3 Books that Helped Me Find Direction

Inspiration can be everywhere: in music, in movies, in books… This month, we’re spotlighting inspiration in its many forms. Today, Leah Ferguson, author of the forthcoming

All the Difference  (Berkley/Penguin) , tells us about three books that shaped the woman she is today:

I have the rare—and really unfortunate—ability to forget the entire plot of a book immediately after I finish reading it (not the best attribute for a former English teacher, that’s for sure). But I can tell you that when I was younger, the character Jo in Little Women and Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice shaped the woman I am today: spunky, not so good at taking orders, idealistic.

But it’s Ranier Marie Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet that guided me through the confusing crossroads of my mid-twenties to get to the point where I could actually be a modern-day Jo or Elizabeth. His advice made me feel that my uncertainty was for a greater purpose, and that the awful period of loneliness and insecurity I was experiencing was necessary for me to find my direction—which I did as a new teacher, then a wife and mother, and finally as a writer. 

As Rilke noted, “Art too is just a way of living, and however one lives, one can, without knowing, prepare for it.”  I like to think that Louisa May Alcott and Jane Austen would agree. 

Leah Ferguson holds a B.A. from West Chester University, where she studied English Literature and Russian, and an M.A. in teaching from Notre Dame of Maryland University. A former editor and teacher, Leah now writes from her home in Pennsylvania with her husband, three young children, dog and tailless cat. Her debut novel, All the Difference , is coming September 1, 2015, from Berkley/Penguin and is available now for pre-order. Please connect with her on her blog, Tumblr, or through Facebook and Twitter.