Baila the Beautiful: A Memoir by Baila Markus

Baila was a Jewish Canadian, raised in Montreal and Toronto. A child of the 20's, her journey is one of feminist evolution in the days when the transition from sexpot to whole woman was uncharted territory. Early on, she validates herself only through the eyes of men - the sexual object par excellence. The road to self-discovery and independence takes her through marriage and motherhood, crack-ups and divorce, a hot love affair with a well-known political activist in the struggle for Quebec independence, visits to Cuba's revolution, a career in forensic psychiatry in Montreal and in France, an adventure with a spiritual cult in New York, and a wondrous trip to India. Baila's chronological story is interspersed with letters to Leo, her psychiatrist and her one true friend up until, and after, his death. Baila passed away on February 22, 2013. She was 88 years old.