MRS. LOWE-PORTER is based on the life of Helen Lowe-Porter, a brilliant, ambitious, warm-hearted, and self-deprecating woman who struggles for her own literary voice against the conventions of her time and the demands of the two male luminaries in her life: the legendary novelist Thomas Mann, whose works she translates, and her charismatic husband Elias.
Now out from JackLeg Press
“A captivating biographical novel… with Mrs. Lowe-Porter, Jo Salas has achieved the writing triumph that her never-met but vividly imagined grandmother-in-law hoped to write…a magnificent literary achievement.” —Linda Hitchcock, BookTrib
“A literary book in the best sense: about literature and its creation, and artistic in itself.”
–Jinny Webber, Historical Novel Society.
“A woman ahead of her time.”
—Celia McGee, The New York Times: The Secret of Thomas Mann’s Translator
“With a richly imagined interior life and insight into the creative collaboration of translation Lowe-Porter’s voice is uplifted for a new generation.” ––Janet Somerville, Toronto Star
“An exploration of the complicated life of the translator of Thomas Mann – who is a writer in her own right. Salas asks difficult questions about work and gender – whose words should take precedence? Whose work? Whose needs? Salas uses the real life of Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter as the foundation for this fascinating novel.”
–Roxana Robinson, author of Dawson’s Fall.
Dancing with Diana
“This is a very fine book that side-steps clichés about celebrity to create a new awareness of Diana, and also gives us a startling sense of life lived strongly and meaningfully with cerebral palsy.”—Dan Yashinsky, author of Tales for An Unknown City and The Storyteller at Fault.