historically accurate, realistic, and always hopeful
Katherine P. Stillerman
Kathy Stillerman is the author of Hattie’s Place and two other historical novels in the Barton Family series, In the Fullness of Time and Over the Mountain. Stillerman has also published a memoir, Retirement: A Journey not a Destination.
“My love of Southern literature and background as a teacher of American history, drew me to the genre of historical fiction.”
“My grandmother was a strong and independent woman whom I loved and admired as a role model. I wanted to write a story based loosely on her life. “
The Barton Family
historical fiction series
A Piece of My Heart
In this fifth book of the epic Barton Family Series, Hattie Barton finally marries her first love, Will Kendrick, and is set to travel with him to Shanghai where he’d served as a missionary after their broken engagement thirty years earlier. A family crisis interrupts their plans and Will is forced to go alone to Shanghai. He is detained when the US enters World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. In his absence, Hattie draws deeply on her family, faith, and love for Will, to carry on at home as a single mother of two blossoming daughters and the responsibility for an aging mother and housekeeper.
When the war grinds on with no word from Will in over a year, Hattie still keeps hope alive, until a devastating loss plunges her into despair. Old doubts about herself emerge as she feels her happiness being snatched away. But an unexpected letter from a daughter brings her to a crossroad where she must decide if she will turn further inward and succumb to grief, or reach out to find joy in the midst of her sadness, independent of time and space and circumstance.
Narrated through characters that will touch your heart and make you smile, A Piece of My Heart is a romantic drama, a testament to motherhood, and a story of wartime resilience.
Hattie’s Place
Hattie’s Place, is a coming of age story, set in rural South Carolina in 1906. The main character, Hattie Robinson, is a first year teacher boarding in the home of a wealthy businessman. Hattie must find her place in her new school and community, while recovering from a broken engagement.
IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME
In the Fullness of Time begins in 1913. Hattie is now a married woman, struggling to reconcile her responsibilities as a wife and mother with her passion for women’s suffrage.
“Women from wealthy and prominent families led the suffrage movement in South Carolina. I imagine if my grandmother had grown up in one of those families, she’d have been an outspoken suffragist.”
OVER THE MOUNTAIN
Over the Mountain is set in the sixties, during the Cold War and civil rights era. The main character is Harriet Oechsner, Hattie’s granddaughter. Harriet must make new friends and adjust to a new school when the family relocates to Mountain Brook, Alabama–their third move in as many years!
For the Love of Writing
When Kathy retired from public school teaching and administration, she began a second career as a writer. She created a blog, For the Love of Writing, to share her writing journey, and to connect with other authors and book lovers. Kathy welcomes input from readers and is always anxious to know how she can improve her content!
Kathy posts on a regular basis and in a variety of categories:
- Authors as Readers
- Book Reviews
- Bits and Pieces
- Empowered Women
- Health and Fitness
- Indie Publishing
- Learning by Doing: Self-Publishing
- Making a Difference
- Marketing and Promoting a Novel
- Meddling in Politics
- NaNoWriMo
- Nonfiction
- Publishing a Novel
- Writing Historical Fiction
Testimonials
If you like historical fiction about ordinary women who do extraordinary things, you’ll love my books!