Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Goodbye, Sweet Girl: A Story of Domestic Violence and Survival
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY:
STATE: CT
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: no2015137864
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/no2015137864
HEADING: Sundberg, Kelly, 1977-
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008 151014n| azannaabn |a aaa c
010 __ |a no2015137864
035 __ |a (OCoLC)oca10295122
040 __ |a UOr |b eng |e rda |c UOr
046 __ |f 19771225
100 1_ |a Sundberg, Kelly, |d 1977-
370 __ |f Boise (Idaho) |f Morgantown (W. Va.) |e Athens (Ohio) |2 naf
372 __ |a Essays |a Spousal abuse |a Blogs |2 lcsh
373 __ |a Ohio University |a West Virginia University |2 naf
374 __ |a Authors |a Editors |2 lcsh
375 __ |a female
377 __ |a eng
400 1_ |a Winters, Kelly, |d 1977-
400 1_ |a Sundberg, Kelly Olene, |d 1977-
670 __ |a Best American essays 2015, c2015: |b title page (Kelly Sundberg) page 223 (Kelly Sundberg’s essays have appeared in Guenica, Slice, Denver Quarterly, Mid-American Review, The Los Angeles Review, Quarterly West, and elsewhere. She is a PhD candidate in creative nonfiction at Ohio University)
670 __ |a aroomofherownfoundation.org/kelly-sundberg, via WWW, 14 October 2015: |b (Kelly Sundberg completed her MFA at West Virginia University. She is currently a PhD Candidate in Creative Nonfiction at Ohio University where she is also the Managing Editor of Brevity Magazine: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction. An Idaho native, Kelly remains interested in the American West, landscape, and the often uneasy relationship between people and place; however, her current project focuses on the effects of gender violence.)
670 __ |a guernicamag.com/features/it-will-look-like-a-sunset, posted 1 April 2014, viewed 14 October 2015: |b (Former husband Caleb; She blogs about domestic violence at letterofapology.blogspot.com)
670 __ |a letterofapology.blogspot.com, via WWW, 14 October 2015: |b (I started Apology not accepted in 2014 as a means of documenting and processing my journey of recovery from domestic abuse. I’m happily divorced now, raising a beautiful child, and working as a PhD student, writer, editor, and teacher.)
670 __ |a whitepages.com, via WWW, 14 October 2015: (Kelly O. Sundberg; 37 years old; Athens, Ohio)
670 __ |a familysearch.org, via WWW, 14 October 2015: |b (Kelly Winters, also known as Kelly Olene Sundberg, Kelly Sundberg; Morgantown, West Virginia; previous: Boise, Idaho; Salmon, Idaho; possible relatives: Caleb Winters; born 25 December 1977)
PERSONAL
Born December 25, 1977; divorced; children: one son.
EDUCATION:West Virginia University, M.F.A.; Ohio University, Ph.D.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Brevity Magazine: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction, managing editor. Ohio University, Postdoctoral Research Fellow.
AWARDS:The Best American Essays 2015, “It Will Look Like a Sunset”; fellowship recipient from Vermont Studio Center, A Room of Her Own Foundation, Dickinson House, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
WRITINGS
Contributor to numerous periodicals, including Guenica, Slice, Denver Quarterly, Mid-American Review, Los Angeles Review, and Quarterly West.
SIDELIGHTS
Kelly Sundberg is a writer and postdoctoral research fellow at Ohio University. Sundberg grew up in the American West and this region has been highly influential on her writing. She received a M.F.A. from West Virginia University and a Ph.D in creative nonfiction from Ohio University. Her essays have been published in Guernica, Gulf Coast, Rumpus, Denver Quarterly, Slice, and others. Environment, domestic violence, and the relationship between people and place are central themes in much of her writing. Sundberg and her son live in Appalachian Ohio. Goodbye, Sweet Girl: A Story of Domestic Violence and Survival is her first book.
In Goodbye, Sweet Girl, Sundberg documents the cycles of abuse she experienced in her eight year marriage. Sundberg’s essay “It Will Look Like a Sunset,” garnered her much acclaim for its realistic depiction of the nature of abuse. It was featured in Best American Essays, 2015 and is commonly taught to creative-nonfiction students. Sundberg’s memoir expands upon the subjects introduced in the essay.
