From British Lords to Los Angeles Sex Workers -- Louise Godbold Tells Her Story in a New Book

Louise Godbold, a privileged, white, Cambridge-educated Christian woman left her world behind to marry a Mexican drug addict and become a social worker to the prostitutes, gang members and homeless in the ghettos of Los Angeles, California. Today she announces the completion of her new book, Mad Dogs and Englishwomen, which tells of this journey across class, culture and continents.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) May 5, 2008 -- Louise Godbold, a privileged, white, Cambridge-educated Christian woman left her world behind to marry a Mexican drug addict and become a social worker to the prostitutes, gang members and homeless in the ghettos of Los Angeles, California. Today she announces the completion of her new book, Mad Dogs and Englishwomen, which tells of this journey across class, culture and continents.

"The book deals with the incongruity of me going from interviewing movie stars in Hollywood to volunteering at a Skid Row homeless shelter, marrying Francisco, a recovering heroin addict, and the discovery that Francisco wasn't so recovering after all! The book chronicles my wild ride as I attempt to 'save' my husband, maintain my dignity in the face propositioning drug lords and pimps, and keep a grip on my fast-disappearing sense of belonging to the respectable world."

What makes Ms. Godbold's book stand out is the extreme juxtaposition of two worlds: the cosmopolitan yet naïve Christian meets the gritty reality of the Latino underworld. Her story is a journey of faith and despair, exorcism and drug deals, prostitutes and preachers, all related through the eyes of someone once destined to be the wife of a wealthy industrialist. The writing is suffused with an ironic humor and lack of self-pity that allows the reader to overlook the serious lapse of judgment that landed her in this predicament in the first place.

The book is written in reverse chronological order. Admits Ms. Godbold, "It is an experiment with form, but it was also the process I needed to handle the emotional content of the material. I had to back into the emotions to rediscover not just why I fell in love with Francisco, but also to accept the woman I once was; if I hadn't worked backwards from a place of resilience and humor, she would appear impossibly romantic, idealistic and just plain sappy.

Ms. Godbold is currently seeking a publisher for Mad Dogs and Englishwomen. For a video interview with the author, please go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut3SdNslhyI

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