Kathleen Spada’s literary memoir achieves bestseller and #1 New Release status on Amazon while exploring a shocking family secret and the enduring impact of hidden histories on women’s lives.
Amazon bestseller and #1 New Release, WARD: A Memoir of Ghosts, Grandmothers, and Little Girls Who Disappear, by literary nonfiction writer and scholar Kathleen Spada, invites readers into a haunting investigation of family, identity, and the stories that refuse to remain buried.
The memoir begins with a startling revelation: Spada discovers that her mother was sold from her birth family as a child and raised under a false identity. Her birth name was changed. Her birth date was altered. The parents listed on official records were not her own. What begins as a search for family history evolves into a profound exploration of memory, inheritance, and the generations of women shaped by secrecy and silence.
“Once I learned the truth about my mother’s past, I felt a responsibility to understand the women whose lives had been obscured by silence, secrecy, and time,” says Spada. “The story was never solely about my mother. It became a story about generations of women and the choices, losses, and systems that shaped their lives.”
Drawing on years of archival research spanning Kentucky, Ohio, Florida, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Louisiana, WARD follows a trail of records, forgotten places, family stories, churches, cemeteries, and long-hidden truths. Along the way, Spada uncovers not only the circumstances surrounding her mother’s disappearance from one life into another, but also the larger forces that shaped the lives of women navigating poverty, power, motherhood, sacrifice, and survival.
Blending lyrical storytelling with feminist inquiry, WARD examines how family histories are preserved, distorted, or erased—and how those absences continue to shape future generations. The memoir also explores themes of transgenerational trauma, matrilineal inheritance, and the lingering echoes of the past, asking what responsibility comes with uncovering stories that were never meant to be told.
Kathleen Spada holds a PhD in Literary Nonfiction and Rhetoric/Composition from the University of Cincinnati. A scholar, educator, and writer, her work focuses on memory, inheritance, women’s lives, and the intersections of personal narrative and historical research.
Perfect for readers of literary memoir and narrative nonfiction, WARD will resonate with fans of Tara Westover, Maggie O’Farrell, Kate Morton, Jesmyn Ward, and other authors who explore family secrets, hidden histories, and the enduring power of memory.
About the Author
Kathleen Spada is a literary nonfiction writer, researcher, and university educator who teaches writing and rhetoric at the university level. Her work bridges lived experience and lyrical storytelling, examining how family histories, silence, and institutional power shape identity, particularly for women and girls, across generations. Through archival research and lyrical storytelling, she explores how silence, inheritance, and institutional power shape personal and collective histories.
Kathleen Spada is a literary nonfiction writer, researcher, and university educator who teaches writing and rhetoric at the university level. Her work bridges lived experience and lyrical storytelling, examining how family histories, silence, and institutional power shape identity, particularly for women and girls, across generations. Through archival research and lyrical storytelling, she explores how silence, inheritance, and institutional power shape personal and collective histories.
WARD: A Memoir of Ghosts, Grandmothers, and Little Girls Who Disappear is available wherever books are sold.