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The Kindness of Strangers

by Katrina Kittle (Goodreads Author)

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 4,870 ratings · 871 reviews

On a quiet street in the suburban Midwest, a popular, seemingly stable family keeps a terrible, dark secret behind closed doors -- a secret that will have life-changing consequences for all who know them

Sarah Laden, a young widow and mother of two, struggles to keep her family together. Since the death of her husband, her high-school-age son, Nate, has developed a rebellio...more

Hardcover, 393 pages

Published January 31st 2006 by William Morrow & Company

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Jul 09, 2007 Jaime rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

You know you're reading a great book when you start thinking about its characters and their story in your free time. This book completely consumed my thoughts. Although the subject matter may turn some readers off--the story deals with incest and child pornography--the author handles it with an immense amount of compassion and poise. I felt so attached to the characters in this novel, and Kittle (a middle school English teacher!) didn't hold back; there were constant shocks and twists in the plo...more

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Sep 25, 2007 Cheryl rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: fiction

THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS by Katrina Kittle / William Morrow Press / 390pps / $24.95

When an elementary boy tries to kill himself, people look for reasons. What they usually find is horrendous.
Jordan is the quiet, skinny, pale boy who is best friends with the youngest of Sarah's two sons. Sarah is recently widowed and runs a catering business out of her home. She has catered "parties" for Jordan's parents on numerous occasions. She is close friends with Jordan's mother. When police investigat...more THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS by Katrina Kittle / William Morrow Press / 390pps / $24.95

When an elementary boy tries to kill himself, people look for reasons. What they usually find is horrendous.
Jordan is the quiet, skinny, pale boy who is best friends with the youngest of Sarah's two sons. Sarah is recently widowed and runs a catering business out of her home. She has catered "parties" for Jordan's parents on numerous occasions. She is close friends with Jordan's mother. When police investigate Jordan's reason for attempting to take his own life, the small town where they all live is thrown into a confusing denial. None more so than Sarah.
How could a child pornography ring have possibly been operated right under their noses? And by such respected, outgoing members of their community as Jordan's parents? Hindsight leaves everyone feeling nauseated, terrified and incredibly guilt-ridden. Nearly every child in the neighborhood has had contact of some sort with the Kendricks. Nearly every one of them were being groomed for future "parties." This is not a Stephen King novel. There is nothing sci-fi or fantasy-based. In near graphic detail, we are filtered into Jordan's life via his own suppressed memories and through the collected DVD's found in the police search. This is not a pretty picture.
His father skips town, his mother is thrown in jail, and Jordan has nowhere to go from the hospital so is foster-placed with Sarah. What evolves is a long, hard, tumultuous journey into trust and eventual love. With incredible insight, Kittle writes through the voices of Sarah, her son's Nate and Danny, and through Jordan with pure emotions and concise legalities. Revelations bring a family on the brink of their own destruction back into a tight, supportive unit that helps each other heal and move slowly, but surely, forward.
What started out as (I thought) a sappy story soon became an amazingly illuminating read that could easily serve as educational, were it actual nonfiction. In honesty, I could not put it down..even so much as taking it to lunch with my husband and reading it before the food arrived. Painful, poignant, promising....and, unfortunately, more than possible.
Kittle writes from Dayton where she also teaches middle school theater and English. This is her third novel.
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Mar 04, 2012 Joan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book was a loner from Jen - and I had no idea what it was about when I started to read it. I hadn't even read the jacket. So.... starts out with story of a struggling family, Sarah and her 2 boys Danny & Nate who are dealing with the untimely death of their husband/father from cancer. Imagine my surprise when the real drama of the story begins to unfold as we learn about Jordan, the 10 year old son of Sarah's closest friend .. the one who literally picked her up out of bed on a regular...more This book was a loner from Jen - and I had no idea what it was about when I started to read it. I hadn't even read the jacket. So.... starts out with story of a struggling family, Sarah and her 2 boys Danny & Nate who are dealing with the untimely death of their husband/father from cancer. Imagine my surprise when the real drama of the story begins to unfold as we learn about Jordan, the 10 year old son of Sarah's closest friend .. the one who literally picked her up out of bed on a regular basis during the early stages of her grief. Jordan OD's & lands in the hospital escaping death only because Sarah happens upon him and offers him a ride to school one rainy morning. This turns into a deeper horror as the author begins to slowly hint at & then ultimately reveal the long-term sexual abuse that Jordan has been suffering at the hands of his parents AND other couples with whom they belong to some sick pedophile 'club'. Sarah, at the urging of her troubled and often in trouble older son Nate, decides to foster Jordan and their stories & families become intertwined. I thought that some of the stuff was unrealistic ... with all its messiness, some things were tied up a little too easily and neatly .. however, I love the style ... like that used by Jodi Piccoult ... where the author changes perspectives and shows us different pieces of the story through the eyes of different characters. The chapters from Jordan's perspective were heartbreaking and powerful and just a really great way to show not only the total & devastating impact of child sexual abuse by a trusted, loved parent .. but also as way to explain some of the things that people don't get (like why didn't the child tell, why do they appear to still love their abusive parent etc.). The scenes where Nate is trying to explain sex to Jordan in the context of why a couple might want to actually have sex - and the response from him was beautifully written and one of the most powerful parts of the story. (less)

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Nov 14, 2008 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Lisa by: my Dad

I'm still feeling conflicted over this book--it was a really hard subject matter (pedophiles, child sex abuse) and was full of terrible language in large quantities, but it was such an interesting look at a struggling family who worked through some really tough challenges and was even able to embrace another child to help him work through his trials. I loved the way the author captured the emotions of the characters--the story was told through three rotating points of view--and I was so intrigue...more

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Apr 15, 2008 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book is told in the third-person, but the chapters rotate from the perspective of a widow of two (Sarah), her oldest high-school aged son (Nate), and the 11-year old son of a friend (Jordan). As Sarah struggles to keep her own two sons in order, a devastating secret is revealed about Jordan's family. While the "secret" is not discussed in the book-flap summary, it comes to light fairly quickly - so I don't feel like I'm spoiling anything by saying that the horrible truth is that Jordan has b...more

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Feb 13, 2008 Julia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

Although the back of the book attempts to summarize without hinting at content, my friend Cecily actually recommended this to me specifically because it was about childhood sexual abuse. If that is something you prefer not to spend free time thinking about, then don't read this. After working at a sexual assault crisis hotline for 3+ years, however, I'm sort of inclined to think that because silence surrounding child victims is almost as significant a form of oppression as the abuse itself, that...more

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Aug 26, 2008 Eva Leger rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone

Recommended to Eva by: book club

Shelves: b-fiction

This is an amazing book! I was totally enthralled the entire time. The characters- every single one- are so drawn out that you actually feel part of the story- that you know them. She deals with a very tough subject- child sexual abuse- but she touches every situation with great care. The way she has Danny, Nate, their mother, and Jordan going you'd swear she actually wrote down every little nuance from her own childhood and teenage years- she just does everything so well- totally believeable! I...more

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May 17, 2013 Theleem rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Until Katrina Kittle came into one of my classes to discuss her reasons behind writing this book, I was ready to give it a pretty rough review. In my mind, the story was predictable, the characters were flat as pancakes, and the descriptions of Jordan's sexual abuse, although never extremely graphic, were bordering on the morbid. I just couldn't really identify with any of the characters, and I didn't understand the need for Sarah to be involved in potential romances that felt like they were for...more

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Apr 22, 2013 Stein rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels-suspense, novels-reflective

==About rescuing a child from abuse and infamy==
The first half of this book is tense, depressing and at times repugnant, dealing with a group of parents who share their children sexually in upper middle class suburbia. Jordan, the tween who has been violated, raped by both his parents and their associated deviants for five years, is the focal character of the novel. Sarah is a close friend of Courtney, Jordan's incestuous mother. Each chapter of the book bears the title of a main character, in...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Alegna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-ve-reviewed

A mother and her two sons still getting over their grief for the death of their husband and father are thrown into a world where a little boy will change their lives yet again. Fellow readers, this book may be difficult to read on, but just like in life, there is a better ending to this horrific tale.
Katrina Kittle has written such a powerful book where a grief-stricken family gets thrown into the world of child pornography by a family close to them. You see the change, pain and growth of not o...more

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Nov 23, 2012 Suad Shamma rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, 2012

So I liked a lot of things about this book. I loved the fact that Katrina Kittle was able to make me feel exactly how Sarah was feeling when she was narrating, how Jordan was feeling when he was narrating and how Nate was feeling when he was narrating. To be able to do that with three COMPLETELY different characters is remarkable.

Sarah is a single mom trying to raise her two sons who have lost their dad and are going through a difficult time at school. Nate is a teenager that is going through so...more So I liked a lot of things about this book. I loved the fact that Katrina Kittle was able to make me feel exactly how Sarah was feeling when she was narrating, how Jordan was feeling when he was narrating and how Nate was feeling when he was narrating. To be able to do that with three COMPLETELY different characters is remarkable.