Sundberg and her, now ex-, husband met when she was twenty-six and he twenty-four.They met in Idaho, where Sundberg grew up. She got pregnant a few months into their relationship and they were married within the year. It was soon after their engagement that Caleb’s dark side began to emerge. He exploded at her in a fit of rage after they returned from a hunting trip. Blindsided and confused as to why he was responding like this, Sundberg sought to calm him, apologizing for whatever she had done to prompt his outburst and hoping it would not happen again.
Over the next seven years of their relationship, the abuse slowly escalated. What began as confidence-shattering screaming sessions turned into outright beatings, which Sundberg desperately tried to keep hidden from her friends and young son. The book documents their moves around the country and the final beating that led to Sundberg calling the police and, finally, leaving Caleb.
Notable is Sundberg’s ability to portray Caleb as a multi-dimensional character. He is not merely an abuser; he is a father, a gentle, tender man, and the person Sundberg loved. She details the complicated nature of abuse, the hope that the abuser will change, and the reality that the relationship, though unstable, is still based in love.
Catherine Hollis in BookPage wrote: “Kelly Sundberg’s memoir of domestic violence brilliantly records the shock, physical and emotional pain and, perhaps most poignantly, the confusion of abuse.” “Lyrical and taut, her memoir provides readers with an honest and critical account of partner violence,” wrote Courtney Eathorne in Booklist.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 1, 2018, Courtney Eathorne, review of Goodbye, Sweet Girl: A Story of Domestic Violence and Survival, p. 50.
BookPage, June, 2018, Catherine Hollis, review of Goodbye, Sweet Girl, p. 26.
Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2018, review of Goodbye, Sweet Girl.
Publishers Weekly, August 31, 2015, review of The Best American Essays 2015, p. 76; April 9, 2018, review of Goodbye, Sweet Girl, p. 68.
About Me
My essays have appeared in Guernica, Gulf Coast, The Rumpus, Denver Quarterly, Slice, and others. My essay “It Will Look Like a Sunset” was selected for inclusion in The Best American Essays 2015, and other essays have been listed as notables in the same series. I have a PhD in creative nonfiction from Ohio University, and I have been the recipient of fellowships or grants from Vermont Studio Center, A Room of Her Own Foundation, Dickinson House, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The American West is my first love, and I return whenever I can. My writing is heavily influenced by the landscape of the region I grew up in, and I’m particularly interested in environmental writing and the uneasy relationship between people and place. I now raise my son in Appalachian Ohio—another magical, complicated place. In 2018-2019, I will be a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Ohio University.
KV_C4336-2
Background:
I started this site as a blog in 2012 as a response to my ex-husband’s arrest for domestic battery. His only sentence was to write me a court-mandated letter of apology. I started this blog as my way of saying “Apology Not Accepted.”
Thank you to everyone who has followed me on this journey.
Xo,
Kelly
Print Marked Items
GOODBYE, SWEET GIRL
Catherine Hollis
BookPage.
(June 2018): p26.
COPYRIGHT 2018 BookPage
http://bookpage.com/
Full Text:
GOODBYE, SWEET GIRL
By Kelly Sundberg
Harper $26.99, 272 pages ISBN 9780062497673 Audio, eBook available
Kelly Sundberg's memoir of domestic violence brilliantly records the shock, physical and emotional pain and, perhaps most poignantly, the
confusion of abuse. The same man who could proclaim his love for Sundberg and their young child was also capable of verbally and physically
assaulting her.
As a young woman, Sundberg longed for safety, and she found it with her warm, funny husband, Caleb. But eventually, he became the man most
likely to kill her as cycles of abuse, regret and reconciliation became shorter and more intense. This confusing experience (sometimes called
"gaslighting") is one reason why women stay with their abusers, especially if they have become isolated from friends and family.
