Linda Gray Sexton (Author of Searching for Mercy Street)
Linda Gray Sexton

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Lisa Ann
1,127 books | 148 friends

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213 books | 364 friends

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Mary
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Meg Cla...
753 books | 1,248 friends

Nancy K...
8,967 books | 1,259 friends

Johanna
576 books | 130 friends

Tina J
1 book | 43 friends

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Linda Gray Sexton

Goodreads Author


Born
in Newton, Massachusetts, The United States
Website

Twitter

Genre

Influences
Anne Sexton, Maxine Kumin, Mary Oliver, Erica Jong, Susan Cheever,

Member Since
July 2014

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Linda Gray Sexton was born in Newton, Massachusetts in 1953. As the daughter of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Anne Sexton, she grew up in a home filled with books and words and an attention to language, and at an early age she, too, began to write. Afternoons were sometimes spent together with her mother, reading aloud from Anne’s favorite poems.

By the time Linda was an adolescent, she had begun to write poetry and short fiction seriously, and spent many special hours curled up on the sofa in Anne’s study, discussing her own fledgling work as well as her mother’s growing oeuvre. Gradually, Anne began to rely on her daughter’s opinions, and dubbed Linda, “my greatest critic.”

Linda graduated from Harvard in 1975 with a degree in literatur
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Linda Gray Sexton The story of how BESPOTTED’s cover came to be is actually an amusing one. When I first received a proof, I was very excited about the design. What I w…moreThe story of how BESPOTTED’s cover came to be is actually an amusing one. When I first received a proof, I was very excited about the design. What I was not excited about—what I, in fact, hated, was the dog they had displayed so prominently. It was a truly ugly Dalmatian. I don’t know where they dug it up, but in any case, I told my editor it was a no go. I said my Dal friends would make fun of me with such a pathetic example of the breed dominating the cover of my book, and anyway, I wanted one of my dogs up there as the main event. “But how,” he asked, “would you get that look of total adoration as the dog looks up at its master? And what about that worn red collar—you’ll never find one of those!” “Don’t worry about the pose,” I answered, “and I’ve got the very same collar in my dog drawer. Give me till tomorrow.”

And so that night, my husband and I posed all three of our Dalmatians in front of a blank wall in the bedroom and he got out his camera. I stood them up so they looked pretty and then got out of the shot, but still in front of the dog—with a hot dog in my elevated hand. Presto! “The Look!”

We put all the shots up on the computer and were pleased to find several of each dog that were terrific. I sent my editor one each of Cody, Breeze and Mac and let him choose. He picked Mac, who, ironically, is the only dog not in the book, as he was born here after the manuscript went into galley. I wanted to write a little epilogue about him, but my editor said enough was enough. “At the rate you’re going Linda, we’d be revising around the dogs into the next decade.”(less)
Linda Gray Sexton Hi Amanda, I sent out all the books several weeks ago. I am a little mystified. Let me check, if I can, going back through all my emails, to see if yo…moreHi Amanda, I sent out all the books several weeks ago. I am a little mystified. Let me check, if I can, going back through all my emails, to see if you were on the list GOodreads gave me of the winners. I sure hope so! And I sure hope that it didn't get lost in the mail, if you were on the list! Seems very strange.
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Average rating: 4.1 · 5,984 ratings · 413 reviews · 17 distinct worksSimilar authors
Searching for Mercy Street:...

3.96 avg rating — 1,103 ratings — published 1994 — 17 editions
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Half in Love: Surviving the...

3.79 avg rating — 406 ratings — published 2010 — 12 editions
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Bespotted: My Family's Love...

3.77 avg rating — 100 ratings — published 2014 — 8 editions
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Points of Light

3.84 avg rating — 86 ratings11 editions
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Mirror Images

2.71 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 1985 — 6 editions
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Rituals

2.85 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 1982 — 5 editions
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Private Acts: A Novel

2.77 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 1991 — 4 editions
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Between two worlds: Young w...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1979 — 2 editions
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Auf der Suche nach meiner M...

did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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Im Tal der dunklen Träume -...

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More books by Linda Gray Sexton…

A Tale of Watery Woe

The phone call from the pet-sitter came through on my mobile at eleven p.m. E.S.T, just as we were sitting down to dinner in California. Our vacation thus-far had been terrific: first, Brad’s fiftieth high school reunion in Chicago, where we had the luxury of four days with his family as well as the blast […]


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Published on October 01, 2019 09:44
How to Read a Boo...
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Left Neglected
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by Lisa Genova (Goodreads Author)
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Taft
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How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
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Left Neglected by Lisa Genova
Left Neglected
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Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane
Small Mercies
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Taft by Ann Patchett
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Absolution by Alice McDermott
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The First Ladies by Marie Benedict
The First Ladies
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The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
The Invention of Wings
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The Bad Weather Friend by Dean Koontz
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The Shadow Box by Luanne Rice
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The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James   McBride
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Quotes by Linda Gray Sexton  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“Dogs have always provided a special kind of love and companionship that I experience only some of the time with humans. They have a strong sense of character and live the way we ought to: dogs never compare you to your sister nor make judgments in her favor. Dogs never know what is coming and so live purely in the moment, savoring the good, doing their best to endure the bad--and they offer up this miraculous example so that we can learn from it.”
Linda Gray Sexton, Bespotted: My Family's Love Affair with Thirty-Eight Dalmatians

“Why, in fact, is the word pain rarely used when describing depression? The dictionary uses synonyms such as melancholy, despondency, and sadness.”
Linda Gray Sexton, Searching for Mercy Street: My Journey Back to My Mother, Anne Sexton

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it.”
Linda Gray Sexton, Half in Love: Surviving the Legacy of Suicide

“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”
Will Rogers

“Dogs have always provided a special kind of love and companionship that I experience only some of the time with humans. They have a strong sense of character and live the way we ought to: dogs never compare you to your sister nor make judgments in her favor. Dogs never know what is coming and so live purely in the moment, savoring the good, doing their best to endure the bad--and they offer up this miraculous example so that we can learn from it.”
Linda Gray Sexton, Bespotted: My Family's Love Affair with Thirty-Eight Dalmatians




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