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Kathleen Grissom

Goodreads Author

Born

Annaheim, Saskatchewan, Canada

Website

http://www.kathleengrissom.com/thekitchenhouse.htm

Member Since

March 2010

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Born Kathleen Doepker, I was privileged as a child to be raised in Annaheim, Saskatchewan, a hamlet on the plains of Canada. Although we lived in a small, tightly knit Roman Catholic community, I was fortunate to have parents who were open to other religions and cultures. Since television was not a luxury our household could afford, books were the windows that expanded my world.

Soon after Sister Colette, my first grade teacher, introduced me to Dick, Jane, and Sally, I began to read on my own. I was a fanciful child and became so influenced by books that while I was reading Five Little Peppers And How They Grew I ate only cold boiled potatoes (the truth is this lasted only for a day) as I suffered with them through their hardships. After Born Kathleen Doepker, I was privileged as a child to be raised in Annaheim, Saskatchewan, a hamlet on the plains of Canada. Although we lived in a small, tightly knit Roman Catholic community, I was fortunate to have parents who were open to other religions and cultures. Since television was not a luxury our household could afford, books were the windows that expanded my world.

Soon after Sister Colette, my first grade teacher, introduced me to Dick, Jane, and Sally, I began to read on my own. I was a fanciful child and became so influenced by books that while I was reading Five Little Peppers And How They Grew I ate only cold boiled potatoes (the truth is this lasted only for a day) as I suffered with them through their hardships. After reading Anne Of Green Gables I was convinced that I, too, was adopted, until my mother told me to stop the foolishness and to look in the mirror. I had her nose. She was right. I limped desperately during Red Shoes For Nancy until my sister, Judy, told me to cut it out, people would think that something was wrong with me. Wanting to more closely experience Helen Keller’s tribulations, at every opportunity I walked with closed eyes until I solidly whacked my head on a doorframe. Enid Blynton’s Famous Five series had me looking for adventure around every corner, and when in class Rudyard Kipling’s, Kim, was read aloud, I couldn’t wait to leave for far-off lands.

Throughout my high school years Simon Lizee, a poet of merit, was our principal. He taught us literature and it was he who encouraged me to write.

Upon graduating from high school, as I saw it then, I had four choices. I could marry (no), become a secretary (no), become a teacher (no) become a nurse (yes). After I graduated from nursing school, I left for Montreal and there worked on staff at the Royal Vic Hospital. Eventually I married and came down to the United States. Throughout, I read voraciously and I wrote, often sending my work back to Mr. Lizee in Saskatchewan, who took the time to continue to instruct me.

It wasn’t until after I gave birth to my daughter, Erin, that I finally worked up enough courage to submit a short story to Myrna Blyth, who, I believe at that time was an editor at Family Circle. She sent back a lovely rejection note, telling me that this story was not one that she could use, but could I send others. I took that note to mean that she did not like my writing, but was being kind, and I foolishly submitted nothing further.

In time, I divorced and remarried, relocated to Manhattan, and there worked as an Ad Executive for a graphics company. I did not stop reading, nor writing, and over the next years took various classes in creative writing.

After four years in the city, we decided to try life on a small farm in New Jersey. When our collection of animals grew to include twenty-five Cashmere goats, two horses, three dogs, and two cats, we knew that it was time to relocate to a larger farm in rural Virginia. There we found twenty-seven acres and a large brick house, circa 1830, that once served as a stagecoach stop. But with the move came a glitch. For the first year my husband’s transfer didn’t happen as planned, and although he joined me every weekend, I was left on the new farm to manage on my own. It was an exciting yet frightening time, and I began to journal the experience. I joined a writers' group, and the Piedmont Literary Society, and when I met Eleanor Dolan, a gifted poet, she generously agreed to mentor me in my writing.

In the following years, Charles and I established an herb farm, a tearoom, and a gift shop that we filled to the barn rafters with work from local artisans. As we restored our old plantation home, I began to research the history of our home and the land that surrounded it. Then I discovered the notation ‘Negro Hill’ on an old map. Unable to determine the story of its origin, local historians suggested that ...more

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Kathleen Grissom's Blog

Semi-finals Please Vote Again!

