Overview

We Learned to Live in the Castle: Stories, by longtime Portland writer and author Theresa Griffin Kennedy, is a collection of brutally candid, straightforward essays about the challenges many American women and girls face -- having come of age, as Kennedy did, in the turbulent 1970s and 1980s. This includes the trauma of childhood attachment disorder, and how Kennedy struggled to survive that hurdle as a toddler in 1967, coming from a large, chaotic Irish-American family. Another essay, ""Hot Number: The Year I was Jail-bait,"" which is the heart of the book, details the ways Kennedy survived the notoriously inadequate US Foster Care System when she was a teenager in 1983. Other essays reveal the challenges of parenthood during the early 2000's, and how we learn to let go of our precious adult children, along with how families process the loss of mentally ill siblings who die under tragic and entirely preventable circumstances. Rich with complex emotion, a sense of universality and even the allure of dark humor, this book shows the reader what it means to be human in a violent and chaotic world. Kennedy shares the experiences that shaped her and informed her character and unique perspective, which is both cynical and hopeful. At the core of this book are stories related to the ability to survive tragedy and heartache, coupled with the stubborn refusal to allow trauma to define how we respond to the delights and shadows the world has to offer. Kennedy is a serial survivor and is first and foremost an eternal optimist. The greatest gift this book has to offer is how it may increase the readers ability to have compassion for those damaged people who are all around us. The traumatic wounds we survive just by being alive are generally unseen, existing within each of us. These wounds are hidden, but still aching, still hungry for the solace and transformative power that the healing light of words can bring.

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Reviews

Scaldingly honest - ruthlessly honest - what it's like and what it means in the United States to come from the wrong side of the tracks - a mesmerizing, heartfelt account. Tama Janowitz, author of Slaves of New York These Sharply observed episodes from a hard life are recounted without sentimentality, and with surprising candor, acceptance and grace. Hilma Wolitzer, author of Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket We Learned to Live in the Castle: Stories, is a time machine. The prose and world building in these essays are tickets to another time in Portland's past. I could picture every street, room and character that Kennedy describes in this hard life she's lived, and bravely shares with us. Like her other writing, these stories stay with you long after you finish reading them. Bruce Haney, author of Oregon Moonshine Stories like those in A Boy Named It, The Glass Castle and Bastard Out of Carolina are difficult to read and process, but so important to hear. We Learned to live in the Castle: Stories, by Theresa Griffin Kennedy, joins their ranks. Kennedy's unflinchingly candidate prose reveals provocative and heartbreaking truths about mental illness, the foster care System, and patriarchal oppression. As devastating as these incisively vulnerable stories are, they are vital to read and acknowledge as they increase our capacity for understanding and compassion. Debby Dodds, author of Amish Guys Don't Call To be allowed in to observe Kennedy's life - her experiences, secrets, emotional pain - is a harrowing privilege. Kennedy's writing style allows the reader to be a participant occasionally dodging bullets such as divorce, violence, and death. The reader is the better for having shared Kennedy's life and walked over a bridge to better understanding of friendships, relationships with parents, siblings, husbands, daughters, friends, and citizens who walk the streets of Portland, Oregon. You've heard of summer reads. Kennedy's compilation of stories/essays is definitely a sobering read best experienced in the cold of winter. Robert David Crane, co-author of CRANE: Sex, Celebrity and my Father's Unsolved Murder Writer and author, Theresa Griffin Kennedy can scan a room and catch every reaction and micro-expression. Ms. Kennedy provides insight into the darker aspects of life, and hooks the reader with the intricate detailing, some of which reads like a diary. She's a natural reporter with a strong curiosity about life, and an attention to minutiae that is admirable. Kennedy is the kind of witness police want at the scene of a crime, with a philosophical perspective that examines the relationships to both the past and the future. ""We Learned to Live in the Castle: Stories,"" provides a remarkable glimpse into a woman's life, challenged by the crossroads of changing times and the isolation that defines those times. Jill Abrams, former CNN journalist In her book, We Learned to Live in the Castle: Stories, Theresa Griffin Kennedy bravely recounts a life riddled with neglect, misfortune, and perseverance. Equal parts astounding and unflinching, We Learned to Live in the Castle: Stories, paints a picture of resilience in the face of serial struggles, set against the gritty backdrop of Portland's less-celebrated side. Suzy Vitello, author of Bitterroot

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