London Sojourn - by Rebecca Knuth (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

For fans of Eat, Pray, Love and Without Reservations, a captivating memoir of one woman's bold leap into reinvention--trading academia for adventure, storytelling, and self-discovery in the heart of London.

What happens when a burnt-out professor trades academia for a fresh start in the city of her dreams--only to find reinvention far tougher than she imagined?

At sixty-five, Rebecca Knuth walks away from the security and status of academia, determined to reimagine herself in London. She craves more--more creativity, more stories, more life. Immersing herself in the city's literary and cultural world, she enrolls in a creative nonfiction masters program, trains as a guide, joins the prestigious London Library, and reclaims her voice as a writer. London becomes her muse, a place of transformation where shedding her old identity is inseparable from rebuilding herself as a woman. But change is never simple.

Her mother's health declines. Rebecca lands in intensive care. She's harassed on the Underground. Exhaustion takes hold. Doubt creeps in--about her ambition, her motivation, even her sense of belonging. Where exactly is home?

A memoir of reinvention, resilience, and self-discovery, London Sojourn speaks to retirees, creatives, and seekers longing to step beyond certainty into something new.

Review Quotes

"Intriguing, introspective, and densely packed with historical and observational factoids."--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Rebecca Knuth is a retired professor and expert on censorship and cultural destruction. Formerly at the University of Hawaii, she authored Libricide: The Regime-Sponsored Destruction of Books and Libraries in the 20th Century and has contributed to Smithsonian Magazine, Cabinet, History News Network, CBC Radio, and more. Transitioning to creative nonfiction, she earned a third master's degree and immersed herself in London's literary scene. Now a full-time writer, she published Emily Dickinson Had to Have Curls in 2024. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where she coordinated the Sylvia Beach Writers Conference as part of the Oregon Writers Colony.