{"product_id":"the-girl-from-dream-city-a-literary-life-paperback","title":"The Girl from Dream City: A Literary Life - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eLinda Leith\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eVivid stories from a Canadian literary icon, who shares a life spread across continents and immersed in books\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e It's the life that many young women dream of: education in some of Europe's most beautiful cities before becoming a novelist, essayist, translator and literary curator. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut the start of Linda Leith's journey is anything but idyllic. The daughter of a glamorous mother and a charming left-wing doctor, she is never told of her father's psychiatric breakdown or his subsequent shock therapy for what was then called manic depression. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e As this secret festers, Leith's father uproots the family to various European cities as he reinvents himself as a corporate executive, eventually moving across the Atlantic to Montreal. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e It's there, in her first year of university, that Leith is inspired by Madame de Sta l: a writer and salonni re, banished from Paris by Napoleon himself. With none of Sta l's advantages--no wealth, no social status, no ch teau on Lake Geneva--Leith can scarcely imagine a salon, but she is drawn to Paris, and dreams of becoming a writer. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This dream fuels her education in London, her marriage and writing in Budapest, and--finally--her journey back to Montreal where she meets a community of writers and readers who she works with to transform the city's literary scene. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e As Leith publishes, translates, and curates, she also comes to terms with her troubled father and the secrets of her childhood. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A luscious read, this book will rivet readers of Jill Ker Conway's \u003ci\u003eThe Road from Coorain\u003c\/i\u003e and Tara Westover's \u003ci\u003eEducated\u003c\/i\u003e, or anyone who has dreamed of building a cultural life.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBorn in Northern Ireland, Linda Leith attended schools in London, Basel, Belfast, Paris, and Montreal, graduating from the University of London, which granted her a PhD on the work of Samuel Beckett when she was twenty-four. A novelist, essayist, literary translator, founder of Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival and Linda Leith Publishing, and recipient of the Order of Canada, she lives in Montreal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 280\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 7.4 x 4.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 10, 2021\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47396578230450,"sku":"9780889777859","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/3891\/1666\/files\/960893fd12f4e121b1d5ae487586a562.webp?v=1778010703","url":"https:\/\/box.dadyminds.org\/products\/the-girl-from-dream-city-a-literary-life-paperback","provider":"DADYMINDS BOX","version":"1.0","type":"link"}