Kaye Gibbons

Having suffered abuse and misfortune for much of her life, a young child searches for a better life and finally gets a break in the home of a loving woman with several foster children.

When Charlie Kate Birch revives a North Carolina man after an unsuccessful lynching in about 1900, he gives her a watch, a box of snuff, and a rabbit's foot charm for the easy life. Charlie Kate, a self-educated doctor, is a woman ahead of her time; talented, headstrong, popular, and successful. Her marriage to an illiterate ferry operator on the Pasquatank River deteriorates to the point that he abandons her and their daughter, Sophia. Charlie Kate...

A girl describes what it's like having a mother who is mentally ill. She is Hattie Barnes whose mother alternates between suicidal lows and delirious highs. One moment she is baking cookies in an attempt at normalcy, the next she is being dragged to bed to be sedated.

A powerful new novel from the bestselling author of Ellen Foster. Autumn, 1918: Rumors of peace are spreading across America, but spreading even faster are the first cases of Spanish influenza, whispering of the epidemic to come. Maureen Ross, well past a safe childbearing age, is experiencing a difficult pregnancy. Her husband, Troop -- cold and careless of her condition -- is an emotional cripple who has battered her spirit throughout their marriage....

Kaye Gibbons joins Elissa Schappell to discuss The Life All Around Me, the sequel to her novel Ellen Foster. Andrea Marcovicci reads an excerpt.

Having suffered abuse and misfortune for most of her life, a young girl searches for a better life and finally finds it in the home of a loving woman with several foster children.