Beyond the Book: Background information when reading Our Kind

Beyond the Book

This article relates to Our Kind

Kate Walbert made her writing debut in 1998 with Where She Went, a collection of interlinked stories about the lives and travels of a mother and daughter.  Marion moves frequently, a lifestyle that never permits her to form a stable identity. Her daughter Rebecca, by contrast, travels with the intent of "finding herself," but only becomes more and more rootless in the process. The New York Times named Where She Went a Notable Book of 1998 and said that it "contains many quick flashes of beauty...it goes far and takes us with it."

In 2001 she published The Gardens of Kyoto - a bittersweet story about the friendship between two cousins prior to World War II.  The novel is based on her Pushcart Prize and O. Henry Award-winning story of the same name.

She has published fiction and articles in the Paris Review, Double Take, The New York Times, and numerous other publications. She has received fellowships from the national endowment for the Arts and the Connecticut Commission on the Arts. 

She teaches writing at Yale University and lives in New York City and Stony Creek, Connecticut.

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This article relates to Our Kind. It first ran in the February 2, 2005 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.