Katherine Turner
The light at the top of the hole I’d found myself in was nearly gone, and I had exactly one chance to stop it from disappearing altogether.
Battling mental illness and addiction, Katherine’s parents are ill-equipped to deal with the trials of raising a family. Their unhappy relationship implodes on Katherine’s last day of first grade, and the abuse and neglect characteristic of her childhood worsens as her family descends further into poverty. With her mother deep in the clutches of alcoholism, her father missing, and her two older brothers already in foster care, Katherine steps in to care for her younger sister, despite being a child herself.
When social services later intervenes, Katherine and her sister are placed in foster care in the countryside. Her new home and the stable and caring environment her foster mother provides are a far cry from the life she’s always known, yet Katherine’s struggles continue. As she approaches adulthood, reeling from her past and battling loneliness, life continues to beat her down with tough choices, staggering betrayals, and various assaults. For a few years, she’s able to cope by suppressing her memories and turning to self-harm and addiction. However, when she pawns her most cherished possession, she realizes that she’s following in her biological parents’ footsteps, tumbling in a downward spiral of self-destruction. Is it too late for her to escape her family’s generational inertia?
Katherine’s story is one of crippling weakness and breathtaking strength, debilitating self-doubt and defiant determination, self-destruction and healing…and the discovery of what it actually means to be resilient.
Available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover formats everywhere books are sold.
Praise for resilient
resilient is a memoir of extraordinary power. It educates and challenges the reader on every level, pulling you in deeper with every page, until the realization hits: You can’t stop reading this harrowing and gorgeous story, and you’ll be devastated when it ends. I truly believe resilient should be required reading for every person interested in any form of advocacy in our current tumultuous times.
Lauren Sapala, author of The INFJ Revolution
This book is—without a doubt—the bravest and most vulnerable memoir I’ve ever read. In an age where so many of us feel alone in our personal darkness, this kind of soul-sharing is absolutely vital, and Katherine Turner does so with honesty and grace. resilient is a teacher of acceptance, tolerance, and understanding, but its most important lesson is this: You are not alone.
Kayli Baker, writer and editor
In her gripping memoir, resilient, Katherine Turner reveals the raw details of her traumatic childhood and youth in such a way that I could not put this book down. Katherine articulately describes her experiences with molestation, sexual assault, rape, neglect, and poverty, bringing you directly alongside her to share in every feeling and emotion. I often had to remind myself that this is no story, but a real-life narrative of events no person should ever have to endure. Katherine attempts to bury her suffering at every opportunity, only for it to manifest in self-harm, suicidal thoughts, self-blame, and impaired decision-making. Though her words are tough to read at times, Katherine reminds us all that we are not alone. As survivors of intense trauma, we are resilient in our many different ways, and it certainly does not have to fit the textbook definition. She reminds us that our trauma does not have to define us, but that it is a part of who we are, not to be shamed and brushed under the rug. resilient is powerful, life-changing, and will help so many. It will stick with me for the rest of my life.
Rachael Brooks, author of Beads: A Memoir about Falling Apart and Putting Yourself Back Together Again
Reading resilient is like falling into a soft, strong embrace halfway through a difficult journey—a journey of unknown length, unknown obstacles, and increasing challenge. Katherine Turner’s story—and the brutally-honest manner in which she tells it—comforts readers with the reassurance that they aren’t alone. No matter one’s scars and pain, resilient tells them they can overcome. This is the book loved ones and survivors of loved ones alike need to read. For loved ones, resilient describes so clearly what it’s like to survive trauma, and for survivors, it tells us that we can, in fact, survive, and we can always begin again.
Olivia Castetter, editor, author, and activist
Turner’s memoir is a gut-wrenching must-read for any sexual trauma survivor. Written with such raw, painstaking detail, you feel every one of her memories come to life. If you’re a survivor, you’re sure to feel less alone between the pages of this very important read.
Rebekah Mallory, author of Train Gone
Katherine Turner’s memoir, resilient, is a very courageous and gripping account of her past, filled with so much more misfortune and atrocities than anyone should ever have to face. Yet, what’s most striking about the story is its positive, inspirational message, which Katherine Turner manages to transfer to her readers through her direct, grounded, and pleasant writing style. This book has the ability to change lives—both the lives of people struggling to come to terms with their own traumas and the lives of the people who care about someone with a traumatic past. This testimony should be mandatory reading for anyone who comes into contact with children or adults with traumatic early life experiences. The thoughts, mental associations, and explanations Katherine Turner shares so clearly on paper are undoubtedly shared by most people who had the rotten luck to fall victim to abuse. Putting largely unconscious thought processes into words is incredibly difficult, which leads to a lot of misconceptions and frustration. This book provides a vital link between people, offering them the words they struggle to form themselves.
Sanne Vermorgen, author of Scar Tissue
Courageous and moving, resilient powerfully captures a woman’s memories of trauma and abuse throughout her childhood and early adulthood. Told with raw honesty, it’s a shocking—but necessary—collection of experiences that show us with clarity where our society is failing, especially in relation to our children. While solving all the problems is no easy task, Katherine Turner shows us that healing one person at a time, at least, has a significant impact on the next generation. resilient is a bold and heroic piece, a memoir that will change the way you see poverty, privilege, and survivors.
Ana Hantt and Josie Baron, authors of the Extraordinary Series and founders of the @30ontheroad project
Josha Publishing, LLC 