Orphans of the Living: A Novel [Paperback]

A debut historical fiction for fans of Kristin Hannah and John Steinbeck, Orphans of the Living follows the Stovall family’s early 20th-century quest for home and redemption as they confront racism, poverty, and inequality across the American South and West. 

In the shadow of the Great Depression and Jim Crow south of the 1930s, an impoverished white family escapes—with the help of Black sharecroppers—from a vengeful Mississippi plantation overseer intent on lynching them. Arriving in California to start a new life, Barney and Lula Stovall are haunted by the past, the children they’ve left behind, and the daughter they cannot love or protect. 

Orphans of the Living follows the peripatetic life of the Stovall family, woven from four parallel stories: Barney and Lula Stovall, and two of their nine children, Glen and Nora Mae. 

Their California sojourn—from their hardscrabble dairy farm, to the brig at the San Francisco Presidio, to the building of the Golden Gate Bridge—lead them on paths toward each other and forgiveness. But redemption doesn't come to them all. Kathy Watsonwas a public relations executive and journalist, including six years as editor-in-chief ofOregon Businessmagazine, before she embarked on a radically new second act as a chef and restaurant owner. Her debut novel,Orphans of the Living(She Writes Press, 2025), is a Literary Titan Book Award Gold Medalist in Fiction. She lives in Hood River, Oregon, where she writes, cooks, and runs and hikes the Columbia River Gorge with her husband, Stu, and Satchel, the world’s best dog.2025 Literary Titan Book Award Gold Medalist in Fiction

"Watson’s writing hits like a storm. The language is raw, unvarnished, and aching with honesty."—Literary Titan, 5-star review ". . . a thoughtful and deliberate piecelå