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When Katie Wakes: A Memoir
 
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When Katie Wakes: A Memoir [Hardcover]

Connie May Fowler (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)


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Book Description

January 15, 2002
Bestselling author Connie May Fowler tells her own extraordinary story for the first time–the harrowing years of her childhood followed by the abusive relationship she endured as a young woman–and how the unconditional love of her dog helped her escape her physical and emotional bonds.
Before Women Had Wings, Connie May Fowler’s award-winning and bestselling fictional account of domestic abuse, touched thousands. In this piercing memoir, Fowler chronicles the emotional battery and physical abuse that marked her own passage to adulthood. She draws a searing portrait of growing up with her manipulative and needy mother, a woman unable to give the love and comfort every child has a right to expect.
And then, as a young woman, Fowler found herself involved with a man whose behavior disturbingly echoed her mother’s. The man she lived with alternately displayed a desperate need for her or rejected her as if she were worse than useless. With heart-wrenching candor, Fowler records the abuse she suffered at his hands, from his constant attempts to undermine her self- confidence to his acts of brutal physical violence.
The unconditional love Fowler longed for finally came–in the shape of an adoring Labrador puppy named Kateland. With Katie at her side, she was able to withstand her mistreatment and the crushing weight of her childhood and, miraculously, managed to create a small refuge from the horrors that surrounded her. This is the story of her decision to end the years of mistreatment and even to open her life to a new, gentle man, whose love and understanding helped to transform her.
Well known for her fiction and her work with victims of domestic abuse, Fowler now offers a strong helping hand to women everywhere in this startling, revealing, and ultimately inspiring memoir.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this unique personal narrative, Fowler offers an eloquent look into the mind of a battered woman. Directly addressing her former abuser, she tells the story of their relationship and her gradual emergence from her own "self-loathing." A novelist with a poetic voice, Fowler (Remembering Blue) paints a rich, vivid portrait, by turns terrifying, haunting, gritty, dreamy and starkly rational. Snapshots of her evolving inner life flow into one another in an intimate montage. Heartbreakingly honest about the naive wishfulness that keeps her with a monstrous boyfriend, she writes, "When you tell me you'll turn me into a writer, that we'll pen movies together and live in Hollywood, my foolish hopefulness gushes like an opened vein." Her deep need to save this violent drunk stems from her past, when she nursed her abusive mother as she died a slow, ugly, alcoholic death. In the midst of Fowler's transition from childhood to her relationship with her abusers to her new, healthier existence, she agonizes, "Which person is the real me? The young professional? Or the cowed little girl who has become a battered woman?" Ultimately, she completed her inner transformation and left the relationship, accompanied by her faithful dog Katie. Fowler's extraordinary memoir unlocks the secret inner worlds of battered women, codependents trying to love addicts and everyone who's overcome a traumatic past and healed herself through love. (Feb. Forecast: Oprah Winfrey had a hand in the TV movie of Fowler's fictional account of domestic abuse, Before Women Had Wings. That distinction and a nine-city author tour will win her book sales.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Novelist and founder of the Connie May Fowler Women with Wings Foundation, a nonprofit organization for women and children, Fowler (Remembering Blue) describes the events of the decisive year leading up to her leaving an abusive lover after a seven-year relationship. At 26, she found herself supporting an older man, a charismatic media personality who abused her both physically and emotionally, alternately leaning on her and mistreating her. Beginning with her adoption of Katie, an affectionate Labrador puppy, Fowler initiated small changes and gradually regained her self-confidence. She got a job suited to her talents and abilities, found supportive friends, and eventually mustered the courage to leave her lover. Flashback memories recall themes familiar to readers of Fowler's novels: alcoholic parents, a neglected childhood, and repetitive abuse over generations. Her fans will welcome this compelling memoir, even if it is unlikely to become a classic narrative of abuse or domestic violence. Similar accounts of women leaving abusive relationships include Diane Schwartz's Whose Face Is in the Mirror? (LJ 4/1/00) and Michele Weldon's I Closed My Eyes (LJ 9/15/99). Recommended for public libraries. Lucille M. Boone, San Jose P.L., CA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (January 15, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 038550201X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385502016
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,460,027 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Connie May Fowler is an award-winning novelist, memoirist, and screenwriter. Grand Central Publishing will publish her most recent novel, How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly, April 2, 2010. She is the author of six other books: five critically acclaimed novels and one memoir. Her novels include Sugar Cage, River of Hidden Dreams, The Problem with Murmur Lee, Remembering Blue--recipient of the Chautauqua South Literary Award--and Before Women had Wings--recipient of the 1996 Southern Book Critics Circle Award and the Francis Buck Award from the League of American Pen Women. Three of her novels have been Dublin International Literary Award nominees. Ms. Fowler adapted Before Women had Wings for Oprah Winfrey. The result was an Emmy-winning film starring Ms. Winfrey and Ellen Barkin. In 2002 she published When Katie Wakes, a memoir that explores her descent and escape from an abusive relationship. Her work has been translated into 18 languages and is published worldwide. Her essays have been published in the New York Times, London Times, International Herald Tribune, Japan Times, Slate, Oxford American, Best Life, and elsewhere. For two years she wrote "Savoring Florida," a culinary and culture column for FORUM, a publication of the Florida Humanities Council. In 2007, Ms. Fowler performed in New York City at The Player's Club with actresses Kathleen Chalfont, Penny Fuller and others in an adaptation based on The Other Woman, an anthology that contains her essay "The Uterine Blues." In 2003, Ms. Fowler performed in The Vagina Monologues alongside Jane Fonda and Rosie Perez in a production that raised over $100,000 for charity. She is currently working on her next project, a novel titled Euphrates in Paradise. In addition to writing, Ms. Fowler has held numerous jobs including bartender, food caterer, nurse, television producer, TV show host, antique peddler, and construction worker. From 1997-2003 she directed the Connie May Fowler Women Wings Foundation, an organization dedicated to aiding women and children in need. From 2003-2007 she served as the Irving Bacheller Professor of Creative Writing at Rollins College and directed their award-winning visiting author series Winter With the Writers. Ms. Fowler travels the country, speaking on topics such as writing, self-employment in the arts, literacy, domestic violence, child abuse, environmental issues, and popular culture. She teaches writing workshops and seminars globally and is the founder of Below Sea Level: Full Immersion Workshops for Serious Writers. She is a Florida native.


