A Book and a Chat with Louise Mae Hoffmann
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Louise Mae Hoffmann
7 Hours to Sofia: challenges and
discoveries of a Peace Corps Volunteer, Louise Mae HoffmannHoffmann
makes a powerful point in this book about democracy. Bulgarians struggle
to come to terms with their own freedom. After retiring from her career
directing a college library, and serving as president of the New Mexico
Library Association, she decides to volunteer for the PEACE CORPS. The
book tells the story of her tour of duty. Along the way, Hoffmann
established a new public library in the city where she was teaching. She
travels by train to many Bulgarian towns and cities. She visits the
countries near Bulgaria with many friends, and shares letters from and
to family members and friends in the U.S. She shares 24 wonderful
Bulgarian recipes, which she prepared for students and friends who came
to visit. The book reveals people and places we know very little about.
Hoffmann is richer for her experiences in the Peace Corps and so are her
readers.
Pacific Book Review
As a sixty-five year old Peace Corps Volunteer, Louise Mae Hoffmann
doesn’t really know what to expect from her time overseas. However, with
her children grown and an extensive career under her belt, she felt as
if it was the right time for her to follow her childhood dream.
In her novel, “7 Hours to Sofia,” Hoffmann offers readers a totally
uncensored account of her time as a Peace Corps volunteer. The novel is a
combination of diary entries, her candid narration, as well as
transcribed letters to and from various correspondents. She recounts,
her struggles learning a foreign language and alphabet, describes the
native dishes she learned to cook and details everyday life in a
Bulgarian town. Hoffmann is at all times totally honest in her writing.
She details the good, or her UP list, and the ugly, her DOWN list. Some
things, such as meeting new and interesting people are UP, while
challenges including trying for two days to receive a package from the
mail are DOWN.
This level of detail is also Hoffmann’s hamartia. Much of the
information is irrelevant; for example, on the drive to her first Peace
Corps orientation meeting, Hoffmann describes where she stopped for the
night and what she had for dinner. While her memory is impressive, these
details don’t feed into the actual story and do little to enhance the
readers’ experience. Likewise, the letters she includes from her
children are of debatable importance. At this stage in the novel,
Hoffmann is battling the loneliness of living on a different continent
from her loved ones, surrounded by a language she is only just learning
to speak. The letters from her children and friends back home also refer
to that loneliness felt by all. At the same time, however, reading
about her daughter going to the movies and watering her garden in Boston
really adds to the feelings of being removed from her family rather
than making her happy to hear the details of their lives, far away.
Many of the small details about life in Bulgaria really are
fascinating, and show what kind of culture shock Hoffmann had to
acclimate to during her time in a foreign country. For instance,
Hoffmann wrote, “The clothes were weighed and are bought by the pound” –
as she describes her challenges finding affordable clothing, especially
jean pants, while in Bulgaria.
“7 Hours to Sofia” is an interesting and honest account of one
volunteer’s time in the Peace Corps. Any person interested in pursuing
this dream would do well to read Hoffmann’s novel, as her totally
uncensored account is at all times honest and very often entertaining as
well. It is obvious Hoffmann’s incredible attention to detail and her
passion for her work provided the underlying foundation to her becoming
an author.
Overall, “7 Hours to Sofia” is an experience readers can learn about
vicariously from the comfort of their own home, and determine if such a
bold career change is right for them. With the fluent and factual wealth
of wisdom apparent in Hoffmann’s mind, I would be on the lookout for
future novels from this talented author.
Sarah E. Glenn,
a product of the suburbs, has a B.S. in Journalism, which is redundant
if you think about it. She loves writing mystery and horror stories,
often with a sidecar of funny. Several have appeared in mystery and
paranormal anthologies, including G.W. Thomas’ Ghostbreakers series, Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, and Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology. She belongs to Sisters in Crime, SinC Guppies, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and the Historical Novel Society.
She
was born in London and grew up in a tiny village in Sussex. She
attended the University of Sussex and then the North London School of
Nursing. She worked for 40 years as a nurse and then a nurse
practitioner, specializing in the care of adults with physical
disabilities. She has now retired from her day job and is focusing on
her writing. She lives in the East Bay with her partner and their West
Highland terrier MacDuff.
