½ðɳÓéÀÖ University's Visiting Writers Series Presents
An Evening with Acclaimed Author Dr. Kristine S. Ervin
Date: Thursday, April 10th
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Taylor Auditorium, Marsh 216
An Evening with Acclaimed Author Kristine Ervin, Reading from Her Memoir: Rabbit Heart: A Mother's Murder, A Daughter's Story
In her fearless and poetic memoir, Ervin recounts the harrowing experience of losing her mother, Kathy Sue Engle, who was abducted from an Oklahoma mall parking lot and violently murdered when Ervin was just eight years old. The crime remained unsolved until over 20 years later, when Ervin had to face her mother's killers in court. The narrative delves into her journey to reconstruct an understanding of her mother through memories, letters, and family stories, while grappling with themes of power, gender, justice, and the complexities of victimhood.
Please contact Dr. Keya Mitra Lloyd at keyamitra@pacificu.edu with questions.
Critical Acclaim:
★ New York Times Editors' Choice
★ New Yorker Best Book of the Week
★ Kirkus Starred Review
- "A powerful treatise on love and loss, on mothers and daughters, but it is also a warning to all of us who consume true crime." — The New York Times Book Review
- "A graceful resulting memoir [that] wrestles with failures of justice; the nuances of gendered violence; and the difficulty of making do when we are not whole." — Elle Magazine
- "Ervin’s unflinchingly brutal gaze, combined with her insistence on facing the worst parts of her past, make it equally impossible for us to look away." — Kirkus Reviews
- "Follows the case with devastating rigor, shingling its developments with her memories of growing up without a mother." — The New Yorker