Ivy Lodge: A Memoir of Translation and Discovery
Linda Murphy Marshall
(Author)
Description
Following the deaths of her parents, Linda Murphy Marshall returns to her midwestern childhood home; in the process of going through each room, she evokes memories and insights from her patriarchal 1960s upbringing, and-informed by her training as a translator--finds new meanings in the often disturbing events that took place in that home.Product Details
Price
$16.95
$15.76
Publisher
She Writes Press
Publish Date
July 12, 2022
Pages
280
Dimensions
5.5 X 8.4 X 1.0 inches | 0.85 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9781647423674
BISAC Categories:
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About the Author
Linda Murphy Marshall is a multi-linguist and writer with a PhD in Hispanic languages and literature, a master's in Spanish, and an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in The Los Angeles Review, Maryland Literary Review, the Ocotillo Review, Chestnut Review, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Flash Fiction Magazine, Bacopa Literary Review, PopMatters, Storgy [UK], The Bark Magazine, Catamaran Literary Reader, and Critical Read. She was featured in American Writers Review, where she was an Honorable Mention for the 2019 Fiction Contest. She was long-listed in Strands Publishers's 2021 International Flash Fiction Contest, and was a finalist in the 2020 Annual Adelaide Literary Contest for one of her essays. In addition, she is currently a reader for Fourth Genre and a translation editor for the Los Angeles Review. Her sketches and paintings have been featured in art shows and galleries. She lives in Columbia, MD.
Reviews
2022 Best Book Awards Finalist in Nonfiction: Creative "Thoughtfully conceived, this deeply personal, acutely observed
recollection is a captivating voyage to the past. Readers who are
mourning parents will particularly relate to the story. A moving,
courageously frank, and sharply intuitive account about a manor filled
with memories." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Translation, at its essence, is the rendering of one into another. That is the guiding force behind Ivy Lodge,
one woman's return to a childhood home and the secrets within.
Triggered by the deaths of elderly parents who hoarded artifacts from a
lifetime of collecting, Murphy Marshall journeys deep into the labyrinth
of memory, perception, and the shapeshifting forces of identity. Room
by room, object by object, she examines the detritus of a troubled
family past to excavate the meaning of home and restore the narrative of
a self she thought she had lost. A beautiful debut." --Harrison Candelaria Fletcher, author of Presentimiento: A Life in Dreams "Ivy Lodge pulses with the elemental dynamic of family
dysfunction and interpersonal isolation. Linda Murphy Marshall's
exploration of the ostentatious house in which she grew up peels back
the psychic, cultural, and spiritual layers of one family's particular,
and divided, residence upon this earth. Our tribal blood both binds us
and pits us against each other. Ivy Lodge brings that emotional paradox into a brilliantly sharp focus." --Sue William Silverman, author of How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences
"Using translation of languages as a metaphor to search for the meaning
of family relationships, Linda Murphy Marshall takes the readers on a
journey of recollection and compassion to understand her parents.
Ultimately, Ivy Lodge is a story of self-discovery through the language of love, written in elegant prose. It is an extraordinary book." --Allison Hong Merrill, author of Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops: A Memoir "With carefully crafted narrative, Linda Murphy-Marshall has written the
next great memoir about her painful and still-mysterious childhood.
After both parents' deaths, she returns to the family home, Ivy Lodge--a
grand façade that shrouds the emptiness inside. She moves from room to
room, examining distressing memories that stem from her emotionally
detached parents. A multi-linguist, Murphy-Marshall applies her
considerable language skills to translate the dialogue that still
echoes, ultimately accepting that some languages may be too intricate to
understand. I highly recommend this first-time author and look forward
to her next release!" --Donna Koros Stramella, author of Coffee Killed My Mother "A comfortably white middle-class American family living in the Midwest:
what could go wrong? No poverty or alcoholism, no racial discrimination
or physical abuse: how could someone raised in such favorable
circumstances emerge so wounded? Linda Marshall's memoir takes us deep
into the dysfunction of one such family. In intriguing detail, she
examines how seemingly ideal conditions can result in a lifelong attempt
to 'translate' parents' actions into meaning. Many will relate to the
lives it describes, prevalent and arguably influential in shaping our
country's social fabric as they are." --Chivvis Moore, Author of First Tie Your Camel, Then Trust in God: An American Feminist in the Arab World "Ivy Lodge is a brave, beautiful book about the unspoken language
of family. Linda Murphy Marshall is unafraid of looking in the dark
corners of her childhood home in order to find meaning, peace, and
ultimately, light." --Dawn Raffel, author of The Secret Life of Objects
recollection is a captivating voyage to the past. Readers who are
mourning parents will particularly relate to the story. A moving,
courageously frank, and sharply intuitive account about a manor filled
with memories." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Translation, at its essence, is the rendering of one into another. That is the guiding force behind Ivy Lodge,
one woman's return to a childhood home and the secrets within.
Triggered by the deaths of elderly parents who hoarded artifacts from a
lifetime of collecting, Murphy Marshall journeys deep into the labyrinth
of memory, perception, and the shapeshifting forces of identity. Room
by room, object by object, she examines the detritus of a troubled
family past to excavate the meaning of home and restore the narrative of
a self she thought she had lost. A beautiful debut." --Harrison Candelaria Fletcher, author of Presentimiento: A Life in Dreams "Ivy Lodge pulses with the elemental dynamic of family
dysfunction and interpersonal isolation. Linda Murphy Marshall's
exploration of the ostentatious house in which she grew up peels back
the psychic, cultural, and spiritual layers of one family's particular,
and divided, residence upon this earth. Our tribal blood both binds us
and pits us against each other. Ivy Lodge brings that emotional paradox into a brilliantly sharp focus." --Sue William Silverman, author of How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences
"Using translation of languages as a metaphor to search for the meaning
of family relationships, Linda Murphy Marshall takes the readers on a
journey of recollection and compassion to understand her parents.
Ultimately, Ivy Lodge is a story of self-discovery through the language of love, written in elegant prose. It is an extraordinary book." --Allison Hong Merrill, author of Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops: A Memoir "With carefully crafted narrative, Linda Murphy-Marshall has written the
next great memoir about her painful and still-mysterious childhood.
After both parents' deaths, she returns to the family home, Ivy Lodge--a
grand façade that shrouds the emptiness inside. She moves from room to
room, examining distressing memories that stem from her emotionally
detached parents. A multi-linguist, Murphy-Marshall applies her
considerable language skills to translate the dialogue that still
echoes, ultimately accepting that some languages may be too intricate to
understand. I highly recommend this first-time author and look forward
to her next release!" --Donna Koros Stramella, author of Coffee Killed My Mother "A comfortably white middle-class American family living in the Midwest:
what could go wrong? No poverty or alcoholism, no racial discrimination
or physical abuse: how could someone raised in such favorable
circumstances emerge so wounded? Linda Marshall's memoir takes us deep
into the dysfunction of one such family. In intriguing detail, she
examines how seemingly ideal conditions can result in a lifelong attempt
to 'translate' parents' actions into meaning. Many will relate to the
lives it describes, prevalent and arguably influential in shaping our
country's social fabric as they are." --Chivvis Moore, Author of First Tie Your Camel, Then Trust in God: An American Feminist in the Arab World "Ivy Lodge is a brave, beautiful book about the unspoken language
of family. Linda Murphy Marshall is unafraid of looking in the dark
corners of her childhood home in order to find meaning, peace, and
ultimately, light." --Dawn Raffel, author of The Secret Life of Objects