We Don't Talk About Carol

Author: Kristen L. Berry
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing, 2025
Pages: 336
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: 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 let 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.

Review: What a debut! I hope we see a lot more from this author.

This will likely be my favorite book of the year. This author poured her heart and soul into this layered, multifaceted, slow burn novel. I stayed up late and woke up early just to sneak more time in with this book. Five very bright stars.