Saturday, March 14, 2-3:30 PM: Oregonian Kathy Watson, Author of “Orphans of the Living,” in conversation with Brent Walth
Free Event, Books available for purchase
Annotation:
"In the shadow of the Great Depression and Jim Crow south of the 1930s, an impoverished white family escapes--with the help of Black sharecroppers--from a vengeful Mississippi plantation overseer intent on lynching them ng in California to start a new life, Barney and Lula Stovall are haunted by the past, the children they've left behind, and the daughter they cannot love or protect"--
Kathy Watson spent years as a public relations executive and journalist, including six as editor-in-chief of Oregon Business magazine, before embarking on a new career as a chef and restaurant owner. This is her debut novel. She lives in Hood River, Oregon, where she writes, leads a chefs collective, and runs and hikes the Columbia River Gorge with her husband Stu and Satchel, the world's best dog.
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2025 Literary Titan Book Award Gold Medalist in Fiction
Review Quotes:
"The author notes 'This book is a work of fiction. It's also true.' In this sense, she taps into her mother's family history for inspiration, with an unsparing look that seems to come from deep inside her at the hardships and tragedies of the agrarian working class based on experiences of real people." -- Historical Novels Review
Review Quotes:
" Orphans is a stunning debut. Where has this writer been hiding? It's all blood and soul and heartache and survival. A story of the powerful and the powerless. I can't recommend it highly enough and I can't wait to see what she does next." --Willy Vlautin, winner of the 2025 Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and author of eight novels, including The Horse.
Review Quotes:
"The language of this debut novel makes the Stovall family come alive. The images are fresh and poignant. Each voice is unique, memorable and invites us to the Southwest and West of Steinbeck and Barbara Kingsolver. I look forward to more novels written by this story master. So will you."--Jane Kirkpatrick, New York Times best-selling author of Across the Crying Sands
Review Quotes:
" Orphans of the Living is a masterpiece of writing as spare as the hardscrabble landscapes that never quite support its characters. Watson's gift is that she weaves the threads of redemption like sinews that bind this poignant narrative into a story well worth knowing. . . . Brava to this debut novelist."--Barbara Stark-Nemon, author of Even in Darkness