When Katie Wakes, by Connie May Fowler

When Katie Wakes by Connie May Fowler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been a fan of Connie May Fowler since reading Before Women Had Wings maybe twenty years ago. Blame it on Oprah Winfrey: this was one of the books Oprah mentioned that I decided to read. After reading Ms. Fowler's heart-wrenching book, I was instantly hooked on her writing.



In When Katie Wakes, Ms. Fowler tells her amazing story of breaking free from years of abuse with the unconditional love of her dog, Katie. While Before Women Had Wings was fiction dealing with domestic violence, When Katie Wakes is Fowler's memoir. In it, she chronicles the emotional and physical abuse she endured growing up. However, the majority of the book deals with the abusive relationship with a man thirty years her senior and how she managed to escape.



Early on in the book, she adopts Katie, a wonderful dog who, as dogs are known to do, gives unconditional love. It is this love that eventually gives Connie the strength to leave.



Many who read this memoir might be tempted to ask "What did she (Ms. Fowler) do to warrant this abuse? Why didn't she just leave?" Both are the wrong questions, no matter who is being abused, the age of the abused and abuser, the gender(s) of those involved, etc. The first question needs to be replaced with "Why did he/she abuse him/her?" The second question has many answers: financial, emotional, family situation, lack of services (including shelters), as well as a number of reasons. Rather than blaming the victim, we should marvel at the courage it takes for the victim to leave.



Courage is what Connie May Fowler eventually shows in this stunning memoir. While Katie's unconditional love helps her gather her courage, Ms. Fowler was also fortunate to have someone who, near the end, gave her hope. Between the two, Ms. Fowler was able to fully gather the strength and courage to escape.



This memoir is a must-read for anyone who wants a reason to cheer someone discovering her bravery.

View all my reviews

When Katie Wakes, by Connie May Fowler

When Katie Wakes by Connie May Fowler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been a fan of Connie May Fowler since reading Before Women Had Wings maybe ten years ago. Blame it on Oprah Winfrey: this was one of the books Oprah mentioned that I decided to read. After reading Ms. Fowler's heart-wrenching book, I was instantly hooked on her writing.

In When Katie Wakes, Ms. Fowler tells her amazing story of breaking free from years of abuse with the unconditional love of her dog, Katie. While Before Women Had Wings was fiction dealing with domestic violence, When Katie Wakes is Fowler's memoir. In it, she chronicles the emotional and physical abuse she endured growing up. However, the majority of the book deals with the abusive relationship with a man thirty years her senior and how she managed to escape.

Early on in the book, she adopts Katie, a wonderful dog who, as dogs are known to do, gives unconditional love. It is this love that eventually gives Connie the strength to leave.

Many who read this memoir might be tempted to ask "What did she (Ms. Fowler) do to warrant this abuse? Why didn't she just leave?" Both are the wrong questions, no matter who is being abused, the age of the abused and abuser, the gender(s) of those involved, etc. The first question needs to be replaced with "Why did he/she abuse him/her?" The second question has many answers: financial, emotional, family situation, lack of services (including shelters), as well as a number of reasons. Rather than blaming the victim, we should marvel at the courage it takes for the victim to leave.

Courage is what Connie May Fowler eventually shows in this stunning memoir. While Katie's unconditional love helps her gather her courage, Ms. Fowler was also fortunate to have someone who, near the end, gave her hope. Between the two, Ms. Fowler was able to fully gather the strength and courage to escape.

This memoir is a must-read for anyone who wants a reason to cheer someone discovering her bravery.

View all my reviews

How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly, by Connie May Fowler

Connie May Fowler writes hard truths in beautifully gritty prose. The beauty lies in the beautifully crafted wording which paints a vivid picture. At the same time, the story propels the main character through a hard life - sometimes horrifically so - to a place where the reader knows that life will be better.

My first experience with Ms. Fowler's writing was several years ago with her book Before Women Had Wings. The book deals with child abuse, alcoholism, domestic (partner) violence, suicide, and abject poverty from a child's point of view. Avocet Abigail Jackson - better known as Bird - weaves a tale so difficult, yet mesmerizing, that a reader will almost want to put the book down, but will have a hard time doing so. It is only at the end of Bird's story that Bird and her older sister Phoebe, both of whom are white, are sent with their black neighbor, Miss Zora, to fly off to a better life.

Ms. Fowler's biography, When Katie Wakes, describes her life while living with "a man who was bent on destroying her, physically and emotionally."(1; see below) It is through the unconditional love of a dog (Katieland) that Ms. Fowler gains the confidence to leave.

In October, 2011, Connie May Fowler was at the St. Petersburg Times' Festival of Reading (now the Tampa Bay Times Festival of Reading) to promote How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly. I purchased a copy on the strength of her book Before Women Had Wings, and seriously meant to read it immediately. Unfortunately, I've only recently read the book.

The first few pages of the book - a book which takes place exclusively during the summer solstice - made me a little edgy. Clarissa Burden has a bad case of writer's block. Her distant and somewhat abusive husband, Igor "Iggy" Dupuy, an Afrikaner, photographs nude women (when he isn't taking them to bed), while letting the women think that Clarissa is his housekeeper. He treats Clarissa horribly, attempting to control her every move, even as she's their main financial support. I spent the first few pages thinking, "Honey, you really need to kick that jerk out!"

However, after Iggy decides to leave for "business" in town, Clarissa's growth begins. She takes her pickup truck, which seriously needs to be traded in on almost anything, out to run errands of her own. This includes getting rid of the huge pile of garbage that Iggy has placed in both the cab and bed of the truck, a truck which gets sold to a man she's nicknamed Cracker Barrel. The book gets stranger/more interesting as Clarissa's day progresses. When she gets home (with a beautiful yellow El Camino), the reader catches another glimpse into Iggy's abusive treatment of his wife: he treats her shabbily, then orders her to take back her new vehicle and to bring back the truck.

As with most of Ms. Fowler's books (at least the ones I've read thus far), it is in the last section of the book that Clarissa finally catches a break - a break that, along with her growth during the book, grants her her freedom. Iggy and Clarissa are atop a fifty-two foot fire tower, and...Clarissa lives with no serious injuries, a traveling carnival's Money Dog survives because of her, Iggy - a man nobody likes - is arrested, and Clarissa's writer's block is gone. How?

You'll have to read the book.

(1) Quote from Connie May Fowler's website: http://www.conniemayfowler.com/Syn_Katie.html Read more at How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly by Connie May Fowler
My rating on Goodreads: 4 of 5 stars