Showering a child in the wrong kind of love

On the surface, at least, Ariel Leve led an impossibly privileged and glamorous existence as a youngster. Dividing her time between New York ’s salubrious Upper East Side where her mother lived, and Thailand, where her father was based, Leve’s young life was a whirlwind of devoted nannies and literati members.

Her mother (named here as Suzanne), was a famed feminist, documentary-maker and poet, profiled by People magazine and befriended by Saul Bellow, ...