It’s A Book Thing Presents: An Interview with Linda Murphy Marshall, author of Ivy Lodge: A Memoir of Translation and Discovery

Author’s Bio: Linda Murphy Marshall has a Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages and Literature and an MFA in Creative Writing. Her memoir, Ivy Lodge: A Memoir of Translation and Discovery received a starred review from Kirkus. She is an Associate for the National Museum of Language and a docent at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. 

Her second memoir, Immersion: A Linguist’s Memoir, comes out September 24, 2024 and has already garnered a gold medal (2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Winner in Travel/Travel Guide) and has been reviewed by Kirkus ("A fluent and far-reaching celebration of communication and world travel."). Her essays have appeared in numerous publications, including the Los Angeles Review, Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, The Catamaran Literary Reader, Maryland Literary Review, Brevity’s Nonfiction Blog, and elsewhere. 

Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to write your book?

Linda Murphy Marshall: I wanted to write the truth about my life and my childhood, how I survived living in an abusive, patriarchal and toxic environment and, ultimately, escaped by moving away. 

DL: What is your writing process?

LMM: I usually have an overarching idea in mind and then write very loosely within that idea. I need some type of structure, but then meander here and there within it, depending on the discoveries I’m making along the way. If I were dogmatic about everything I write, plotting it all out in advance, I don’t think the result would be nearly as interesting or truthful. 

For example, in Ivy Lodge, the large structure of the book consists of the rooms in my childhood home, Ivy Lodge, so I started with that, and then I wrote about objects in those rooms, experiences that happened in those rooms, memories it all evoked, people in those rooms, etc. It became more manageable and organic when I had this overarching structure to begin with. 

DL: What obstacles did you encounter while writing this book?

LMM: I knew many people in my family of origin and in my hometown were not happy with my memoir. I had several family members say/write hurtful things, and I believe I’ve lost some friends back in my hometown because of my book. But that was one of the points of my book: I was living in a family where much of it was appearance-oriented, and no one really knew what went on inside our home. 

DL: What was the most valuable piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given?

LMM: The most valuable piece of writing advice I’ve been given is to expect that the first (and second and third….) drafts of your book are going to be terrible, but you have to believe that, with hard work, the book will be the way you want it to be. 

DL: What tips would you give to aspiring writers?

LMM: The one tip I give to aspiring writers is to be persistent and to write and submit as much as you can (but don’t just submit to submit; make sure that you’ve carefully edited your work and that it’s the best you can do). You have to be willing to be rejected over and over and over again and just keep going back to the drawing board, just keep on writing and on submitting. 

DL: What are three books you’ll never part with?

LMM: I would never part with a tiny volume containing Rudyard Kipling’s poem “IF.” I discovered it when I was a young girl in my maternal grandparents’ home, and have always loved the words. When both my grandparents died, I inherited the little book and would never give it up. Nor would I ever give up my copy of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett and illustrated by Ethel Betts. I received it from my grandparents when I was about the age of the protagonist, Sara Crewe, and it’s a treasure. The last book I would never part with is a handmade book of pictures made by my Aunt Jane, my mother’s sister. It’s an incredibly intricate and beautiful book I’m so grateful to own. 

DL: What are three fun facts about yourself?

LMM: A) I played the piano on a classical radio station when I was 11. B) I’m a painter and three of my paintings have appeared either on the cover or inside literary magazines in the last few years. C) I’ve studied 15 languages. 

DL: Would you like to share an excerpt from Ivy Lodge: A Memoir of Translation and Discovery?

LMM: Sure, here you go:

“Translation involves more than the deciphering of words, words strung together in sentences, in paragraphs, in dialogue, in the years of a life. After all, a machine can do that if you feed all the data into it. Translation also involves making sense of what’s left unspoken, those ellipses, blank spaces , the dot-dot-dots when you have to guess what’s happening in the person’s mind, what the silent messages mean. It calls for the translation of surrounding events, the cultural context, as well as the translation of nonverbal communication. What was being said through that certain look, that ever-so-tiny smile, that flash of a grimace? That spark of anger? Those sarcastic comments? Those prolonged silences? What did it all mean? 

The most difficult thing for me to translate to date, has been my own life. To return to Ivy Lodge: trying to make sense of what my parents and siblings said and did, how I fit into that picture of that family in that home. I never found it easy, although I think I began observing them when still very young, long before I became a professional translator. I learned to look for signs, for clues, for subtexts in their behavior. Signs in what they didn’t say, didn’t do. In what was hiding between the lines, in what went on when a disconnect between their behavior and words could be observed, in their language, their attitude toward me.” 

DL: What new projects are you currently working on?

LMM: I’m compiling dozens of essays I’ve written, and adding more, to put into an anthology of my work. 

DL: Where can readers learn more about you and purchase your book(s)?

LMM: Readers can get more information here:

• Website: https://lindamurphymarshall.com
• Facebook: Linda Murphy Marshall
• Instagram: @Linda Murphy Marshall 

DL: Thanks so much for being here with us today. I know my readers will enjoy getting to know you and your work.

LMM: Thanks very much for the opportunity!