The Kindest Lie(106)

Thank you to my college crew, who celebrated me throughout this writing journey: Yolanda Harris, Amber Maiden, Robin Fleming, Camille Meggs, Sabine Champagne, and Tracy Dumas.

De Anna Ward and Sharon Tubbs, thank you for the vision setting during our February birthday month each year. Dreams do come true.

Fhelt Brown and Aaliyah Thompson, you are chosen family and I appreciate your steadfast love and support.

To the ladies of P4, who are like sisters to me: Jada Hill, Cinterro Jones, and Elsa W. Smith. Love you to pieces. The talk-show circuit awaits our tell-all exposé, which is sure to be the real page-turner.

I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me, and I offer gratitude to my loved ones, especially the Johnson, Rudy, Compton, Smith, and Hines families.

I owe any success I’ve achieved to my parents, who have loved me completely, unconditionally, and endlessly. To my mother, Doris E. Johnson, you are the one who knows and loves me best, the wind beneath my wings. None of this would have been possible without your sacrifice and prayers. To my late father, Herman H. Johnson, you instilled in me an appreciation for education and a fierce sense of family pride. Weeks before your death, you taught me how to live without you, saying, “Carry on and do great things.” I hope I’ve made you proud.

And finally, thank you to my readers for choosing The Kindest Lie. I wrote this novel to spark meaningful conversation and address my own questions about race and class in America. But mostly, I wanted you to enjoy the story. These characters grew from my heart. I hope they’ll remain in yours for a long time to come.





About the Author


NANCY JOHNSON grew up on Chicago’s South Side and worked for more than a decade as an Emmy-nominated, award-winning television

journalist at CBS and ABC affiliates in markets nationwide. A graduate of Northwestern University and the University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill, she tells stories at the intersection of race and class. She manages brand communications for a large

nonprofit and lives in downtown Chicago. The Kindest Lie is her first novel.