Sarah is a single mom trying to raise her two sons who have lost their dad and are going through a difficult time at school. Nate is a teenager that is going through so much emotional turmoil, and Jordan is a child that's been sexually abused by his parents for years and he is only eleven!

And yet Kittle narrated the story using three very different voices and skillfully allowed us to connect with each one of them as the story unfolded and they slowly became one. For that, I have every respect for her as a writer.

At the very beginning, when Jordan is first introduced and Sarah picks him up and has that small conversation with him, with little snippets of flashbacks, I felt extremely claustrophobic. So much so, that I had to skim through the entire hospital part because the idea of what this child has been through was abominable. And Kittle illustrated it in a way that was not too explicit, yet still detailed enough for us to get the whole picture. I loved that, the fact that it actually got to me this much is a sign of great writing, especially with a topic of this importance.

I also liked that Jordan had spunk. I liked that he was sarcastic, and mean, and defiant. That he had this hard shell to protect his vulnerability. I liked that she made him loyal to his mom, even though it annoyed the crap out of me! Jordan was definitely a surprise as a character, he was not the typical weak, devastated victim that I had thought (hoped?) I'd be getting when I started reading this book. He was difficult, and he fought his way through this book. I liked the prologue and epilogue and that they were narrated by Danny. I liked that Kittle gave us closure somehow, and I especially liked hearing about Jordan's life growing up.

This was a good solid book about child abuse that pretty much covered all the bases. I don't think anyone can know what it really feels like to be abused outside of those victims, but Kittle did a fair job, and I commend her for that. (less)

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Jul 17, 2012 Martine Taylor rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What worked for me in this story were the characters and the emphasis on healing. The protagonist and her two boys are lovable. I wanted to "save" the child who had been victimized too. I was attached to the characters early in the story and cheering for them. Written in a contemporary style, this is a fast read that would probably appeal to fans of authors like Jodi Picoult, as long as they can handle the harsh topic (child sexual abuse). While all of the abuse is in the past and much of the ab...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Penny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

August selection for Neighborhood Book Club -
This is quite a tale of child incest/pornography in a well-off neighborhood. The mother Coutney is an obstretrician who uses Sarah, a new widow, to cater her 'sex parties' and make her seem more normal. All the while her 11 yr. old son Jordan is suffering from this abuse at the hands of herself and her husband Mark.
Fortunately Sarah's teenager son Nate has the heart to suggest that they foster Jordan. Jordan must go through his denial and finally ac...more

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Nov 01, 2011 Talia Carner rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not-so-stranger discovers child abuse next door...

Sarah Laden, still smarting from the loss of her husband and dealing with the minutia of raising two sons, confronts the loss of friendship when she discovers that her best friend, a compassionate physician and her friend's husband, also a physician, have been raping their son, Jordan.

Sarah does not intend to foster--and later adopt--the troubled eleven-year old Jordan until her own oldest son suggests it and takes active role in making it happe...more Not-so-stranger discovers child abuse next door...

Sarah Laden, still smarting from the loss of her husband and dealing with the minutia of raising two sons, confronts the loss of friendship when she discovers that her best friend, a compassionate physician and her friend's husband, also a physician, have been raping their son, Jordan.

Sarah does not intend to foster--and later adopt--the troubled eleven-year old Jordan until her own oldest son suggests it and takes active role in making it happen.

The reader is invited into a plot in which more of the abuse is unveiled piece by piece. The story meanders among the various characters' point-of-views.

The story is compelling, and the prose is good, albeit some of the point-of-view voices are not discernable enough from one another. It is clear that the author has researched the subject of child pornography and sexual abuse. However, as an author who's written on the aspect of child abuse from the aspect of family court "justice," (see PUPPET CHILDPuppet Child,) I was astonished at the large number of dedicated officials spending full-time on Jordan's case. In the years since I've become an activist on the subject, I've learned that the over-riding problem in dealing with such cases is the lack of competent personnel and the case overload of the few publicly employed professionals. Therefore, while I respect the author's study of the topic, the fictional number of characters she's presented as working on the case (and spending time in her kitchen) loses its credibility.

