Fiction

Parting Gifts

April 19, 2016

Parting Gifts is the story of sisters Catherine, Anne, and Jessica, their damaged past, and their fragile future. It is a story of what defines us, what sustains us, and what we are willing to leave behind in order to move forward.

On Parting Gifts...

"Parting Gifts is a rare treasure, the sort of book that leaves the reader attached to the characters long after finishing the final page. Katrina Anne Willis has painted a family portrait, intricate, and real, capturing what it means to be family, what it means to struggle with both our need to belong, and our need to be set free. Parting Gifts cracked my heart open, and reminded me of what it means to be human. I loved this book."
Karen Lynch
Author of Good Cop, Bad Daughter: Memoirs of any unlikely Police Officer
"Katrina Willis can take a painful experience and offer enlightenment. She can take a hardship and reveal opportunity. She can describe deep despair and make you feel hopeful. How? Through her extraordinary gift of detail and language ... through her brave willingness to go where others dare not go ... through her heart that feels deeply and fully. Unlike any authors I've ever read, Willis transports me into a moment so I can see, hear, taste, and feel it as if I am there. And when I am lost in one of her stories, I don't want to come back. Because through her stories, I am healed. I am understood. I am fully alive."
Rachel Macy Stafford
New York Times best-selling author of Hands Free Mama
"In Parting Gifts, Willis paints the portrait of three sisters with careful and exacting strokes. All three women are seeking to overcome their own personal and shared tragedies, and you will become attached to each one of them as they make their way back home to each other."
T. Greenwood
Author of Two Rivers, Bodies of Water, and The Forever Bridge

Anthology

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Nothing But the Truth So Help Me God: 73 Women on Life’s Transitions

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My Other Ex

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Anthology

My Other Ex: Women’s True Stories of Leaving and Losing Friends

2014

I’m honored to announce my inclusion in a very special anthology, My Other Ex: Women’s True Stories of Leaving and Losing Friends. The essay I’ve contributed is titled Sunshine and Storm. Edited by Jessica Smock and Stephanie Sprenger, this compilation is a testament to the power of female friendships… and their sometimes inevitable, painful endings.

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Essays

Table for Six: The Extraordinary Tales of an Ordinary Family

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From career musings to vomiting to family discord, Table for Six is a compilation of life’s everyday stories. Recorded as snippets of a larger life lived, these essays illustrate what it means to be a mother, a spouse, a friend, a family, to be human, to be alive. As a nod to the bonds that tie us all to each other, Table for Six creates a common experience that helps erase colors and step over socioeconomic lines. With both humor and poignancy, this collection reminds us to cherish and honor what truly matters.

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