Louisa Hall
Author of Speak
About the Author
Louisa Hall is an American novelist and poet. She was born in 1982, and raised in Philadelphia. After graduating from Harvard with a BA in English, she played squash professionally and worked in a research lab at the Albert Einstein Hospital. She holds a PhD in Literature from the University of show more Texas at Austin, where she currently teaches literature and creative writing, and supervises a poetry workshop at the Austin Psychiatric Hospital. Hall is the author of the novels Speak and The Carriage House, and her poems have been published in The New Republic, Southwest Review, and other journals. show less
Image credit: Author Louisa Hall at the 2015 Texas Book Festival. By Larry D. Moore, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44521636
Works by Louisa Hall
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Hall, Louisa Warren (Nom d'alliance)
- Birthdate
- 1982-06-24
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Country (for map)
- USA
- Birthplace
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Places of residence
- Haverford, Pennsylvania, USA
- Education
- Episcopal Academy
Harvard College
University of Texas, Austin - Occupations
- poet
novelist
squash player - Organizations
- Université du Texas, Austin (Chargée de cours, Littérature et écriture créative, 20 13)
Ivy League, Ligue de squash (20 04 | 20 0)
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 4
- Members
- 683
- Popularity
- #37,041
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 27
- ISBNs
- 45
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 1
Reading, for the majority, like lyrical non-fiction we follow an author who is attempting to write a novel exploring Mary Shelley and her ‘Frankenstein’, as she struggles through fertility, and pregnancy.
Beautifully written and captivating I felt this one deep in my bones, in my guts, in my soul. It’s important, very important, to stress that there are trigger warnings for infertility, traumatic birth and miscarriage. This is not an easy book. But this is a careful book, an honest and connecting book. Louisa Hall puts into words the great isolation of pregnancy, loss and motherhood. She explores the ways we judge ourselves and other women, and unpacks the cold ways in which we are dealt with as we carry life and once we are no longer such a bearer. The main character reflects on Mary Shelley’s life, and speculates the longing and sense of loss that contributed to writing ‘Frankenstein’ and she compares herself, and her friend Anna, to her.
There is a small style and tone shift in the third section that I really enjoyed. It’s full of questions that will make you look inward, and yet the answers are not easy… the author not pushing you towards one. Instead, reminding us of the great love and bravery of existing in this world, loving a child— even if it is but an idea.
This covers the pandemic, and political realities that we all, in the US, faced from 2018 on. It is extremely real in this way, but has a dreamlike quality from start to finish. I’m absolutely in awe. If you are interested, be safe, but I will be forever changed by this novel and my experience in introspection while reading.… (more)