Most importantly, the main characters are more of cut-out figures than this story deserves. Sarah Laden has no complexity whatsoever. She could be any suburban mother whose main focus in life is food (she is a caterer.) Her eldest son, Nate, supposedly a trouble-makers, isn't that bad considering all the troubles teenagers can get into. In fact, Sarah's invasion into his privacy and his need to share with his mother personal details are quite unusual for maturing boys. [Spoiler!] Her second son, Danny, a friend of Jordan's turns out in the epilogue taking place years later to be gay. We've seen no sign of that in his growing up years, and it was absent from his attachment to the boy Jordan. Only Jordan has depth to him and the exploration into his psyche is satisfying.

That said, "The Kindness of Strangers" is one book I read to the end, which is a rare event in the piles of books that often hijack my attention, and is an indication that this novel deserves good ratings.
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Jul 29, 2011 Peachy added it

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...more

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May 11, 2011 Leila Rice rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really did not like this book, which I read for my Book Club about a year or so ago. The subject of the novel is the sexual abuse of a child--which, by the way, is not even hinted at on the book jacket (you only know that there is some vague "family problem"). The descriptions of this abuse were, I thought, overly detailed--almost lurid. I had the sense that the author wanted to write a story about a family with a real juicy skeleton in the closet, so she wracked her brain to find the most dis...more

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Feb 02, 2011 Christie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Man, this was a hard book to read and, strangely enough, a hard book to put down. Katrina Kittle’s novel tells the story of widowed, Sarah, and her two sons, Danny, 10, and Nate, 16. Like many other novels these days, Kittle employs alternating viewpoints, allowing the story to be told (mainly) from Sarah and Nate’s points of view. And Jordan’s.

In fact, this is Jordan’s story. He’s a classmate of Danny’s. One day Sarah sees him walking along the road in the pouring rain and she stops to pick him...more Man, this was a hard book to read and, strangely enough, a hard book to put down. Katrina Kittle’s novel tells the story of widowed, Sarah, and her two sons, Danny, 10, and Nate, 16. Like many other novels these days, Kittle employs alternating viewpoints, allowing the story to be told (mainly) from Sarah and Nate’s points of view. And Jordan’s.

In fact, this is Jordan’s story. He’s a classmate of Danny’s. One day Sarah sees him walking along the road in the pouring rain and she stops to pick him up. He seems ill, more than ill and when he asks to stop at a service station port-a-potty to be sick, she does. Her mother senses are jangling like crazy and when she goes to check on him, she discovers that he’s collapsed with a hypodermic needle jabbed in his neck.

Jordan’s mother, Courtney, is Sarah’s best friend, but Jordan’s desperate act opens a dark door into his life and this story asks Sarah and the reader to step through it. The Kindness of Strangers is about the worst kind of abuse and it doesn’t shy away from the topic. Sarah and her sons are barely recovered from the death of their husband and father when they are called upon to help Jordan. In some ways the social network depicted in this novel seems like a best-case scenario; Jordan has some caring adults in his corner, but to live in today’s world is to know that that is often just fiction.

Kittle does a terrific job of getting us into Sarah’s headspace: her horror over what her best friend has been accused of, her horror over what Jordan has suffered, her struggle to balance her own issues with the day to day business of running a house and business and looking after two sons. She was equally adept at letting us see what motivates Nate, a character who is both flippant and incredibly mature. Finally, Jordan’s voice is heartbreaking; the mother in me nearly wept every time he spoke.

The main story of The Kindness of Strangers is bracketed with chapters from Danny. I think I understand why his is the first and last voices we hear, but I don’t think losing those two chapters would have harmed the book in anyway.

Not everyone will be able to stomach this novel’s subject matter, but if you think you can, it’s a fantastic book about a very serious topic.

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Nov 19, 2010 Arlene added it · review of another edition

The Kindness of Strangers is an exceptional book about a troubled ten-year-old boy and how the revelation of his horrific life comes to be public news, affecting all those around him. The book opens in the present, with a family waiting to celebrate a wedding. It is a happier time, but they allude to something that happened twelve years ago when a news event in their town took over their lives and changed them forever.

The book then moves back into the past. Sarah Laden has been a widow of two ye...more

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Sep 26, 2010 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It took me about 24 hours to read The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle, which I finished about 4am the morning of 9/20. I knew absolutely nothing about the book, didn’t read the back. A friend pressed it (along with another) into my hands saying “you have to read these…and this one will blow you away”.

