"How can we not love ‘Leo,’ whose timely story comes to us piece by colorful piece in much the same way as she herself created a life in America."
– Marilyn McConnell, author, Return Trips and Erosion
Leovigilda Ramirez ("Leo") did not cross an ocean to disappear.
In 1950s Colombia, she had already survived more than most young women should—the death of her mother, a domineering father, the ache of a first love that strayed.
When she left for a small town in the American South, she carried no English, little formal education, and no guarantees.
What she carried instead was resolve.
In a place that felt foreign in every way—its language, its customs, its expectations—she willed herself to make a life.
She learned. She adapted. She prayed. She worked hard in all she did.
Her rebellion was not loud. It was not public.
It was her daily insistence on life in spite of.
Cracked, Not Broken is the story of a woman who turned loss into strength, faith into action, and motherhood into a quiet act of defiance
Watch the Story Behind The Book
About the Author
Juliette J. Mansour is a first-generation American writer and photographer based in Atlanta.
Her written work explores essays on culture, creative resilience, and what it means to live consciously.
Cracked, Not Broken is her first self-published book.
Follow the work on her weekly Substack newsletter, The Additional f-Stop and see her photographic work on juliettemansour.com
