A Small Indiscretion

A Small Indiscretion is a 2015 suspense novel written by Jan Ellison. It features a woman trying to solve a picture from her past that mysteriously shows up. The book was released in January 2015, and was featured on many outlets such as USA Today.

Plot

A 40 year old woman named Annie Black is a lighting designer and a young mother of 3 children living in San Francisco who is married to a doctor.^[1][2] Annie receives a call from her 21 year old son Robbie who suffered a car crash and falls into a coma.^[3] The book is then narrated by Annie.^[4]

A photographer named Patrick visits her and hands her a picture of her working as an office manager for a man named Malcolm who was a wealthy builder 20 years prior in return for an affair.^[5] As her son recovers from the car crash, she needs to solve on how the picture showed up and keep her marriage stable.^[6][7]

History

Ellison took some of the notes she journaled in her journals and began to work on A Small Indiscretion. During production of the book, she took an 18 month break, where she began to write her second novel The Safest City, which was reported to have 600 pages. The novel was set in Silicon Valley in 2011.^[8]

In January 2015, the novel was published by Random House.^[9][10] An audiobook was later released and is read by Kathe Mazur.^[11][12]

Reception

The novel received positive reviews from various news outlets.^[13] The book was featured on San Francisco Chronicle's Book Club.^[14] It was reviewed and featured on the recommended books of the week by USA Today.^[15][16] The book was also sold in stores such as Kepler’s Books.^[17]

References

1. ^ A SMALL INDISCRETION | Kirkus Reviews
2. ^ Frank, Joan (2015-02-06). "'A Small Indiscretion,’ by Jan Ellison". SFGATE. Archived 2022-05-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
3. ^ "A Small Indiscretion". Enchanted Prose. 2016-06-08. Archived 2021-05-10 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
4. ^ "In Jan Ellison’s ‘A Small Indiscretion,’ A Mother Spills All Her Secrets — And You'll Find Yourself Needing To Know Why". Bustle. 2015-01-22. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
5. ^ "A Small Indiscretion". Oprah.com. Archived 2024-05-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
6. ^ "10 Must-read Books for Spring". HuffPost. 2015-04-03. Archived 2023-05-29 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
7. ^ "Review and Giveaway: A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison". The Book Binder's Daughter. 2015-02-13. Retrieved 2026-02-11.
8. ^ Brown, Nate (2016-07-12). "Every Notebook, Photograph, and Letter: An Interview with Jan Ellison -". American Short Fiction. Retrieved 2026-02-14.
9. ^ Paul, Freeman (2015-06-03). "‘A Small Indiscretion,’ a large love of writing". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on 2024-07-10. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
10. ^ "David Baszucki family: All on the Roblox CEO's wife Jan Ellison and their four children". Hindustan Times. 2025-08-15. Retrieved 2026-02-11.
11. ^ "A SMALL INDISCRETION by Jan Ellison Read by Kathe Mazur | Audiobook Review". AudioFile Magazine. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
12. ^ "Jan Ellison: A Small Indiscretion". WVXU. 2016-03-25. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
13. ^ "A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison: Summary and Reviews". BookBrowse. Retrieved 2026-02-16.
14. ^ "Join us for the third installment of the Chronicle Book Club hosted by Book Editor John McMurtrie". San Francisco Chronicle. 2015-03-03. Archived 2023-03-20 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-02-11.
15. ^ Rhule, Patty. "A 'Small Indiscretion' changes lives". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2026-02-11.
16. ^ McClurg, Jocelyn. "Weekend picks for book lovers". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2026-02-11.
17. ^ "Local author Jan Ellison’s debut novel, A Small Indiscretion, is spotlighted at Kepler’s". InMenlo. 2015-01-26. Retrieved 2026-02-11.