The memoir Loose Woman: my odyssey from lost to found tells how a quasi-alcoholic actor came to spend four astonishing months living and working among men with severe disabilities at a L’Arche community in Provence, and how the experience opened her heart and transformed her life.
The book brings to life the late seventies, when feminism and sexual liberation were ascendant, and a single woman had to come to terms with what this new kind of freedom meant. It gives a backstage view of the triumphs and miseries of a successful actor, celebrates daily life in France — tradition, argument, cheese — and shows a daughter struggling to emerge from the shadow of her powerful, flawed parents.
Loose Woman illuminates how, with the help of six damaged Frenchmen, a gifted, damaged young woman begins, at last, to trust and forgive herself, to live loosely, and to set off in a surprising new direction.
Reviews
"I loved reading this hugely enjoyable book, page turning and honest and instructive. And it’s funny! Any woman torn between motherhood and career will identify with this."
— Dame Harriet Walter
"How very much to admire in these pages from a writer of such ability, who recreates ordinary moments from her experience with exacting clarity, ease and grace."
— Wayson Choy, multi-prize-winning writer, member of the Order of Canada
"An amazing journey of the self. The writing is a joy, full of insight and humour. A beautiful, heartbreaking/heart-mending story."
— Suzette Couture, screenwriter and producer
"Compulsive reading with very funny moments. Highly readable, entertaining, very moving."
— Allan Stratton, multi-prize-winning writer
"A fascinating story, beautifully and eloquently written, with great humour."
— Curtis Barlow, cultural diplomat
"Some of the most interesting writing on L’Arche I have ever read. Very moving in that it rings so true."
— Associate Professor Lynn Blin, former long-time L’Arche assistant
"A wonderful book, deftly describing complex people and complicated relationships with a light touch."
— Professor K. Belicki, Brock University
"A very moving story, well worth telling."
— Judy McFarlane, author of Writing with Grace, A Journey Beyond Down Syndrome
Author(s)
Beth Kaplan
Beth Kaplan worked as a professional actress for a decade before leaving the stage to earn an MFA in Creative Writing. She has taught memoir and personal essay writing since 1994 and in 2012 won the coveted Excellence in Teaching award at the University of Toronto.