Welcome from Angela               Essay and a Poem

“An unflinching and powerful debut novel.”
- Sue William Silverman, author of Because I Knew Terror Father, I Knew You

“Leone brings a heartbreaking sensitivity to her story and the authority of a true witness.”
- Joseph Geha, author of Through and Through: Toledo Stories

“Grips the reader with the searing immediacy of a memoir... Leone vivifies the humanity of Middle Eastern neighbors who often seem to exist only in distant, tragic headlines."
- D. H. Melham, author of New York Poems

“Her exquisite imagery, particularly of light and dark, moves us toward the inexorable and heartbreaking climax."
- Pat Carr, author of The Women in the Mirror

Published by Syracuse University Press
www.SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu

From the Book Jacket: Swimming Toward the Light depicts a Lebanese immigrant family in Washington, D.C. in the 1950s and gives us entree into a male-dominated, independence-stifling culture in which female roles are rigidly prescribed. While the three older children liberated themselves by leaving home, the two youngest daughters, Lottie and Irene, are left to endure their mother's dictatorial ways and their father's passive response to matters affecting the home. Lottie's independent nature frees her from Mama's control, but Irene's extraordinary singing voice attracts the attention of two women who want to guide her toward a singing career and Irene experiences Mama's desperate attempt to enforce "old world" ways by thwarting her daughter's hopes for a career. This starts the family on its inescapable path toward a heartbreaking conclusion.

From Booklist (American Library Association): Oh, how sweet a mother's love, until it becomes too suffocating. Set in Washington, D.C. in the 1950s, Leone's debut novel tells the painful saga of a Lebanese immigrant family stuck between cultures. Irene, a sweet, obedient girl and the youngest in a large family, suffers a dangerous bout of influenza at age three. After nursing her back to health, her mother becomes fiercely protective. ...When two kindly neighbors notice Irene's unusual talent for singing, Mama, ever suspicious of American ways, tries desperately to prevent this blossoming, and her stifling love forces Irene down a tragic path. Lottie, Irene's older sister, is the wise narrator of this story as she tries, years lager, to figure out what went wrong. Fans of Arab-American literature will especially love the details that flavor Leone's touching novel. Emily Cook.

 

Needless to say, I’m thrilled that SU Press chose to publish this novel, which, as I write in my essay on the next page, has a personal meaning to me. I completed four unpublished novels and a memoir prior to writing Swimming Toward the Light. My published writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, The Washingtonian, and Ladies’ Home Journal. To all who supported and guided me through this journey, especially the International Women’s Writing Guild, I am extremely grateful.

You may e-mail Angela Tehaan Leone at:  

Book Availability: Amazon; Barnes&Noble; Border’s