Penitence Book Cover

PENITENCE

For readers of Ann Patchett and Celeste Ng, Penitence is a poignant exploration of love and forgiveness. It’s a suspenseful, addictive page-turner filled with literary insight that compels readers 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.

order Here:

Reviews and Press

  • “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

  • “PENITENCE, an uncommonly impressive debut from Kristin Koval, has the signposts of a traditional crime novel—a murder, a murderer, criminal justice machination—but it really isn’t one. The book’s concern isn’t why the killer killed; it’s the human behaviors that harm without piercing the skin. This give PENITENCE the tension of a suspense novel and the gravitas of a family tragedy… With agile and affecting prose, PENITENCE asks what, if anything, family members owe one another and whether enough acts of selflessness can lead to atonement.”

    – Shelf Awareness

  • “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

  • “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

  • “This story begins with a shocking act of violence but unfolds into a tender story of family, long-held secrets, and what ifs. PENITENCE is both a gripping page-turner and a loving exploration of what it really means to forgive. I look forward to whatever Kristin Koval writes next.”

    – Mary Beth Keane, New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes and The Half Moon

  • “PENITENCE, riveting as a thriller, is a wise and profound novel. After shocking tragedy unfolds in a small Colorado community, those intimately affected must grapple with their limitations and their buried histories. Kristin Koval relays their stories with great wisdom and compassion in this remarkable debut.”

    – Claire Messud, New York Times bestselling author of The Emperor’s Children and This Strange Eventful History

  • “Big-hearted, bold, and deftly plotted, PENITENCE tells a shocking tale of fratricide against the backdrop of two families linked by love, chance, and tragedy. I couldn’t put it down. Kristin Koval emerges as a remarkable new voice in fiction.”

    – Adrienne Brodeur, bestselling author of Little Monsters and Wild Game

  • “Deeply humane, spiky, yearning, heartfelt, rendered in brisk and often stunning prose, Kristin Koval’s PENITENCE poses so many rich and complicated questions about where and how guilt lives and grows and festers, what love might feel like and how it might still flourish when we’re faced with the worse of who we might be or have been.”

    – Lynn Steger Strong, author of Flight

  • “When we meet Angie and David Sheehan at the start of this impressive debut novel, their lives have been shattered by violence, but the journey of the book is one of forgiveness and understanding, of learning how to come to terms with the past. Kristin Koval’s prose is crisp and readable and insightful, allowing the reader access into multiple characters so that we see all sides of this story as it unfolds. PENITENCE will grab you on is first page and hold you tight until the end.”

    – Laura Spence-Ash, author of Beyond That, the Sea