The Little Locksmith, Katharine Butler Hathaway
The Little Locksmith, Katharine Butler Hathaway
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The Little Locksmith
A Memoir

Author: Katharine Butler Hathaway, Alix Kates Shulman

Narrator: Julia Atwood

Unabridged: 8 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/28/2022

Synopsis

In 1895, a specialist straps five-year-old Katharine Hathaway, then suffering from spinal tuberculosis, to a board with halters and pulleys in a failed attempt to prevent her from becoming a “hunchback” like the “little locksmith” who does odd jobs at her family’s home. Forced to endure her confinement for ten years, Katharine remains immobile until age fifteen, only to find that none of it has prevented her from developing a deformity of her own.The Little Locksmith charts Katharine’s struggle to transcend physical limitations and embrace her life, her body, and herself. Her spirit and courage prevail as she expands her world far beyond the boundaries prescribed by her family and society: she attends Radcliffe College, forms deep friendships, begins to write, and in 1921 purchases a house of her own that she fashions into a space for guests, lovers, and artists. Revealing and inspirational, The Little Locksmith stands as a testimony to Katharine’s aspirations and desires—for independence, love, and the pursuit of her art.

About Katharine Butler Hathaway

Katherine Butler Hathaway was born in 1890 in Massachusetts, and was afflicted with tuberculosis of the spine from an early age. She spent her childhood confined to her bedroom, and was left both stunted and hunchbacked. However, her imagination was never confined, and later in her life she purchased her own sanctuary where she could live alone and become the autonomous artist she had always dreamed of.

About Julia Atwood

Julia Atwood is an actor and audiobook narrator who earned her bachelor's degree in classics and psychology from Wheaton College. She went on to attend the Moscow Art Theater’s Stanislavsky Summer School and graduated from Brown University with her master's degree in acting. She is currently based in New York City.

About Alix Kates Shulman

Alix Kates Shulman is the award-winning author of over a dozen books of fiction, memoir, biography, essays, and books for children. A lifelong political activist, Alix attended the 1963 March for Equality in Washington, DC, where Martin Luther King, Jr., declared his dream, and joined New York City’s first women’s liberation group in 1967. She received a Clara Lemlich Award for a lifetime of social activism in 2018.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Madi on March 23, 2024

This book is so meaningful, in that it is an autobiographical account of living with a disability that was published many years before disability studies really became part of popular discourse. Katherine’s writing style is very beautiful and poetic, making it enjoyable to consume. Other than that I......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie on February 18, 2022

I really enjoyed this memoir. The writing struck me as both beautiful and thoughtful. I even have a couple of favourite quotes: i) "But most human beings never remember at all that in almost every bad situation there is the possibility of a transformation by which the undesirable may be changed into......more

Goodreads review by Rmschow on December 06, 2010

Beautifully written, but it seemed to be leading up to something interesting throughout the novel and then totally fell flat. Hathaway has a unique poetic writing voice, however the pacing and the conclusion left something to be desired.......more

Goodreads review by Mollie on December 19, 2023

Enchanting memoir by a physically disabled woman who finds life and love creating the house of her dreams in Castine, Maine. This book is a love letter to the life of the mind, creativity, and discovering the person whom God created her to be. Highly recommend if you like Thomas Hardy, historic hous......more

Quotes

“You must not miss it…[The Little Locksmith] is the kind of book that cannot come into being without great living and great suffering and a rare spirit behind it.” New York Times

“A powerful revelation of spiritual truth.” Boston Globe

“Katharine Butler Hathaway…was the kind of heroine whose deeds are rarely chronicled…[She took] a life which fate had cast in the mold of a frightful tragedy and redesign[ed] it into a quiet, modest work of art.” New Yorker

“This remarkably un-self-pitying book remains poignant and truthful. Hathaway’s descriptions of the writing process are beautiful and on the mark. [She] treats the actual events in her life as practically irrelevant: the story she emphasizes is her spiritual and creative struggle to claim ‘selfish’ time to write, her intense loneliness, her startlingly frank observations about her sexuality, and her rebellion against the belief that an imperfect person does not experience desire.” Publishers Weekly

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