For
many years, it's been my honor to track the career successes of someone who has
become a friend. Kathleen Kent, who burst onto the scene in 2007 with an
incredible historical novel about her ancestor Martha Carrier, hanged at Salem—The
Heretic's Daughter—has kept a steady flow of beautiful books coming.
The
Wolves of Andover came next, in some ways my favorite of her books. It was a prequel to The
Heretic's Daughter, telling about the earlier days of the Carrier family. I
loved it and its poetic language against the backdrop of a harsh Colonial
setting. It was later retitled The Traitor's Daughter, but I prefer the
repeated consonance of the V sound in the previous title.
 |
| From left, author Michelle Gagnon, me, Kathleen Kent at the Book Group Expo in San Jose in 2007. |
 |
| Michelle, me, Kathleen, and Brunonia Barry: we were all part of a witchcraft panel. |
Next
came a shift from the Colonial era, but still historical, with her novel The
Outcasts. This featured a shady
Texas woman and a policeman pursuing a killer, with wonderful plot twists. It's
so cinematic (well, they all are); I could totally see this as a brooding movie
along the lines of the True Grit remake.
And
once again Kathleen has turned on a dime, reinventing her genre. Her latest is The
Dime, a modern police procedural featuring a tough-as-nails, red-headed
lesbian cop. The first scene in this book? Heavy duty, pulse-racing,
can't-stop-reading drama. And you will love the heroine based on her quick
thinking and strategizing in this scene. The Dime is amazing. So few
authors can master a genre, but Kathleen easily does it and then turns her
focus on yet another one. I guess next she'll tackle a poetry volume or maybe
some manga, and totally kill the poetry and manga world.
The
Dime is a
work of incredible suspense, with threads you thought dropped returning to pay
off in the end. It contains some harrowing scenes that had me gasping
(literally—my husband on the other pillow asked, "Are you okay?").
It's everything you want out of a book: an escapist ride, a heroine triumphing
over almost unspeakable odds, and rooting for the good guys.
Bravo!
I think the world of her; she's one of those truly nice people who deserves every success she's had. Can't wait to see what comes next from this talented author.
And just for some levity...
 | |
| We found some more witches and banded together at the Historical Novels Society Conference in 2013. From left, me, Kathleen, Mary Sharatt, Suzy Witten |
 |
| Our panel |
And just for some levity...
 | ||
| At the Book Group Expo, there was a very funny typo on the room schedule sign...a mash-up of two book titles. |
. . . . .
