Revealing the entangled lives of texts and textiles in the early modern Atlantic world. "Textiles are the books that the colony was not able to burn."—Asociación Femenina para el Desarrollo de Sacatepéquez (AFEDES) A history of the book in the Americas, across deep time, would reveal the origins of a literary tradition woven rather than written. It is in what Danielle Skeehan calls material texts that a people's history and culture is preserved, in their embroidery, their needlework, and their woven cloth. In defining textiles as a form of cultural writing, The Fabric of Empire challenges long-held ideas about authorship, textuality, and the making of books. It is impossible to separate text from textiles in the early modern Atlantic: novels, newspapers, broadsides, and pamphlets were printed on paper made from household rags. Yet the untethering of text from textile served a colonial agenda to define authorship as reflected in ink and paper and the pen as an instrument wielded by learned men and women. Skeehan explains that the colonial definition of the book, and what constituted writing and authorship, left colonial regimes blind to nonalphabetic forms of media that preserved cultural knowledge, history, and lived experience. This book shifts how we look at cultural objects such as books and fabric and provides a material and literary history of resistance among the globally dispossessed. Each chapter examines the manufacture and global circulation of a particular type of cloth alongside the complex print networks that ensured the circulation of these textiles, promoted their production, petitioned for or served to curtail the rights of textile workers, facilitated the exchange of textiles for human lives, and were, in turn, printed and written on surfaces manufactured from broken-down linen and cotton fibers. Bringing together methods and materials traditionally belonging to literary studies, book history, and material culture studies, The Fabric of Empire provides a new model for thinking about the different media, languages, literacies, and textualities in the early Atlantic world.
Revealing the entangled lives of texts and textiles in the early modern Atlantic world. "Textiles are the books that the colony was not able to burn."—Asociación Femenina para el Desarrollo de Sacatepéquez (AFEDES) A history of the book in the Americas, across deep time, would reveal the origins of a literary tradition woven rather than written. It is in what Danielle Skeehan calls material texts that a people's history and culture is preserved, in their embroidery, their needlework, and their woven cloth. In defining textiles as a form of cultural writing, The Fabric of Empire challenges long-held ideas about authorship, textuality, and the making of books. It is impossible to separate text from textiles in the early modern Atlantic: novels, newspapers, broadsides, and pamphlets were printed on paper made from household rags. Yet the untethering of text from textile served a colonial agenda to define authorship as reflected in ink and paper and the pen as an instrument wielded by learned men and women. Skeehan explains that the colonial definition of the book, and what constituted writing and authorship, left colonial regimes blind to nonalphabetic forms of media that preserved cultural knowledge, history, and lived experience. This book shifts how we look at cultural objects such as books and fabric and provides a material and literary history of resistance among the globally dispossessed. Each chapter examines the manufacture and global circulation of a particular type of cloth alongside the complex print networks that ensured the circulation of these textiles, promoted their production, petitioned for or served to curtail the rights of textile workers, facilitated the exchange of textiles for human lives, and were, in turn, printed and written on surfaces manufactured from broken-down linen and cotton fibers. Bringing together methods and materials traditionally belonging to literary studies, book history, and material culture studies, The Fabric of Empire provides a new model for thinking about the different media, languages, literacies, and textualities in the early Atlantic world.
