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Leslie Johansen Nack

Goodreads Author

Born

St. Paul, The United States

Website

http://www.lesliejohansennack.com

Twitter

leslie_nack

Genre

Historical Fiction, Memoir, Travel

Influences

Taylor Jenkins Reid, Sue Monk Kidd, Paula McLain, Nancy Horan, Abigail ...more

Member Since

February 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/lesliejohansennack

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Leslie Johansen Nack is the author of two award-winning books: her debut memoir, Fourteen, and her historical novel, The Blue Butterfly. Her forthcoming sequel, Nineteen: A Daughter’s Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery, concludes her raw and deeply personal story, chronicling her path to sobriety and a renewed sense of hope. Nack graduated from UCLA with a degree in English literature and overcame past traumas to raise two children in a healthy, loving home. She is a member of NAMW, the Historical Novel Society, and the PNWA. She lives outside Seattle with her husband.

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Popular Answered Questions

I was also very concerned about your mother. I felt her rejection. I felt she still loved Bjorn and tried in her own way to have all of you back again. Why did your father reject your mother after having a beautiful family with her and he knew he was far from perfect himself? Why didn't he try? Thanks, your story fills me with bewildering empathy.

Leslie Johansen Nack Thank you Teresa for such a compelling and intriguing question. My parents tried to make their marriage work all throughout my childhood. My mother in…moreThank you Teresa for such a compelling and intriguing question. My parents tried to make their marriage work all throughout my childhood. My mother inherited the disease of alcoholism in addition to inheriting manic depression (which wasn't diagnosed until the 1980s) so her behavior was erratic and unpredictable at best. I believe my parents loved each other when they were first married but having children often puts a strain on even the best marriages, and my parent's marriage crumbled under the strain. My mother was in and out of mental hospitals every two years when I was growing up. It wasn't her fault, but I believe she was a victim of the times and the lack of medical diagnoses and treatments at the time (1960s and 1970s). I don't really get into this in Fourteen because it only covers 3 years of my life: from 12-14, with one flashback (chapter 3) as some background. My next book will cover this subject in much more depth.

My father would never have admitted he was not perfect. Isn't that the way it goes with gregarious, outgoing, outspoken, abusive bullies? He blamed everything on our mother. As a child it was hard to decipher what was going on, especially while living an extravagant and unusual life with my father.

I hope that answers your questions. I feel you are sympathetic towards my mother and I appreciate that. I am sympathetic towards her too at times. She lived in a time when the medical community didn't really have positive and sustaining treatments for somebody with a chemical imbalance. The treatments were often barbaric (shock treatments, heavy medications, restraints and sometimes abuse in the facilities charged with taking care of her).

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What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?

Leslie Johansen Nack The true story depicted in my first memoir, Fourteen A Daughter's Memoir of Adventure, Sailing and Survival, is being continued in a second memoir as …moreThe true story depicted in my first memoir, Fourteen A Daughter's Memoir of Adventure, Sailing and Survival, is being continued in a second memoir as I reveal many mysteries including the mystery of how our sailboat Aegir sank in French Polynesia, and how my father died in the Mexican jungle. (less)

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Combine Editions
Leslie Johansen Nack’s books

Average rating: 4.13 · 2,104 ratings · 276 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Blue Butterfly: A Novel of Marion Davies 4.06 avg rating — 1,069 ratings — published 2022 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fourteen: A Daughter's Memoir of Adventure, Sailing, and Survival 4.19 avg rating — 1,017 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nineteen: A Daughter's Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery 4.50 avg rating — 18 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

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Leslie Johansen Nack's Blog

eBook on sale everywhere

Hi, good readers,

The Blue Butterfly eBook is on sale everywhere now.

Links are on my website at www.lesliejohansennack.com.

Thanks! Happy reading. xo Leslie

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Published on October 21, 2023 14:01 • Tags: biographical-historical-fiction, historical-fiction

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Leslie is Currently Reading

Leslie Nack is currently reading

The City and Its Uncertain Walls

by Haruki Murakami

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Dec 27, 2024 11:02PM

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Leslie’s Recent Updates

Leslie Nack entered a giveaway Skylark by Paula McLain (Goodreads Author) 100 copies available, ends on October 25, 2025 Enter to win »
Sep 25, 2025 06:20AM · like · see giveaway
Leslie Nack rated a book it was amazing Isabela's Way: A Novel by Barbara Stark-Nemon (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Stark-Nemon gives us fourteen-year-old Isabela, whom we immediately fall in love with, to see the tragedy and injustice of the Inquisition of the 1600s in Portugal. She is our heroine, and we watch her grow, change, and become a woman capable of not ...more
Sep 17, 2025 06:38PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Isabela's Way by Barbara Stark-Nemon. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Isabela's Way by Barbara Stark-Nemon <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Leslie Nack rated a book it was amazing No Longer That Girl: Retracing the Scars of the Past and Present by Stephanie L. Maley	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Maley reached down deep into my heart and stirred an ache for young girls like her who were innocent and sweet believers of all the good in the world, only to be abused by men who take what they want without regard for the girl. My heart breaks for M ...more
Aug 19, 2025 11:18AM · 1 like · like · see review
Leslie Nack wants to read If I Were Water & You Were Air: Love Poems by Judy Dykstra-Brown (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Leslie Nack wants to read If I Were Water & You Were Air: Love Poems by Judy Dykstra-Brown (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Leslie Nack wants to read Sock Talk: A Christmas Story by Judy Dykstra-Brown (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Leslie Nack wants to read It's Always Been Me: A Novel by Megan Walrod	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Leslie Nack rated a book it was amazing Saving Vincent: A Novel of Jo van Gogh by Joan Fernandez (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 21, 2025 01:14PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Saving Vincent by Joan Fernandez. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Saving Vincent by Joan Fernandez <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Leslie Nack rated a book it was amazing Sit, Cinderella, Sit: A Mostly True Memoir by Lisa Cheek (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
What a delightful story, told in an upbeat, witty, and endearing manner. Cheek has succeeded in making me laugh and cry, while also melting my heart and shocking me with what she went through before, during, and after her trip to China to make the 20 ...more
Jul 14, 2025 11:43AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Sit, Cinderella, Sit by Lisa Cheek. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Sit, Cinderella, Sit by Lisa Cheek <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Leslie Nack rated a book it was amazing The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 26, 2025 04:28AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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