|
Sometimes a woman must disappear in order to exist.Hi, I'm Kathleen. |
What if the Gothic feels true because it is?A grandmother's abandonment becomes a daughter's terror of being abandoned and that daughter's terror shapes how she mothers. I experienced the effects my mother's trauma without knowing its source.
Until I dared to turn around and look. In WARD, I confront the trauma's haunting and discover that my mother, who had always kept me at arm's length, was a little girl who had disappeared. A little girl who'd been taught to pretend. To perform. Research and writing finally made the fear informing my mother's way of existing visible. And once I could see it, I was finally able to understand her. And myself. WARD is a journey that trades my exhausting decades-long search for answers for a bit of understanding and forgiveness. It's a gentle but powerful reminder that we are never truly alone, even in the secretive hidden spaces of the heart, and that no matter how far the truth has to travel to reach us, love can find its way home. |
|
Kathleen holds a PhD in Literary Nonfiction and Composition/Rhetoric from the University of Cincinnati. Her research has been supported by fellowships and awards, including the prestigious PEO Scholar's Award. She teaches critical reading, writing, and research. Kathleen also directs the Writing Center at Northern Kentucky University where she mentors writing consultants and helps writers investigate and compose stories only they can tell. 
|
5-STARS on BOOK REVUE "For anyone who has ever sensed that the family story they were handed was missing something essential, this book knows exactly what that feeling costs and what it takes to finally find the truth." |
Forthcoming Books, Signings, Readings, and Workshops
|
|
|
|
