“Translation is all about making decisions, hundreds, even thousands of decisions. Maybe a new way exists to look at myself, my life.”

Linda Murphy Marshall does a deep dive into her life as she clears her late parents’ house. Her hope at the start of this journey is to work through the myriad objects in the house, sort through the countless memories attached to each and derive her own meaning from them.

This introspective book shows that translators are writers too. The author travels back into her past and expresses her feelings and emotions in a way that you, the reader, feel her emotions too.

Linda Murphy Marshall breaks the widely-agreed rule that translators not be seen or felt in their work. She plants herself firmly in the centre of her own story, which seems to be a change from the way she grew up.

The part I found fascinating about this story is what the author deems important enough to keep, along with its attached memories, and what to throw away. If we were in her shoes, we’d all pick different objects for completely different reasons.

Ivy Lodge is a look back in time at a previous life. The author examines her personal story with a fine-toothed comb. She “re-interprets” her memories and feelings throughout the story. This melancholic story has happier, lighter memories scattered throughout, so avoids leaving you with a sour taste in your mouth.

A touching book, but one tinged with much sadness. In 2000, the author joined her three siblings in their Missouri home to divvy up the possessions.
Being a multi linguist, Marshall dissects and analyzes the language of the home and her parents by going from room to room, reflecting and gathering keepsakes.
Her parents were aloof, hypercritical, and often cruel from her recollections.
Ivy Lodge seems to be the author’s final farewell to her family home, but also a final purging of her parents’ ways and words.

Ivy Lodge by Linda Murphy Marshall is an absolutely riveting memoir. The author is a translator, and tells her story as she sorts through the family home after her parents die. It's an emotional journey I won't forget. Highly recommend for fans of memoirs detailing traumatic upbringings and their path to healing/acceptance.

I was intrigued by the description of this book and the structure of it. I think that it is a marvelous vehicle for presenting a story and I liked the author's voice. But all in all, I found it repetitive, and much longer than necessary. I think it could have simply been a long essay rather than a book. Still, there were some gems in here, and as a reader who has recently also had to deal with cleaning out an estate, I could identify with some of the emotions. In the end, it is a bit of a niche book and may be of most interest to those who live in the same state as the author and perhaps knew of her father.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

Ever drive by a an older house and wonder what stories it may have? I know I have and Ivy Lodge does just that, tells the story of a home. Or is it just a house? After reading the book, you can make your own decision on that one.

After her parents death, Linda takes a stroll down memory lane as she goes from room to room, top to bottom, taking the reader with her.

Her father was in politics for 8 years, an attorney and dealt in real estate. Cold, distant and overbearing. Her mother was just as cold and distant and very belittling. Parenting at it's worse. As most children do, Linda does love her parents and points out the few good times they had together growing up. Her parents pushed a wedge between the siblings that is still there to this day.

Ivy Lodge was an easy read for me. I felt so much hurt and anger for the writer though. I hope she has found some peace after writing Ivy Lodge.



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If only we look back can we see forward. A woman decide to take a close look at her ancestry and her past. I found this book incredibly fascinating as it’s a human study of a family. I was absolutely entranced by the pages.