I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say this in case you heard about the difficult subject matter and are on the fence: the main subject at hand is ‘Family’. The chapters switch f...more

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Jul 22, 2010 Jane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: parents and teachers

Recommended to Jane by: the goodreads site

I read this book because Katrina moderated a recent Goodreads author discussion. It was amazing. About a hard subject...and yet so thoughtfully presented through the eyes of four of the characters. I think if I had known that the subject was pedophila and child abuse, I might not have read it, but I'm so glad I did. I was pulled in from the first chapter, and couldn't stop reading. I had lots to do, and read it in three days...promising myself, "Just finish this job and you can read another chap...more

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Mar 06, 2010 Stacy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, damn, she wasn't kidding.
I will start by saying that the dust jacket certainly does not lend to what the book will be about in full. I have been trying to formulate the words for this spot for a month. I actually read this book before The Bell Jar (#32).

Into your life you let Sarah Laden, recently widowed and raising two sons, on her own, while run her in-home catering business.
Into your life you let sons, Danny and Nate Laden. Danny, a quiet, reserved 5th grader who never [seems:] to d...more

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Dec 10, 2009 Alex Griffin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was a very emotional book. One minute everything would be fine, and then out of the blue something bad would happen to this family. Sarah Laden, the protagonist, is a woman who has recently lost her husband, and is trying to raise her two sons Danny and Nate. If there's not enough drama with Sarah and her family, with Nate getting bad grades and Danny getting in fights, Courtney, Sarah’s best friend, has just got caught sexual abusing her child Jordan. Jordan finally got tired of ever...more This book was a very emotional book. One minute everything would be fine, and then out of the blue something bad would happen to this family. Sarah Laden, the protagonist, is a woman who has recently lost her husband, and is trying to raise her two sons Danny and Nate. If there's not enough drama with Sarah and her family, with Nate getting bad grades and Danny getting in fights, Courtney, Sarah’s best friend, has just got caught sexual abusing her child Jordan. Jordan finally got tired of everything and tried to overdose on some pills his mom had gotten from her work, and Sarah found him just in time, but that’s how all the secrets rose to the surface.

This whole novel is a reality of what is happening in the world today. There are hundreds of parents that sexual abusing their children every day. There are also hundreds if not thousands of single parents struggling to even get food on the table. It’s a very moving book; it helps you realize what a good life you have. Most of all it makes you thankful for your parents. Most teenagers need to realize that their parents only do the things they do because they love you, and want the best for you. In today’s society that’s not always the case. There are people in this world that could care less about their kids, and they just have them for their entertainment.

My favorite part is when Nate realizes his mom isn’t as bad as he thinks she is. He sees that she really care about him, and just wants the best for him. Nate goes to the hospital with his mom to go see Jordan right after the incident, and everything has been uncovered. He sees Jordan, and is immediately connects with him. Nate really helps Jordan get through his issues, and is a big encouragement throughout the whole book. My second favorite part is when Jordan runs away from Sarah and goes back to his house where everything happened. Jordan gets frustrated, and leaves. He decides he’s going to go back to his house and get some of his old things. The bad thing is once he gets there all he can think about is what his parents did to him, and how much he really just hated his parents. He completely destroys the house, but as soon as he was done there was a certain calm that came over him. That was all it took for him to finally move on, and the start for him to try to be normal again.

I wouldn’t really recommend this book to a lot people. I highly do not recommend this book to younger kids, preteens, or most parents. This book tends to be too graphic for younger kids, and for parents I would think it would really upset them, or make them extremely angry. Although for some parents it makes them think about how they could help stop sexual abuse. I would strongly recommend this to teenagers and young adults. It encourages teens to look at their surrounding, and realize they aren’t that bad. I mean it could be a lot worse.
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May 29, 2009 Tiffany rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 rath...more 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 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.(less)

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Apr 30, 2009 Jen C (ReadinginWBL) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Title: The Kindness of Strangers

Author: Katrina Kittle

Pages: 400 pages (paperback)

Publisher: Harper Perennial (January 2, 2007)

ISBN-10: 0060564784

From Publishers Weekly
Master caterer Sarah Laden is barely holding her life together as a widow with two difficult sons—recalcitrant teen Nate and troubled fifth-grader Danny—when the unthinkable happens. Her best friend and neighbor, Courtney Kendrick, is arrested in a child sex abuse scandal. Courtney's husband has vanished; their 11-year-old son, Jo...more Title: The Kindness of Strangers

Author: Katrina Kittle

Pages: 400 pages (paperback)

Publisher: Harper Perennial (January 2, 2007)

