True Crimes ― A Family Album

From acclaimed literary talent and New York Times bestselling author Kathryn Harrison comes a collection of illuminating and surprising essays, written over the course of more than a decade, that reexamine our ideas of family, love, loss, and memory. Fixing an acute and sensitive eye on family life—from motherhood and marriage to aging and illness—Harrison writes with tenderness, humor, and unflinching honesty.

Advance praise for True Crimes

“Kathryn Harrison is known as a strong writer—frank, unsentimental, her tough-minded prose daring us to doubt its honesty.True Crimes is true to form, scorchingly candid but also tender: She writes about her marriage, her children, her in-laws, her mother—even her dog—with love, knowing how necessary that emotion is, and how elusive.”—James Atlas

“With its sharp, haunting portraits, this gorgeous and unsettling book is like the most honest family album ever. Kathryn Harrison is not afraid to plumb the darkness of family life, to look at the rage, panic, and resentments entangled with love; her reminiscences are vivid and unforgettable.”—Katie Roiphe

Kathryn Harrison has written the novels Thicker Than Water, Exposure, Poison, The Binding Chair, The Seal Wife, Envy, and Enchantments. Her autobiographical work includes The Kiss, Seeking Rapture, The Road to Santiago, The Mother Knot, and True Crimes. She has written two biographies, Saint Therese of Lisieux and Joan of Arc, and a book of true crime, While They Slept: An Inquiry into the Murder of a Family. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, the novelist Colin Harrison, and their three children.