In her 50th bestselling novel, Danielle Steel takes us behind the closed doors of a prominent marriage to explore the private secrets hidden behind public lives. Journey Everyone in Washington knows Madeleine and Jack Hunter. Maddy is an award-winning TV anchorwoman. Jack is the head of her network, an adviser to the President on media issues. To the world, theirs is a storybook marriage. Two brilliant careers. A long, loving partnership. But behind the locked doors of their lush Georgetown home, a very different story emerges. For as Maddy's career soars, a bitter edge has crept into Jack's words, a pattern of subtle put-downs, control, and jealousy that Maddy has always tried to ignore and deny. For Maddy, there are no bruises, no scars, only the daggers of fear, humiliation, and isolation. Their effect as powerful as the gun, the knife, or the fist, the wounds as deep. Through hard work, long years, and with Jack's help, Maddy has become a role model and a star. It seems impossible to believe that a woman the nation idolizes lives in degradation and fear. Only Maddy knows the terror in her heart. Her secrets are well kept, sometimes even from herself. Maddy's journey to healing begins when the President's wife offers an extraordinary opportunity, the chance to join her newly formed Commission on Violence Against Women. There, Maddy hears chilling stories from terrified wives and girlfriends that sound eerily familiar. And there she comes to know Bill Alexander, a distinguished scholar and diplomat who also works on the commission. Bill suspects that something is terribly wrong in Maddy's marriage and begs her to open her eyes. And as Maddy slowly, painfully takes the first steps toward freedom, as she and Bill grow closer, a remarkable series of events begins to unfold...a stranger from Maddy's past suddenly reappears...White House headlines bring the nation to a standstill...and a devastating tragedy occurs, forcing Maddy to realize just how much she has lost and how much has been taken from her--her confidence, her trust, her self-respect. As she is faced with the most difficult choice of her life, Maddy's extraordinary journey comes to a close, and with it comes a strength she never knew she had and a gift she never could have expected--a gift that will change her life forever. Set against a vivid backdrop of world-shattering events,Journeyis a book about abuse, in its subtlest forms. The powerful effects that last a lifetime. With wisdom and compassion, bestselling novelist Danielle Steel reminds us that no one is exempt from the effects of this devastating disease, which crosses social borders, has no respect for money, power, or success. But at its core,Journeyis a book about hope, about change, and about daring to be free. From the Hardcover edition.
BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Danielle Steel's Hotel Vendome. This compelling, centuries-spanning novel brilliantly interweaves the lives of two women—a writer working in the heart of modern academia and a daring young Sioux Indian on an incredible journey in the eighteenth century. The result is an unforgettable story of courage in the face of the unknown. LEGACY At the age of thirty-eight, Brigitte Nicholson has a job she likes, a man she loves, and a book she’s writing that she will finish—someday. Someday is Brigitte’s watchword. Someday she and Ted will clarify their relationship. Someday she will stop playing it so safe. Then, on a snowy day in Boston, Brigitte’s life is jolted and everything she has counted on changes. As she struggles to plot a new course, Brigitte agrees to help her mother on a family genealogy project and makes a stunning discovery that reaches back to the French aristocracy. How did Brigitte’s mysterious ancestor Wachiwi, a Dakota Sioux, travel from the Great Plains to the French court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette? How did she come to marry into Brigitte’s family? What is the truth behind the tantalizing clues in the fragmented, centuries-old records? Traveling from South Dakota to Paris, following the threads of Wachiwi’s life, Brigitte finds herself in the forefront of her own story. With a powerful family legacy coming to life around her, someday is no longer in the future. Instead, in Danielle Steel’s mesmerizing novel, someday is now.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel returns with an irresistible novel about a woman whose seemingly perfect life comes crashing down—and learns to find joy in rising above. Darcy Gray is a successful influencer with her blog, The Gray Zone, trusted by more than a million followers for her integrity and taste. At forty-two, she has the life she wants in many ways. Darcy and her husband, department store magnate Charles Gray, are a power couple in Manhattan and on the international stage. Their beloved twin daughters are each enjoying their junior year abroad, Penny in Hong Kong and Zoe at the Sorbonne in Paris. To celebrate twenty years of marriage, Darcy impulsively flies to Rome to surprise Charlie, who is tending to business interests there. Instead, she gets the shock of her life, which upends her whole world. Still reeling, Darcy flees to Paris to see Zoe. But a rapidly escalating worldwide health crisis forces her to remain indefinitely in France. Suddenly thrust into a gray zone of her own, her forced separation from Zoe and the rest of her family feels like too much to bear . . . Until Darcy finds a welcoming refuge in the home of the aging French movie star Sybille Carton. There, she meets a widowed American engineer and former Marine who is also stranded. Bill Thompson is kind and courteous but also carries an air of mystery about him. In this shared confinement, and despite worries about her girls, Darcy begins to see glimpses of new possibilities. In Resurrection, Danielle Steel poignantly shows how the hardest of times can give birth to a beautiful new life.
