Kelly E. Hill (PhD in Humanities, 2021) publishes debut novel

March 19, 2024

Congratulations to Dr. Kelly E. Hill (PhD in Humanities, 2021) on the publication of her debut novel, A Home for Friendless Women (Vintage). In Victorian-era Louisville, the Home for Friendless Women is run by benevolent benefactors with one mission: to reform the fallen women who live there into pious mothers and wives through religious lessons and hard work. For Ruth, a college student who’s expelled after a campus sexual assault, the Home is a purgatory to endure before she can get her life back. For Belle, a queer sex worker who exchanged her bed at a brothel for one in the Home, it’s a safe place to rest her feet until she can track down her missing lover. And for Minnie, the daughter of the religious couple who founded the charity, the Home is her mother’s idea of a cautionary tale. But as Minnie prepares for the Home’s silver anniversary party, she finds herself questioning the true cost of good intentions—and grappling with a terrible secret that has the power to unravel the Home entirely.

This novel was at the core of Dr. Hill’s dissertation project and grew out of research she conducted during an internship she held at the Filson Historical Society. During her time in the Comparative Humanities graduate program, she published short stories and articles in both literary and academic journals and delivered various lectures, including at the Conrad-Caldwell House Museum.

Dr. Hill notes, “I’ve been a creative writer for most of my adult life, but this book asked something new and challenging of me, and I have the PhD program to thank for that.” Besides her work as a creative writer, Dr. Hill is currently teaching as a Part-Time Lecturer in the Comparative Humanities and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Departments.

To learn more about A Home for Friendless Women, click here.