A Toronto Star Most Anticipated Book of the Year

“Entertaining, engaging and timely, Mitzi Bytes is a pleasure to read from start to finish.” —Toronto Star

A secret life is never secret for long.

Back at the beginning of the new millennium, when the Internet was still unknown territory, Sarah started an anonymous blog documenting her return to the dating scene after a devastating divorce. The blog was funny, brutally honest and sometimes outrageous. Readers loved it. Through her blog persona, “Mitzi Bytes,” Sarah not only found her feet again, but she found her voice.

Fifteen years later, Sarah is happily remarried with children and she’s still blogging, but nobody IRL (in real life)—not even her husband or best friends—knows about Mitzi. None of them knows that Sarah has been mining their deepest feelings and confessions and sharing these stories with the world. Which means that Sarah is in serious trouble when threatening emails arrive from the mysterious Jane Q. Guess what, the first one says. You’re officially found out.

As she tries to find out Jane Q’s identity before her secret online self is revealed to everyone, Sarah starts to discover that her loved ones have secrets of their own, and that stronger forces than she imagined are conspiring to turn her world upside down.

A grown-up Harriet the Spy for the digital age, Mitzi Bytes examines the bonds of family and friendship, and the truths we dare tell about ourselves—and others.

KERRY CLARE is the author of novels Waiting for a Star to Fall and Mitzi Bytes, and editor of The M Word: Conversations About Motherhood. A National Magazine Award-nominated essayist, and editor of Canadian books website 49thShelf.com, she writes about books and reading at her longtime blog, Pickle Me This. She lives in Toronto with her family.

Kerry Clare's profile page

“In Mitzi Bytes, Kerry Clare meld a stew of motherhood, modernity, and mounting, with a sly combo of raucous humour, dollops of humanity, and lively, congenial truths. This is a delightful novel where a woman finds self-acceptance amid the unfortunate ramifications of her snappy social observations.”

Anakana Schofield, Scotiabank Giller Prize-shortlisted author of <em>Martin John</em>

“I could not put this down down. Literary, intelligent, and witheringly funny, Mitzi Bytes is the love child of a suspense-driven thriller and a feminist primer on maternal alienation. I suggest you read this book immediately.”

Dr. May Friedman, author of <em>Mommyblogs and the Changing Face of Motherhood</em>

“Entertaining, engaging and timely, Mitzi Bytes is a pleasure to read from start to finish. It heralds the arrival of a fantastic, fun new novelist on the Canadian scene.”

<em>Toronto Star</em>