Danielle Steel’s 56th bestselling novel is about family and friendship, about one woman’s struggle to break free from the past—and the man who helps her triumph. And most of all, it is about daring to believe in...Answered Prayers. On the outside, Faith Madison is the very picture of a sophisticated New Yorker. Slim, blond, stylish, Faith has a life many would envy. Overcoming a childhood marked by tragedy, married to a successful investment banker and having raised two grown daughters, Faith has enjoyed her role as mother and wife, and the good life that emanates from their bustling Manhattan town house. But every step of the way, Faith has carried within her a secret she could divulge to no one. And with it, she has kept an even more painful secret from herself. For Faith, it is the sudden death of her stepfather—a man who, like her husband, Alex, always remained just beyond her reach—that will touch off a journey of change and revelation. At the funeral, painful memories flood back—and an old friend reenters Faith’s life. Faith is greeting mourners, when she hears a voice behind her and a single word that brings a quick smile to her face: “Fred.” Only one person aside from her older brother, Jack, called her that. Brad Patterson was Jack’s best friend, a long, lanky boy who teased, tormented, and protected Faith when they fancied themselves “The Three Musketeers” as kids. When Jack died years later, Faith and Brad came together again in their common, inconsolable grief, then lost touch once more amid the demands of families and busy lives a continent apart. Now a lawyer in California, Brad has reentered Faith’s life just as she is making a decision that plunges her marriage into crisis. Determined to fulfill a long-held desire for a career of her own, Faith applies to law school against her husband’s wishes, igniting a barrage of anger and recrimination. Faith’s only solace is the correspondence she has begun with Brad, a man trapped in an empty marriage of his own, a friend she once lost and has found again. Soon e-mails are flying between them, bridging three thousand miles, sharing much-needed friendship, support, laughter. And as these two childhood friends rediscover each other, something extraordinary is beginning to happen. In the safety of their friendship, Brad will find the courage to make a decision he should have made years before. And Faith, too, is changing, beginning to believe in herself—and in her right to grab hold of her dreams. Gathering a strength she never knew she had, Faith is finally ready to face the most painful step of all: of sharing the secret that has long been haunting her, and truly opening up her heart for the first time in her life. With unerring insight into the hearts of husbands and wives, lovers and families, Danielle Steel tells a wise and moving story of the secrets that wound and the choices that heal—and of the second chances that come only once in a lifetime.
When Olympia Rubinstein's twin daughters are invited to a debutante ball, chaos erupts. One twin and Olympia's ex-husband are anxious to go, while the other twin and Olympia's current husband refuse to go.
When Eileen discovers that Paul's late nights in the city are hiding an affair with a younger woman, she begins to question all those years of sacrifice and compromise. Meanwhile, as Paul is thrust back into the role of suburban fatherhood, his girlfriend, Olivia, is in Manhattan, struggling to find herself in the shadow of her mother. Eileen decides to chase her own dreams as well
A beautiful Frenchwoman and a brilliant American actor--their love began like a fairy tale but ended in tragedy. Suddenly orphaned, their three children are cruelly separated. Megan, the baby, adopted by a family of comfortable means, becomes a doctor in the rural South. Alexandra, raised in lavish wealth, marries a powerful man whose pride is in his pedigree. Only Hillary, oldest of the Walker children, is cut off from every loving source.
To dare to love... Heart surgeon Dr Peter Hallam was trained to fight time, to conquer odds beyond hope. He had saved the lives of countless strangers, only to see his own wife die tragically beyond the reach of his healing hands. Months later the deep wound of loss had begun to heal as he learned to live without love. Melanie Adams, television newscaster, lived for her work and her children: nothing else mattered. On screen she was the ultimate professional, covering the biggest stories and meeting the hardest deadlines, but she was lonely inside. After heartbreak and desertion she had made her way to the top alone. And she, like Peter, had learned to live without love. But one day, for Peter and Melanie, everything changes.
