Leffler, Maggie

PERSONAL:

Born in Columbia, MD; married; children: one son. Education: Graduated from the University of Delaware (cum laude); St, George's University of Medicine, M.D., 2000.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Pittsburgh, PA. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer. Physician in family practice, Tarentum, PA.

WRITINGS:

The Diagnosis of Love, Delta Trade Paperbacks (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Maggie Leffler attributes her dual choice of careers to her family's influence, as both of her parents were doctors, and her grandmother was a novelist. Leffler began writing as a child and majored in English at the University of Delaware. However, it was her minor in biology that led her to medical school and to eventually set up in family practice in Pennsylvania. She also continued writing, eventually producing her first novel, The Diagnosis of Love, published in 2007. The book tells the story of Holly, a young doctor-in-training who has followed in her mother's footsteps, only to find herself questioning her path when her mother dies. She runs off to England to start a residency program, and finds herself assisting her brother's fiancée, who comes abroad to search out members of her family.

Leffler rewrote the book seven times between the years she spent waiting to get accepted to medical school and actually fulfilling her internship and setting up her practice, and while the plot remained much the same in many respects, the death of her own mother eventually was woven into the story line. Leffler told Bob Hoover, in an interview for the Post-Gazette Online: "Most of the book is still comedic in tone, but I had my character confront that sadder issue in her life as well." In a review for Booklist, contributor Aleksandra Kostovski remarked: "Leffler … writes with warmth and confidence about new beginnings."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2007, Aleksandra Kostovski, review of The Diagnosis of Love, p. 56.

ONLINE

Maggie Leffler Home Page,http://www.maggieleffler.com (June 20, 2007).

Post-Gazette Online (Pittsburgh, PA), http://www.postgazette.com/ (April 29, 2007), Bob Hoover, "Three Pittsburgh-Area Women Score with their First Novels."

Random House Web site,http://www.randomhouse.com/ (June 20, 2007), author biography.