She Writes Press has released Immersion: A Linguist’s Memoir by Linda Murphy Marshall, an international story that follows a linguist’s emotional and physical journey to find her place in the world — across more than a dozen languages and multiple continents.

In Immersion, Murphy Marshall traces her path from early Spanish studies to Washington, DC, where she trained and worked as a multi-linguist. Her assignments took her to remote regions of Northeast Brazil and across Africa, including Zambia during an attempted coup, the Democratic Republic of Congo during wartime, Kenya following the Al-Qaeda bombing of the United States (US) Embassy, South Africa shortly after apartheid, and Tanzania on a protection team with President George W Bush. Along the way, she studied Xhosa, Sotho, Shona, Swahili, Amharic, and Somali.

Blending coming-of-age narrative, cultural and political history, and high-stakes fieldwork, the memoir shows how linguistic mastery and persuasion can reshape a life’s trajectory.

“Immersion reads like an international thriller… a page-turner from beginning to end,” notes one reviewer, highlighting the author’s journey from humble beginnings to global impact.

Immersion is distributed by Simon & Schuster and can be purchased at Barnes & Noble, The Ivy Bookshop in Baltimore, Amazon, Curious Iguana in Frederick, Maryland, and numerous independent bookstores.

About the Author

Linda Murphy Marshall is a linguist and writer whose government service and language studies span the Americas and Africa. She has worked with the Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language, US Department of Defense, US State Department, CIA, FBI, and Lutheran Church. She speaks 15 languages at varying levels of proficiency.