Memoir Launch: Such a Pretty Picture by Andrea Leeb

Join us at Village Well Books & Coffee for the launch of Such a Pretty Picture, a memoir by Andrea Leeb!

Leeb will walk us through the experience of writing this "moving memoir of trauma with an uplifting conclusion" (Kirkus Reviews) in conversation with author Elle Johnson.

About the participants:

Andrea Leeb is a writer and advocate for survivors of sexual assault. She has an MFA from Bennington Writing Seminars, and her work has been published in numerous literary journals. Previously, Andrea worked as an attorney and as a registered nurse. Such a Pretty Picture: A Memoir is her first full length book.

Elle Johnson is a TV Writer and Executive Producer whose credits include Bosch, Law and Order, and CSI: Miami. Her debut memoir, The Officer's Daughter, was named one of People Magazine’s Best New Books of 2021 and The New York Times Book Review called it “immensely moving.”

About the title:

For readers of I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy and The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, a candid and heart-wrenching memoir about child abuse, family secrets, and the healing that begins once the truth is revealed and the past is confronted.

Andrea is four and a half the first time her father, David, gives her a bath. Although she is young, she knows there is something strange about the way he is touching her. When her mother, Marlene, walks in to check on them, she howls and crumples to the floor—and when she opens her eyes, she is blind. Marlene’s hysterical blindness lasts for weeks, but her willful blindness lasts decades. The abuse continues, and Andrea spends a childhood living with a secret she can’t tell and a shame she is too afraid to name.

Despite it, she survives. She builds a life and tells herself she is fine. But at age thirty-three, an unwanted grope on a New York City subway triggers her past. Suddenly unable to remember how to forget, Andrea is forced to confront her past—and finally begin to heal.

This brave debut offers honest insight into a survivor’s journey. Readers will feel Andrea’s pain, her fear, and her shame—yet they will also feel her hope. And like Andrea, they will come to understand an important truth: though healing is complicated, it is possible to find joy and even grace in the wake of the most profound betrayals.

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