the tell:
a memoir
“In this vivid and immensely enjoyable memoir, we encounter the lost world of Jewish Brooklyn, crazy parents, a crazy husband, and a protagonist/narrator who can’t help being a good girl. Woody Allen and Ralph Lauren make appearances: somehow it all fits.” — Philip Lopate, essayist and film critic
Like a psychoanalyst the memoirist seeks to create a coherent narrative out of memories rescued from repression.
Synopsis
Linda I. Meyers was 28 and the mother of three young boys when her mother, after a lifetime of threats, took her own life. Staggered by conflicting feelings of relief and remorse, Meyers believed that the best way to give meaning to her mother’s death was to make changes to her own life. Inspired by the resilience of her immigrant grandmother and bolstered by the Women’s Movement of the seventies, she left her marriage, went to college and received her Psy.D., raised a family, and established a fulfilling career.
Written with irony and humor and sprinkled with Yiddish, “The Tell” is one woman’s inspirational story of before and after, and ultimately of emancipation and purpose. With stories ranging from witty to heartbreaking, “The Tell” showcases Meyers’ talent as a gifted storyteller. She chronicles her experience coming of age in a dysfunctional Jewish family during the 40’s and 50’s, her summer romance with a boy who grew up to be fashion designer Ralph Lauren, the rise of feminism, and running a family acting business that led to her son landing a memorable role as young Alvy Singer in Woody Allen’s Academy Award — winning movie “Annie Hall.”
“Women of any age,” Meyers says, “who’ve struggled to overcome the restrictions of their generation, or the disappointments of their upbringing will find The Tell to be a funny, touching and hopefully inspiring read.
“The Tell is a compelling coming-of-age story told with grit, humor, and a fine sense of atmosphere. From growing up with a mobster father and an unstable mother, to waiting in a Catskill bungalow colony for a phone call from the future Ralph Lauren (ne’ Lifshitz), to becoming a psychoanalyst, Meyers covers a lot of ground in this vivid portrait of resilience.”
– Mindy Greenstein, Ph.D. author of The House on Crash Corner and Lighter as We Go
Bio
Linda I. Meyers is a psychologist and psychoanalyst in New York City and Princeton, NJ, who has been published in professional and academic journals. Two chapters from her debut memoir, “The Tell” were published in 2016 – “The Flowers,” a top five finalist in Alligator Juniper’s annual contest in creative nonfiction, and “The Spring Line” in Post Road.
“With cutting humor and an ear for dialogue, Linda I. Meyers mines the crevices of family secrets to disclose some glittering gems, as the narrator, a single mother of three, struggles to break free from a web of lies, guilt, and betrayal. A gripping read from a damn good writer.”
– Mindy Lewis, author of Life Inside: A Memoir
