 In 1983, Livesey joined the faculty at Tufts University and in 1986 published her first book, a collection of stories, which included nine short stories, and a novella, "Learning By Heart," which gave the volume its title.Her first novel, "Homework", appeared in 1990.The story of an Edinburgh book editor who enters a relationship with the father of a disturbed child, the novel was short listed for the W.H.