Thank you readers! Because of your votes GLORY OVER EVERYTHING has made it into the semi-finals. I would be so honored if you would please vote again to help us get into the final round. Voting for the semi-final round closes on November 13th. Please spread the word. https://www.goodreads.com/choiceaward... Read more of this blog post »

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Published on November 09, 2016 11:51

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Kathleen Grissom’s books

Average rating: 4.22 · 306,741 ratings · 24,617 reviews · 13 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Kitchen House 4.21 avg rating — 267,364 ratings — published 2010 — 74 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Glory Over Everything: Beyond The Kitchen House 4.28 avg rating — 36,216 ratings — published 2016 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Crow Mary 4.38 avg rating — 3,057 ratings — published 2023 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Kitchen House: A Novel 4.58 avg rating — 79 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La colline aux esclaves / Les larmes de la liberté 4.30 avg rating — 20 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mellom to verdener really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La Colline aux esclaves - édition 10 ans Charleston by Kathleen Grissom (Goodreads Author), Marie-Axelle de La Rochefoucauld (Translator) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La Colline aux esclaves: La Colline aux esclaves - 1 by Kathleen Grissom (Goodreads Author), Kathleen Grissom (Goodreads Author) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Les larmes de la liberté: La colline aux esclaves, T2 by Kathleen Grissom (Goodreads Author), Isabelle Allard (Translator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La Colline aux esclaves by Kathleen Grissom (Goodreads Author), Marie-Axelle de La Rochefoucauld (Translator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Kathleen’s Recent Updates

Kathleen answered a question about Crow Mary: Why does the prologue show 1891 when Crow Mary is mixing the whiskey with strychnine but later in the book it takes place in 1889? Sorry, I just saw this. Yes, that was an error that I made. I'm afraid with all of the drafts and rewriting, that date was just not corrected and we printed it - mistake and all. It will be corrected in the next printing. Good catch! I wish you had s See Full Answer
Aug 28, 2023 08:39PM · like
Kathleen made a comment on Nancy Walsh’s review of Crow Mary " Thank you, Nancy. For sure I wish I had known you before this mistake was made! Actually, I believe there are a lot of writers who could use your help ...more "
Jun 10, 2023 02:42PM · see review
Kathleen is now following Nancy Walsh's reviews
Jun 08, 2023 04:56PM · like
Kathleen voted for Take My Hand as Best Historical Fiction in the Final Round of the 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards. Cast Your Vote
Nov 29, 2022 08:58PM · like
Kathleen joined the group AMERICAN HISTORICAL NOVELS
Jan 19, 2022 01:02PM · like

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Quotes by Kathleen Grissom (?)

“Could I be your girl, too?" I asked quickly.
The large, broad-shouldered man looked away before he answered. "Well, now," he said, as though he had given it deep thought, "I sure do think I would like that."
"But," I said, concerned that he hadn't noticed, "I don't look like your other girls."
"You mean because you white?"
I nodded.
"Abinia," he said, pointing toward the chickens, "you look at those birds. Some of them be brown, some of them be white and black. Do you think when they little chicks, those mamas and papas care about that?”
― Kathleen Grissom, The Kitchen House

36 likes

“We a family, carin' for each other. Family make us strong in times of trouble. We all stick together, help each other out. That the real meanin' of family. When you grow up, you take that family feelin' with you.”
― Kathleen Grissom, The Kitchen House

tags: family

29 likes

“[Y]et, I wondered why Marshall did not at least attempt a kiss. In many ways, his treatment of me reminded me of the way I had behaved toward the doll that Mamma Mae had given me as a child. I favored it so that I had refused myself of the joy of playing with it, daring to love it only with my eyes. But in doing so, I had denied myself its very purpose.”
― Kathleen Grissom, The Kitchen House

tags: life

27 likes

See all Kathleen Grissom's quotes »

Polls

What would you like to read for December's group read?

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

11 votes 22.0%

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

9 votes 18.0%

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

6 votes 12.0%

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1) by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

6 votes 12.0%

On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

4 votes 8.0%

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

4 votes 8.0%

The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1) by Scott Lynch

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

4 votes 8.0%

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

3 votes 6.0%

Tomcat In Love by Tim O'Brien

2 votes 4.0%

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

1 vote 2.0%

50 total votes

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