Filled with heartbreak and betrayal, triumph and fulfillment, The Right Time is an intimate, richly rewarding novel about pursuing one's passion and succeeding beyond one's wildest dreams. Featuring an exclusive foreword by the author. Abandoned by her mother at age seven, Alexandra Winslow takes solace in the mysteries she reads with her devoted father--and soon she is writing them herself, slowly graduating to dark, complex crime stories that reflect skill, imagination, and talent far beyond her years. After her father's untimely death, at fourteen Alex is taken in by the nuns of a local convent, where she finds twenty-six mothers to take the place of the one she lost, and the time and encouragement to pursue her gift. Alex writes in every spare moment, gripped by the plots and themes and characters that fill her mind. Midway through college, she has finished a novel--and manages to find a seasoned agent, then a publisher. But as she climbs the ladder of publishing success, she resolutely adheres to her father's admonition: Men read crime thrillers by men only--and so Alexandra Winslow publishes under the pseudonym Alexander Green, her true identity known known only to those closest to her, creating a double life that isolates her. Her secret life as the mysterious and brilliantly successful Alexander Green--and her own life as a talented young woman--expose her to the envious, the arrogant, and Hollywood players who have no idea who she really is. Always, the right time to open up seems just out of reach, and would cost her dearly. Once her double life and fame are established, the price of the truth is always too high.
On the evening of her mother's funeral Grace Adams decides she has had enough and shoots her father when he tries to molest her once again. After two years of prison, it looks like Grace is going to be able to go on with her life, but the past seems to keep resurfacing.
Coco Barrington was born into a legendary Hollywood family, her last name loaded with expectations. Her mother is a mega-bestselling author who writes under the name of Florence Flowers - and her sister, Jane, is one of Hollywood's top producers. They're not your typical family, by any means . . . Jane has lived with her partner, Liz, for ten years, in a solid, loving relationship. Florence, widowed but still radiant, has just begun a secret romance with a man twenty-four years her junior. And Coco, a law school dropout and family black sheep, works as a dog walker, having fled life in the spotlight for the artsy Northern California beach town of Bolinas. But when Coco reluctantly agrees to house-sit in Jane's luxurious home, she soon discovers just how much things can change in just a matter of days . . . It turns out Jane's house comes complete with an unexpected houseguest: Leslie Baxter, a dashing but down-to-earth British actor who's fleeing a psycho ex-girlfriend.Their worlds couldn't be more different.The attraction couldn't be more immediate. Suddenly Coco is seeing things differently: Leslie is not just a celebrity, he's a single dad to an adorable six-year-old girl. Her mother is not just a self-centered walking advertisement for great cosmetic surgery, she's a woman in love, with vulnerability and new insight. And Jane and Liz are about to take the bravest plunge of all - into parenthood. As Coco contemplates a future with one of Hollywood's hottest stars, as her mother and sister settle into their lives, old wounds are healed and new familes are formed - some traditional, some not-so-traditional, but all bonded by love. With wit and intelligence, Danielle Steel's new novel explores love in all its guises, taking us into the lives of three unusual, but wonderfully real couples.Funny, sexy and wise, One Day at a Time is at once moving, thought provoking, and utterly impossible to put down.
Victoria -a chubby little girl with blond hair, blue eyes and ordinary looks - has always felt out of place in her family. When her younger sister Gracie is born, their parents make no secret of the fact that she is the perfect one. While they can eat as much as they like and not gain an ounce, Victoria must watch every mouthful, as well as endure her father's belittling comments about her appearance and see her academic achievements go unacknowledged. Ice cream and oversized helpings of all the wrong foods offer only temporary comfort. The one thing she knows is that she has to get as far away from home as possible and, after college in Chicago she moves to New York City. There, Victoria finds joy and excitement as a high school teacher while waging war on her weight among the sleek and slinky at Manhattan's fitness clubs. Her lifeline to her family is through Gracie - though they can't be more different in looks, style, or social lives, the two sisters love each other unconditionally.Victoria knows that she has been a disappointment to her parents all her life and no matter what she does, she can never win their approval. A chance encounter, an act of stunning betrayal, and a family confrontation lead to a turning point in the lives of Victoria and Gracie. Behind Victoria is all the hurt, neglect, and loss she has tried to forget u ahead is a new life of sisterhood, confidence and fulfillment.
