that deals with such a dark and disturbing subject. As I was sitting on a dock, enjoying the LONG awaited sun, I kept wondering why I was so eager to be reading this book when the main subject turned my stomach. And yet? I kept reading.

Something about the characters, something about the flow of the words…even though the characters are pretty stock, the words are well-chosen but neither beautiful nor outstanding…there’s something about “The Kindness of Strangers” that I couldn’t resist.

(OK – I’ve been trying to avoid spoiling the big reveal in the book since it’s not on the dust jacket…but I will probably have to pull show more the rabbit out of the hat here or I’m going to sound like an idiot. So – SPOILER ALERT!)

Jordan, an only child from what seems like the perfect family in what seems like the perfect small town in Ohio, is the victim of such horrendous abuse from his parents that at times the situation seems ridiculously far-fetched. It’s not, though, as news stories can attest…it’s just on the very, very far edge of believable. If one can get past that and suspend disbelief enough to accept the story, the idea of what this boy was forced to endure is heart wrenching.

“It was Wednesday night. Wednesday. He was safe on Wednesdays. He could relax and pretend they were a normal family. He was in his room, studying math. The intercom clicked on and his mom said, “There’s somebody here for you.” Who? He knew it wasn’t Danny. Not anymore. Billy Porter? Billy sucked at math and asked Jordan to help him all the time, even though he wouldn’t even sit with Jordan at lunch. Would Billy actually come to Jordan’s house just for the math homework? Jordan didn’t think anything of it because it was Wednesday. Bad things never happened on Wednesdays, so he’d walked downstairs right into it. When he saw the new people, a man and a woman, and the lights set up, he’d even stuttered, “B-but it’s Wednesday.” The couple laughed. His mom and dad laughed. And their laughter broke something in him. Or maybe fixed something in him, because he’d decided not to be “a good, good boy,” and he’d fought it, which he hadn’t done since those first times. It took all of them to hold him down.”

This was the most gut-wrenching and eloquent part of the story for me. The idea that a little boy who had endured so much physical and mental anguish at the hands of people who professed to love him, could pretend to be part of a normal family for one day a week, held on to that one day a week…until even that small piece of safety and normalcy was ripped from him…just breaks my heart.

Other than Jordan, the other compelling character is Nate, the oldest son of Sarah, a friend of Jordan’s mother. Nate is the perfect age between child and adult to let us see the struggle he has to both relate to Jordan and try and help him. He tries to alternatively be Jordan’s friend and be a surrogate parent figure…and for a boy who’s father has recently died…it’s quite a struggle.

When Nate breaks the rules and visits Jordan in the hospital – the nurses and doctors start to remove him from the room.

“Jordan said, ‘I want him to stay.’”

“Nate felt a combination of victory and terror at those words.”

And later, when Jordan comes to live with Nate and his family:

“Nate walked away, but he didn’t want to go into the house, so he sat in the sandbox and thought about his dad. He thought his dad would approve of their fostering Jordan, but he also knew that they would never have done it if Dad was alive. There wouldn’t be room. And he didn’t mean room in the house, but that there wouldn’t have been room inside them, inside their lives. They wouldn’t have known they were strong enough to do this.”

At times beautiful, at times so appalling (in subject matter) that I seemed barely able to stomach the words my eyes passed across. It absorbed me for a few days and something about the story stays with me. Something…

I do think, however, that the journey for the characters and for the reader would have been FAR more fulfilling had the prologue been omitted. Knowing how the story ends makes the achievement of getting there much less satisfying. The characters have no idea if and how they will endure – and neither should the reader. show less

A really fantastic book, it gripped me from the first page! My only gripe is with the several typos I noticed. The characters seemed truly authentic. I am impressed with how the author dealt with such a disturbing topic in a way that could keep me reading, although at times it was difficult.