Lea

By (author): Ariela Freedman

How do you change the world? Meet Léa, polyglot, labour activist, farbrente feminist. Born to a large Jewish family and raised in a French Catholic town, Léa moves fluidly between languages and cultures. Her search for meaning and her instinct for justice place her at the centre of the great changes of the 20th century. From street fights in Berlin to protests in Montreal, she defies the expectations and limitations of women’s lives, wins historic victories for the union movement, and grapples with her own convictions.Based on the life of famed activist Léa Roback, this novel brings to life a heroine emboldened by political strugglea that resonate to this day.

AUTHOR

Ariela Freedman

Ariela Freedman was born in Brooklyn and has lived in Jerusalem, New York, Calgary, London, and Montreal. Her reviews and poems have appeared in Vallum, carte blanche, The Cincinnati Review and other publications, and she was selected to participate in the Quebec Writers’ Federation’s 2014 Mentorship Program. Arabic for Beginners, published by LLP in 2017, is her first novel, followed by A Joy To Be Hidden (LLP, 2019) and L/a (LLP, 2022). She has a Ph.D. from New York University and teaches literature at Concordia’s Liberal Arts College in Montreal, where she lives with her husband and two sons.


Reviews

“Both a portrait of an exceptional life and a gimlet-eyed view of the upheavals of the first half of the 20th century, Ariela Freedman’s novel reads like a real-life Bildungsroman. Léa, indomitable and idealistic, journeys from adolescent inklings of social inequities through a believably, tenderly, and, often necessarily brutally evoked series of political awakenings and disillusionments which carry the reader seamlessly from Montreal to France, New York, Berlin, Rome, and Moscow. Utterly engaging, Léa is a welcome addition to the literature of social justice.” –Zsuzsi Gartner, author of The Beguiling (2020) Better Living Through Plastic Explosives (2011, shortlisted for the Giller) and All the Anxious Girls on Earth (1999).”In sensual, cinematic prose, Ariela Freedman tells the story of a true Montreal heroine. This sweeping novel brings a forgotten chapter of twentieth-century history vividly to life.” –Claire Holden Rothman, author The Heart Specialist

Awards

There are no awards found for this book.
Excerpts & Samples ×
How do you change the world? Meet Léa, polyglot, labour activist, farbrente feminist. Born to a large Jewish family and raised in a French Catholic town, Léa moves fluidly between languages and cultures. Her search for meaning and her instinct for justice place her at the centre of the great changes of the 20th century. From street fights in Berlin to protests in Montreal, she defies the expectations and limitations of women’s lives, wins historic victories for the union movement, and grapples with her own convictions.Based on the life of famed activist Léa Roback, this novel brings to life a heroine emboldened by political strugglea that resonate to this day.

Reader Reviews

Details

Dimensions:

296 Pages
8in * 5in * 1in
0.75lb

Published:

February 12, 2022

Country of Publication:

CA

ISBN:

9781773901022

Book Subjects:

FICTION / Buddhist

Featured In:

All Books

Language:

eng

No author posts found.

Related Blog Posts

There are no posts with this book.

Other books by Ariela Freedman