The book I read is a memoir written by Connie May Fowler and is called When Katie Wakes. I'm glad I chose this book to read because it was certainly an easy book to get into and I didn't want to set it down at any time.
Throughout this book, Fowler writes as though she's telling the man she lives with everything. All the thoughts she had about him and how he made her feel. She also talks about her past, with her parents, as well as her new job and attempting to escape him.
In this intriguing book, Fowler tells her story about when she was only twenty-six years old and living with a verbal and physical abuser who was thirty years older than she was. He would disappear for days, first wiping out her bank account and come back without any explanation or apologies. When this horrible man would get upset he would take it out on Fowler, so, at the beginning of the book, she got a puppy.
Showing up at a run-down farm with skinny kids running around and a man on the porch who runs the place, she wanted to get out of there, and fast. As soon as she saw the only black puppy, she picked it up and sped away. The puppy's name was then called Katie and protected Fowler as well as gave her hope.
At one point of the book, Fowler gets so sick that she is admitted into the hospital for thirty days. The man that she's "with" is gone during this time, as it is at least the fifth time he is "working on something big". This man doesn't pay for anything, as it is that he doesn't have a job, so it's not exactly a surprise to Fowler when she comes home to an eviction notice nailed to the door. That was how it was for most of the book
While reading When Katie Wakes, I thought that Fowler had the most courage in the world. Most people, or at least I think, would give up all hope, think that they wouldn't be able to escape from their abusers. I think that more than anything, Katie was the one that gave Fowler the self-confidence she deserved as well as the nerve to get away from the man that continuously knocked her down.
Something that I loved about this book was that Fowler would jump back into the past at a time that her father would beat on her mother or when her mother would go out looking for her dad when he didn't come home for days. All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend this book for anyone who thinks that there is hope for anyone that is in a difficult situation.
This sounds like a really interesting book! I had a hard time finding a nonfiction book to actually pick up and get into. I really enjoy reading books about incidents people have overcome in their life, I know that probably sounds a little rough, but to me abuse stories and suicidal stories, or anything along those lines really intrigue me. I like to hear how people overcame their issues and how they were able to run away rather than drowned in pain and sorrow. Therefore, this book, and reading about how Fowler was able to walk away from her problems, would be one of those non-fiction books I believe I could get into.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds really good. It also sounds very realistic and relatable for those people in bad situations like that. It's really hard to escape an abusive realtionship, it sounds like the book made that crystal clear. One thing in your blog that really caught my attention was that in the end you said that she thought back to her childhood. You said that her mom was struck multiple times from her husband, I found it interesting that the main character in your book didn't walk away from her abusive relationship sooner. I would think that after seeing her parents go through such a bad relationship she would see the warning signs and leave... But all in all this book sounds like a great summer read.
ReplyDeleteAmanda: I know what you mean about the types of books that you get into. I'm kind of the same way. Most books that interest me are ones with accidents happening or something like that, as you said. I think that you actually would like this book, and I think anyone else would, too. I actually got a few books from the library and this was the only one that caught my attention and I'm really glad that I picked it up.
ReplyDeleteMara: I can see what you're saying. Fowler was actually verbally abused by her mother once her father died and she could see her mother in the man that she lived with as well as her father. Throughout the whole book I was yelling in my mind, "Just run! Get away from him and leave!" But she never would. I was so relieved when she finally did. I don't want to give away the ending but I definitely think you should read it, the ending is simply amazing.
Wow...that sounds like an awesome book. It sounds sad though...but the end probably does give hope to people if she is able to get away. There are probably a lot of people who are in abusive relationships that either don't have the strength to get away or think they deserve it. I think maybe those people should read this book...maybe it would help. I guess I can't really say since I didn't read the book, but...yeah..
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