Because of its subject matter, Goodbye, Sweet Girl: A Story of Domestic Violence and Survival might seem difficult to read, but Sundberg's
crystalline prose and insightful narration lighten the reading experience. Sundberg captures the slow, terrifying evolution of her relationship: how
a few red flags and a frightening episode of rage snowballed into brutal physical violence. She is careful (maybe too careful?) to balance her
portrait of Caleb's abuse with his good qualities, and she does not engage in self-pity. She provides an important record of how anyone could find
themselves in an abusive relationship and lends understanding to the reasons they stay--and how and why she eventually left.
Sundberg's story is haunting, propulsive and, perhaps for some readers, familiar. Her wrenching memoir deserves to be read by a wide audience
so that we can all learn to recognize the signs of domestic abuse.
But Sundberg is also a talented writer with many more stories to tell: about her childhood in Salmon, Idaho, her experiences as a forest ranger and
her difficult relationship with her mother. These narratives, hinted at throughout Goodbye, Sweet Girl, suggest a rich terrain of material for
Sundberg to mine in future stories. I, for one, look forward to hearing more from her.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Hollis, Catherine. "GOODBYE, SWEET GIRL." BookPage, June 2018, p. 26. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A540052023/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f05382f3. Accessed 19 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A540052023
Goodbye, Sweet Girl: A Story of Domestic Violence and
Survival
Courtney Eathorne
Booklist.
114.17 (May 1, 2018): p50.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
* Goodbye, Sweet Girl: A Story of Domestic Violence and Survival.
By Kelly Sundberg.
June 2018. 272p. Harper, $26.99 (9780062497673). 362.82.
Sundberg's essay "It Will Look Like a Sunset" was featured in The Best American Essays, 2015 and is often taught to creative-nonfiction students
for its humbling and raw portrayal of the cycles of domestic abuse. This memoir, the author's first book, is a fuller picture of the pain and
confusion of her marriage to Caleb, a writer and adjunct professor. The two fell fast and hard, getting married and giving birth within the first year
of their partnership. Things just as quickly went wrong, as Caleb asserted his control in increasingly violent ways. Was it her mother's distance,
the unrealistic portrayals of intimacy in romance novels, past dating experiences, or something else entirely that led Sundberg to believe she
deserved Caleb's twisted love? Sundberg revisits the hollows of Idaho, where she grew up, and the stunted mountains of West Virginia, where she
and Caleb lived in turmoil, in order to dissect the relationship for the sake of her own healing. Somehow, through her candid and brave accounts
of Caleb's physical attacks, she never vilifies her former husband, painting him instead as the complex and ill man he was. Lyrical and taut, her
memoir provides readers with an honest and critical account of partner violence.--Courtney Eathorne
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Eathorne, Courtney. "Goodbye, Sweet Girl: A Story of Domestic Violence and Survival." Booklist, 1 May 2018, p. 50. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A539647306/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=3b682387. Accessed 19 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A539647306
Sundberg, Kelly: GOODBYE, SWEET GIRL
Kirkus Reviews.
(Apr. 15, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Sundberg, Kelly GOODBYE, SWEET GIRL Harper/HarperCollins (Adult Nonfiction) $26.99 6, 5 ISBN: 978-0-06-249767-3
An essayist's debut memoir about her decadelong struggle to leave a violent, emotionally unstable husband.
When Idaho native Sundberg met Caleb, whose "West Virginia drawl made him seem gentlemanly," she had no idea that within six months, they
would be engaged and pregnant. Both were in their 20s and equally unprepared for commitment. But the author chose to forget their relationship
was neither "idyllic [n]or blissful" and "love him through my fear," just as she had a childhood friend who had once chased her with a knife.
