The Society of Shame

By: Jane Roper

Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer

THURBER PRIZE FOR AMERICAN HUMOR FINALIST • In this timely and witty combination of So You've Been Publicly Shamed and Where'd You Go, Bernadette? a viral photo of a politician's wife's “feminine hygiene malfunction” catapults her to unwanted fame in a story that's both a satire of social media stardom and internet activism, and a tender mother-daughter tale.

Kathleen Held’s life is turned upside down when she arrives home to find her house on fire and her husband on the front lawn in his underwear. But the scandal that emerges is not that Bill, who's running for Senate, is having a painfully cliched affair with one of his young staffers: it's that the eyewitness photographing the scene accidentally captures a period stain on the back of Kathleen’s pants.

Overnight, Kathleen finds herself the unwitting figurehead for a social media-centered women’s right movement, #YesWeBleed. Humiliated, Kathleen desperately seeks a way to hide from the spotlight. But when she stumbles upon the Society of Shame—led by the infamous author Danica Bellevue—Kathleen finds herself part of a group who are all working to change their lives after their own scandals. Using the teachings of the society, Kathleen channels her newfound fame as a means to reap the benefits of her humiliation and reclaim herself. But as she ascends to celebrity status, Kathleen's growing obsession with maintaining her popularity online threatens her most important relationship IRL: that with her budding activist daughter, Aggie.

Hilarious and heartfelt, The Society of Shame is a pitch-perfect romp through politics and the perils of being "extremely online"—without losing your sanity or your true self.

Fun Read

I really like the premise of this book because it was fun and light but at the same time had a larger message about social media and identity. I did, however find that it went on a bit longer than necessary in the story line of the main character’s trials and tribulations.

Creative story

Great concept but a bit redundant and could nothing go right for Kat? Throw phones and social media away as well as reviews. Check this book out for yourself as who am I to tell you what you will like or not like?

Fun & fluffy, but w things to think & talk about

Excellent narration.

Most fun premise I've come across in a while.

This almost makes me wish my book club didn't choose books a year at a time because there's much here that would be a lot of fun to discuss, preferably with something light and bubbly. But don't think the entire story is fluff. From response to infidelity to what we expect/tolerate of our politicians, from cancel culture to who has your back when things go bad, & taking care of kids when families fall apart -- there is much here for good discussion.

Repetitive, thematically confusing, offensive

A silly story with a predictable ending. Some of what was supposed to be farcical was problematic and Kat’s character is not particularly likable. I didn’t care about the characters and found it to be depthless without charm. The only reason I finished it is because it was a book club assignment.

Couldn’t get into it

Very silly - Kept waiting for something interesting to keep listening - lot of unnecessary swearing and just seemed ridiculous