 

Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully rendered story of redemption., January 20, 2002
By A Customer
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This review is from: When Katie Wakes: A Memoir (Hardcover)
Anyone who's ever wondered why women stay in abusive relationships will find answers here. The author tells a shocking and harrowing story of a sick relationship and how she found her way out after allowing her self-loathing to hold her prisoner for so long. 'When Katie Wakes' should be required reading for anyone who suffers from debilitating depression and poor self-esteem.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Brave Memoir, March 19, 2002
This review is from: When Katie Wakes: A Memoir (Hardcover)
In the past Connie May Fowler has shared her beautiful words with us through her incredible novels, but this time she shares her heart and soul as she writes about her years of physical and emotional abuse. What courage it took for her to write this, letting everyone not only understand but feel the pain she lived. It amazed me that she was able to write about the terror and the sordidness of her life without leaving out the details and without turning it into a slimy expose of her experiences. Don't misunderstand, she is very open, not sugar-coating these experiences, but her way of expressing them is remarkable. Katie, her faithful dog, gets us through her story just as she got Connie through those years or abuse. We always know that no matter how horrible it gets, Katie will be there for her. Connie May Fowler's story will inspire you. This is wonderful work!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Courage to speak up, February 7, 2002
By 
Kelly O. (Tallahassee, FL) - See all my reviews
This review is from: When Katie Wakes: A Memoir (Hardcover)
Connie is such a gifted author - I've read every single thing she's written and eagerly awaited this new novel. I wasn't even slightly disappointed. When Katie Wakes is a beautiful and poetic written presentation of Connie's experiences in living with and escaping from a violent man, woven around her history of being the daughter of a battered woman and a child abuse survivor. As you can well imagine, the book is filled with TRUTH. It is a survivors story written by someone with extraordinary writing ability. It's also just a GREAT READ - from beginning to end you feel your heart pounding right along with Connie and find yourself wanting to hug Katie and grab Mika. At the end you will rejoice with her and for her....
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