Caleb's dark side surfaced not long after their engagement, as they were returning from a hunting trip. Sundberg immediately assumed
responsibility for his rage and felt "grateful" when he forgave her. Caleb's sudden fits of anger soon became a permanent feature of their
relationship, as did the heavy drinking he managed to keep hidden during their courtship. The author also discovered that Caleb had cheated on
her with three women while they had been dating, but only after they had married. As with all of her husband's other transgressions, she accepted
his tearful apologies as proof that he would change. Sundberg became depressed enough that she sought out counseling. The therapist was able to
name the destructive behaviors in her marriage for what they were: domestic violence. Nevertheless, the cycle of brutality and tenderness
continued. Eventually, the author and her husband moved to West Virginia. There, the author began a graduate program and found the success
Caleb did not have with his own writing. Only after an especially savage incident that required police and paramedic assistance was Sundberg
finally able to move on from a broken relationship and begin the long process of healing her own life. By turns wrenching and lyrical, Sundberg's
book is an unflinching exploration of both domestic violence and one woman's long, often painful evolution from codependence to self-respect.
A courageously honest memoir.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Sundberg, Kelly: GOODBYE, SWEET GIRL." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Apr. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A534374998/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=efa95e89. Accessed 19 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A534374998
Goodbye, Sweet Girl: A Story of Domestic Violence and
Survival
Publishers Weekly.
265.15 (Apr. 9, 2018): p68+.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Goodbye, Sweet Girl: A Story of Domestic Violence and Survival
Kelly Sundberg. Harper, $26.99 (272p)
ISBN 978-0-06-249767-3
In this powerful debut memoir, Sundberg delivers a harrowing account of an abusive marriage and how she left it. Upon getting pregnant at 26,
Sundberg married her boyfriend, Caleb, and over the course of eight years, Caleb went from screaming at Sundberg to beating and choking her. In
their early years, the couple lived in Idaho, finding joy in their son and sometimes each other, despite Caleb's fiery temper and Sundberg's bouts of
depression. Sundberg presents candid portraits of herself and Caleb as complicated people that transcend abuse stereotypes--she is ambitious and
outgoing, and her husband is sensitive and anxious. As Sundberg found professional success as a writer, Caleb, also a writer, felt threatened and
the abuse intensified. Though they attended counseling and Caleb attempted sobriety, things got worse. When Caleb smashed a ceramic bowl into
her foot, causing an injury Sundberg wasn't able to hide, she finally left him. After settling her divorce, Sundberg moved to Ohio with her son to
begin a PhD program. Throughout the book, Sundberg contemplates a recurring question in the public discourse on domestic violence--why
women stay with abusive men (for example, that women might overvalue the sacredness of marriage). Sundberg cogently ties together the painful
chain of events in her life and the personal growth that resulted from it. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Goodbye, Sweet Girl: A Story of Domestic Violence and Survival." Publishers Weekly, 9 Apr. 2018, p. 68+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A535099998/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=9c1a372e. Accessed 19 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A535099998
The Best American Essays 2015
Publishers Weekly.
262.35 (Aug. 31, 2015): p76+.
COPYRIGHT 2015 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Best American Essays 2015
Edited by Ariel Levy. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $14.95 (272p) ISBN 978-0-544-56962-1
Assembled by New Yorker staff writer Levy (Female Chauvinist Pigs), the 30th Best American Essays collection maintains the series' standards
of excellence. The 22 contributors explore a wide range of experiences, with the theme of aging taking an especially prominent part. Ninetythree-year-old
Roger Angell's "This Old Man," about the trials of old age, is poignant, funny, and surprisingly reassuring. Mark Jacobson's
(mostly) humorous observations in "Sixty-Five: Learning to Love Middle Old Age" have a similar effect. It is a sheer pleasure to read David
Sedaris, still funny but less excitable, describe a life-affirming relationship with his Fitbit in "Stepping Out." Also worth noting is Malcolm
Gladwell's "The Crooked Ladder," a novel take on capitalism and institutional racism as seen through a comparison of Italian-American and
African-American criminal enterprises. Novelist Justin Cronin covers the aftermath of his wife and daughter's near-fatal car accident, Anthony
Doerr imagines the lives of the first family to settle in his hometown of Boise, Idaho, and Kelly Sundberg writes movingly about living through
domestic violence. These and many of the other selections offer illuminating, invaluable glimpses into lives that might otherwise remain outside
the reader's ken. (Oct.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Best American Essays 2015." Publishers Weekly, 31 Aug. 2015, p. 76+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A427664854/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=fabb5d85. Accessed 19 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A427664854