Penitence

A Novel

De: Kristin Koval

Narrado por: Thérèse Plummer

For fans of Ann Patchett and Celeste Ng, Penitence is a poignant exploration of love and forgiveness. It’s a suspenseful, addictive audiobook filled with literary insight that compels listeners to consider whether the worst thing we’ve ever done is all that defines us.

When a shocking murder occurs in the home of Angie and David Sheehan, their lives are shattered. Desperate to defend their family, they turn to small-town lawyer Martine Dumont for help, but Martine isn’t just legal counsel—she’s also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a now-successful New York City criminal defense attorney. As Julian and Angie confront their shared past and long-buried guilt from a tragic accident years ago, they must navigate their own culpability and the unresolved feelings between them.

Spanning decades, from the ski slopes of rural Colorado to the streets of pre-9/11 New York City and back again, Kristin Koval’s debut novel Penitence is an examination of the complexities of familial loyalty, the journey of redemption, and the profound experience of true forgiveness.

A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.

©2025 Kristin Koval (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Koval maintains the pacing of a thriller while going deep on themes of guilt, forgiveness, and the toll of keeping secrets. Readers won’t be able to look away."—Publishers Weekly

"While exploring the complexities of personal and family relationships, this engrossing, emotionally charged novel also examines the way forgiveness comes from acceptance that 'each one of us is more than the worst we’ve ever done.' An intelligent, deftly crafted suspense debut."—Kirkus

"Fans of Little Fires Everywhere will appreciate this deeply moving novel about what it takes to let go of guilt and find redemption. Koval’s background in law lends realism to her image of America’s broken criminal justice system, and her prose poignantly exposes what it takes to find forgiveness."—Booklist

What is Forgiveness?

PENITENCE by Kristen Koval

Therese Plummer does a fine reading of this suspenseful story. This is Kristen Koval’s debut and I thought it was well written and I’m excited to see what she does next.

Opening family wounds and bringing dark truths to light with the guilt we live with.

Lives are shattered when Angie and David discovery a shocking murder in their home. Turning to a mom of a former boyfriend of Angie’s, for legal counsel, both Angie and David are confronted by impossible decisions. Digging into the intricacies of forgiveness and human frailty. The journey of finding forgiveness, compassion, and mistakes is not always a clear path.

complicated family drama and crime procedural

4.25 stars for Penitence by Kristin Koval. I was so excited about this book I actually put the release date on my calendar! It was definitely worth it, although I have some very minor critiques. This is the story of a family in crisis. It begins with a 15 year old being shot by his 13 year old sister. Three times. You know from the very first page she did it because she admits this on the 911 tape. What you don't know is why. Enter the legal team of Martine and her son Julian who have a very intimate and estranged history with this family and the book evolves into a multi family and generational drama as well as a much more complicated mystery told between now and then. Koval really paints a brilliant picture of how quickly and brutally a family implodes on itself with this one violent act and I have high praise for the way she fleshed out these complex characters and gave us an authentic if sometimes ugly core of who they really were. The tiny bit of critique I have is for the court/legal procedural aspects of the story which came off (to me, at least) as a bit preachy. The lawyer, Julian, has strong opinions on everything from the "three strikes, you're out" law to the way teens are treated in the legal system. There was a strong them of crime and punishment versus compassion and rehabilitation in this story and while I was unanimously on the same page as the lawyer, I sometimes felt the themes were being a bit overplayed. But, to be fair, this was a crime and procedural story and the themes worked with the plot. Just felt like Koval could have eased up on the gas a few times and still gotten to where she was going with that. On the flip side of that, the ending may leave some readers a bit frustrated. I personally think this is a perfect pick for a book club discussion for that exact reason. SO MUCH material here to talk about. Really, really recommend!

Predictable storyline

It was a predictable story, I had a hard time getting into the first few chapters and almost stopped reading. It picked up a little bit in the middle, but wasn’t my favorite read.

a little disappointed

The narrator is outstanding. The story gets really bogged down with back story in the middle section and becomes quite boring and tedious. At the same time, something is missing from this book, not sure what. It feels incomplete or liked a missed opportunity.

Bittersweet

This was such a heavy and well-written story. I loved the characters but felt their heartache so deeply. We are all flawed and the path towards forgiveness can be crooked and unexpected but, in this case, it lead to a bittersweet ending requiring quite a few tissues.

Unexpected

This is more of a family drama than it is a thriller or mystery. Basically, it's a fairly well-written story about two families with a couple things in common: death and sacrifice. There was a lot going on--the murder, the "lost love" angle, parenthood, mental illness, guilt, self-loathing, and family dynamics. Because the focus was a bit disjointed, the point of the story was muddled.

While it was pretty easy to piece things together fairly early on, the premise was interesting. Overall, it's a decent listen but the story started to drag on.

I need another!

I need this to be a series or at least have a second book! Very easy to follow along and I enjoyed the twists and turns.

Well done.

Great character development. A bit disappointed in legal aspects of this however. This part was unrealistic. Narration was excellent. Worth your credit. The ending was a bit abrupt.

I was immediately immersed in the story

I was able to hear the author speak @ Barnes & Noble last week. I could not wait to dive into this story of tragedy & forgiveness . I downloaded the audible version before my presale copy shipped to me end of last week. The story gripped me & had an interesting twist. This was Koval’s first novel & it deserves all the attention it is getting. I was invested in the lives of The characters in this small Colorado town & teared up a bit at the end of the book. Each of us are more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.

Don’t compare to Patchett or Ng

I fell for the promo ad comparing this to an Ann Patchett or Celeste Ng story. The characters were inscrutable and the motive for the central act was left unexplored. Meh.