In the mid-1970s, Leslie Nack’s family returned from sailing to French Polynesia and began the integration process into American life again, which included being tossed back and forth between an alcoholic, mentally ill mother and an abusive, overbearing father.

To find love and acceptance, Leslie chases a myth that throws her into the path of nefarious older men, where she eventually falls into drug and alcohol addiction. Her father dies in his plane in the jungles of Mexico when Leslie is nineteen, but his abuse lingers in her psyche. She spirals, her only solace her next fix—until, somehow, she finds the grace, despite her abjectly dysfunctional family background, to believe in her worth. This newfound self-love changes everything for her, and finally she is able to find her way to sobriety and recovery.

Fourteen is a coming-of-age adventure when, at the age of 14, Leslie and her two sisters have to batten down the hatches on their 45-foot sailboat to navigate the Pacific Ocean and French Polynesia, as well as the stormy temper of their larger-than-life Norwegian father.

“Set against the background of life with a floating home . . . [Fourteen] is not just a sailing story, nor is it a coming of age tale, but a splendid mix of the two.”
—Sailing Magazine

“ In candid, clear, even-handed prose, Fourteen is an important book, one that takes us on a lush journey to distant lands and through the complexities and resilience of the human spirit.”
—Janna Cawrse Esarey, author of The Motion of the Ocean

The true-life story of Marion Davies’ thirty-four-year relationship with William Randolph Hearst including a whirlwind courtship, a movie career spanning two decades and forty-four films, a secret child, and harrowing family excesses, not to mention a secret love affair with Charlie Chaplin. The Blue Butterfly is a behind-the-scenes look into the opulent private life of Marion Davies and how the movie Citizen Kane stole her legacy and turned everyone against her.

“Nack goes where no author has gone before with this vibrant period novel that brilliantly reimagines the life of legendary film star, Marion Davies.”
—Brit & Co

“A detailed, moving portrait of a complex woman in a complex life.”
—Kirkus Reviews, view full review here

“Nack’s latest novel is a vibrant and complex historical fiction account of Marion Davies’ thirty-four-year relationship with William Randolph Hearst. Davies is known as one of the great actresses of her generation and Nack proves just how timeless her story really is, taking readers on a whirlwind journey of her life.”
—Women.com

Leslie Johansen Nack is the author of two award-winning books Fourteen: A Daughter’s Memoir of Adventure, Sailing and Survival, and The Blue Butterfly: A Novel of Marion Davies. Her forthcoming sequel, Nineteen: A Daughter’s Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery, finishes Leslie’s angsty and challenging story with sobriety and hope for the future. She 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 The Authors’ Guild, The Historical Novel Society and the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Assn. She lives outside Seattle with her husband of 35 years.