ISBN-10: 0060564784

From Publishers Weekly
Master caterer Sarah Laden is barely holding her life together as a widow with two difficult sons—recalcitrant teen Nate and troubled fifth-grader Danny—when the unthinkable happens. Her best friend and neighbor, Courtney Kendrick, is arrested in a child sex abuse scandal. Courtney's husband has vanished; their 11-year-old son, Jordan, is in the hospital recovering from a suicide attempt; and across the street Nate is finding, in Jordan's backpack, evidence of unthinkable abuse. Kittle (Traveling Light; Two Truths and a Lie) crafts a disturbing but compelling story line, as Sarah, Nate and Jordan uncover and come to terms with the horror in alternating chapters. Sarah, for instance, is shocked to learn that she dropped off food for the Kendricks' sex parties; Jordan must decide whether or not he wants to continue a relationship with his mother—who insists she's innocent—if and when she gets acquitted. Kittle's research sits awkwardly in expository dialogue—"One in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before their eighteenth birthdays," intones the detective who will later become Sarah's love interest—but it doesn't slow the momentum. Though the movement is toward healing, there are bumpy roads ahead for everybody in this melodramatic but gripping read. (Jan.)

My Review
Readability: This is a compelling read. I started this book late one evening and was up way too late reading! I began reading the book again once I awoke.
Overall: Last night before bed I started this book. I read until after midnight and dreamed about this book all night. I woke up and finished the book before noon. It was a disturbing subject matter, but very well written. It kept me wanting to know what happened. It was the story an abused child and his journey to recovery and his experience with the legal, foster care and social services agencies. Being a social worker in a social services agency, I find this type of book very compelling. I rate this book 4.5/5 = Recommended / A good read.
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Apr 02, 2009 Claudia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Claudia by: Lauren

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

You know that feeling, when something really sad happens, when you can't seem to take a full breath, and your chest hurts? All through this book I fought to breathe. Poor Jordan HAS to rely on the kindness of strangers, because both parents are monsters. Sarah and her boys, Nate and Danny, are dealing with the death of their husband and father, supported by the neighbors, Courtney and Mark. But the neighbors' secrets blow the town, and Sarah's family sky high. Sexual depravity and molestation, w...more

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Nov 05, 2012 penelopewanders rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, rings-rays-loans-traded

This book did a bit of extra travelling - I took it with me on a holiday to France, thinking to post it from there to the next in line for this ring. Unfortunately, it transpired that the next in line is not an active bookcrosser, and skipping that person gave me someone in France. While it is amazingly inexpensive to send books from France to other countries, I'd always heard domestic parcels are expensive. Anyway, I ended up reading it in the train on the way home.
This book reminded me a lot...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Cindy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was a tough read... a good one, but hard.

When I checked it out after reading the book it sounded interesting. A book about a family and a terrible secret; there was no hint or clue what the secret was.

This is a book about child abuse. Be warned that there are paragraphs that describe sexual abuse that a child endured. Over and over.

I liked how "real" the story was, especially with Sarah. Sarah is torn about getting guardianship of Jordan, the abused child. In real life many would prob...more

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Jan 05, 2013 marg rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Once again, I have been misled by a shockingly high GR rating. You know it's a bad sign when you find yourself thinking, even Anita Shreve could - and has - done/do this better - heck, even JOdi Picoult!
I give this two stars because it DOES have a few moments of insight. But overall, the story falls awfully short. The premise is horrifying (and I wonder if this was where the ratings stemmed from - our sick fascination with really yucky things - heck it's probably why I bothered finishing it; tha...more

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May 04, 2011 Lisa Loder rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Difficult to read in some spots but a remarkable and realistic portrayal of what happens to a sexually abused child and how a family who is grieving their own loss reacts. Both families seem like perfect upper class suburban households until one day when everything falls apart and a "horrible secret life" is revealed. From there on, we learn the horrors surrounding Jordan's life.
I was honored to meet Katrina Kittle at the Book Club Cafe our library league had at Olbrich Gardens in Madison. She...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Cherie Magnus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A "problem novel" that does a good job with an extremely difficult subject--child sexual abuse. My problem with it is that it is often "too much" in that the characters all have "tears pushing against their throats," sounds in their heads, emotions behind their eyes, chests beating with fear, etc. etc. Perhaps because this third person narrative is from the point of view of each main character, the author wants us to feel the emotions of that individual. But I got so tired of all of these physic...more

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About Katrina Kittle

Hello! Welcome to my GoodReads profile, fellow book lover. People have teased me that my reviews are all so high that I don't seem very critical (like a teacher who gives out all A's). Let me explain: First of all, life is too short to finish a book I don't love, and I'd never, ever review a book I hadn't finished. Secondly, I feel much more comfortable recommending works I admire than I do critic...more

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