Photo courtesy of Linda Joffe Hull
Former St. Louisan Linda Joffe Hull, above, will be appearing at Left Bank Books (two doors from where her father Bill Joffe and step-mom Liz (Trinkie) Heller live) at 7 p.m. Tuesday night, November 27, to promote her first novel, The Big Bang. Bill Joffe, above, introduced his five daughters (Linda is the eldest) to Kafka when they were in elementary school. He preferred that they read the classics rather than the Weekly Reader, for instance, which Linda really preferred. "As a result," Linda said, "I read, but can't say I understood, books like The Catcher in The Rye in the fourth grade. I thought Animal Farm was a really good book about animals."
Now, as a result of their father's efforts, all of his daughters are avid readers, and one has published her first novel, "a suburban satire/pregnancy whodunnit," making Bill Joffe understandably proud.
Photo courtesy of Linda Joffe Hull
Linda was 15 when her parents divorced and her father moved to the Central West End. After attending Burroughs and Ladue High School, Linda went off to study economics at UCLA. When she left for college her mother(Margie Moskowitz) moved to Westminster Place. Linda has fond memories of coming home for Christmas and trudging along Euclid through the snow wearing pajamas and boots as she traveled between her parent's houses.
Linda and her husband, Brandon Hull, (who have three children) have lived in Denver for 18 years. One son is a freshman at Indiana University, another is a junior in high school, and their 7-year-old daughter, Eliza, is in the first grade. Though Linda dabbled in writing before she married, she waited until her eldest son was four to join the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. While there she tried her hand at novel-length fiction. After close to 150 rejection letters for her first novel, The Big Bang was finally published by Tyrus Books this fall. Linda said that there is no way she could have accomplished this without the support of her husband, who just wouldn't let her give up, and the support of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. A second novel, Eternally 21, the first in the author's "Mrs. Frugalicious" mystery series, will be published next spring.
With the release of The Big Bang, Linda had "an utterly incredible signing party at Denver's indie bookstore, The Tattered Cover" two weeks ago. And she is really excited about reading at the neighborhood's Left Bank Books. "I will always consider St. Louis home," Linda said. "It will be great to reconnect with the friends, family and members of the community who show up at the signing. In fact, I can't wait!"
Meet Linda Joffe Hull, author of The Big Bang, at 7 p.m. Tuesday night (tomorrow), November 27, Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid.