Book Smart Kate

Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

by Samuel Burr – Many thanks to @prhaudio for a gifted copy of the audiobook of this story that I’ve been low-key stalking since I first heard about it back in December. It is a unique tale and a tribute to friendship and found family across multiple generations.

Clayton Sumpter is the oldest 26-year-old you’ll ever meet. When he was just a baby, he was abandoned on the doorstep of the home of a highly eccentric group of mid-life puzzle makers – crosswords, jigsaws, mazes, codes, trivia, and everything you could imagine. This group was the best in the world at crafting a puzzle, and Clayton grew up in their midst, slowly transitioning from being a child cared for by the residents to a young adult caring for the quirky, aging, found family that he loved. But always at the back of his mind needled the hunger for the truth about his parents and how he was placed on the threshold of such a unique home. When Pippa Allsbrook, the most maternal of the puzzlers, passes away, Clayton discovers that she has set up an epic puzzle for him to solve that will push him outside of his comfortable life, challenge him to explore how he wants to live, and help him to discover more about both his biological and found family – all culminating in a triumphant story about love and friendship.

Told in a dual timeline of Clayton in 2016 and Pippa from the 1970s-1990s, we delve into the founding of the fellowship, the complex and life-changing bonds of its members, and the pivotal role Clayton now plays in their lives. Frustrated at first by Pippa’s decision to send him on a scavenger hunt rather than reveal the truth about his parents, Clayton soon realizes that Pippa’s intentions were far more profound than he could have imagined. The woman who spent 26 years guiding Clayton had one last masterful puzzle to remind him of what truly matters in life. This is a kind, tender story of protecting those you love while wanting them to find their own joys and passions, a story that make you eager to unravel the mystery of Pippa’s puzzle.