Reading: Helen Winslow Black
About Songs My Mother Taught Me:
How could an intelligent, accomplished woman wind up married to a rotten man? That's the question that nagged at Kim—a cellist and a lawyer—long after she had broken free of her abusive first husband. Larry had treated her like "an object of utility," turned violent when she became pregnant, and beat her while she held their infant son in her arms. "Even people with high IQ's can be stupid," her sister Karen had remarked, then rushed on to say, "Not you, of course. I don't mean you." But Kim knew she did—and Karen was right. Marrying Larry was a stupid mistake that ended in a brutal divorce. Happily, that was in the past. Kim now had a real marriage. With John, she felt secure, appreciated, and fully competent. Their relationship was reciprocal. She and John were there for each other. At least, that's what Kim always believed—until she learned a shocking truth, and then another, about her wonderful second husband.
Helen Winslow Black is an author, speaker, mom of five, and advocate for the prevention of domestic abuse. She received critical acclaim and the 2021 Firebird Book Award for her first novel, Seven Blackbirds, which introduced the character of Kim, and went on to narrate the audiobook version. She has also written a compilation of humorous, slice-of-life essays on her website, www.helenwinslowblack.com. A native Midwesterner, she lives in Portland, Oregon, where she arrived as a pioneer in 1998 and, with her East Coaster husband, built a house, a garden, an orchard, a vineyard, a chicken coop, and a very full life.
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/2851923-0
