A Loving Mother, A Devoted Wife

Abstract

A Loving Mother, A Devoted Wife, is a hybrid genre book that braids together historical fiction and contemporary memoir The book begins with my discovery of a love triangle and murder scandal involving my great-great aunt Isabella Wlladysh, a Polish immigrant living in Hamilton, Ohio in the early twentieth century. The historical fiction component pieces together her life in a way that gives voice to a woman who, during her ex-husband’s trial for the murder of her lover, was berated by the judge as “weak-minded.” The memoir component traces my grappling with this “secret” family history, addressing questions of identity as it is influenced by family, history, memory, and gender.