To look at one was to see the other. For family, even the girls' own father, it was a constant guessing game. For strangers, the surprise was overwhelming. And for the twins Olivia and Victoria Henderson, two remarkable young women coming of age at the turn of the century, their bond was mysterious, marvelous, and often playful--a secret realm only they inhabited. Olivia and Victoria were the beloved daughters of a man who never fully recovered from his wife's death bearing them in 1893. Shy, serious Olivia, born eleven minutes before her sister, had taken over the role of mother in their lush New York estate, managing not only a household but her rebellious twin's flights of fancy. Free-spirited Victoria wanted to change the world. She embraced the women's suffrage movement and dreamed of sailing to war-torn Europe. Then, in the girls' twenty-first year, as the first world war escalated overseas, a fateful choice changed their lives forever. It began when Victoria's life was about to become a public scandal. It led to a painful decision, and brought handsome lawyer Charles Dawson into the Henderson's life and family. Hand-picked by the twins' father to save his daughter's reputation, Charles was still mourning his wife's death aboard the Titanic, struggling to raise his nine year-old son alone, determined never to lose his heart again. Charles wanted to believe that, for the sake of his son, he could make an unwanted marriage work. But in an act of deception that only Olivia and Victoria could manage, the twins took an irrevocable step, which changed both their lives forever; and took one of the twins to the battlefields of France, the other into a marriage she longed for but could not have. From Manhattan society to the trenches of war-ravaged France, Mirror Image moves elegantly and dramatically through a rich and troubled era. With startling insight, Danielle Steel explores women's choices: between home and adventure, between the love for family and the passion for a cause, between sacrifice and desire. But at the heart of Mirror Image is a fascinating, realistic portrait of identical twins, two vastly different sisters who lead their lives and follow their destinies against a vivid backdrop of a world at war.
In blue jeans and a pullover, Princess Christianna is a young woman of her times: born in Europe, educated in America, worried about the future of the world she lives in, responsible beyond her years. Christianna is the only daughter of the Reigning Prince of a European nation that takes its royalty seriously and her father has iron clad plans for Christiannas life, a burden which for her is almost unbearable.Now, after four years at Berkeley, life in her fathers palace cannot distract Christianna from what she sees outside the kingdom the suffering of children, the ravages of terrorism and disease. Determined to make a difference in the world, she persuades His Royal Highness, her father, to let her volunteer for the Red Cross in East Africa. And for Christianna, a journey of discovery, change, and awakening begins.Under a searing East African sun, Christianna plunges into the dusty, bustling life of an international relief camp, finding a passion and a calling among the brave doctors and volunteers. Finally free from the scrutiny of her royal life, Christianna struggles to keep her identity a secret from her new friends and coworkers even from Parker Williams, the young doctor from Doctors Without Borders who works alongside Christianna and shares her dedication to healing. But as violence approaches and invades the camp, and the pressures of her royal life beckon her home, Christiannas struggle for freedom takes an extraordinary turn. By a simple twist of fate, in one shocking moment, Christiannas life is changed forever in ways she never could have foreseen.From the splendor of a Princes palace to the chaos of war-torn nations, Danielle Steel takes us into fascinating new worlds. Filled with unforgettable images and a remarkable cast of characters, H.R.H. is a novel of the conflict between old and new worlds, responsibility vs. freedom, and duty vs. love.
An act of terror. A summer of change. . . Following the death of her beloved husband, Kezia Cooper Hobson decides to leave her home in Pacific Heights, San Francisco, and move to a luxury penthouse apartment in Manhattan, where she’ll be closer to her adult daughters. As she stands on her terrace to watch the 4th July firework display, Kezia is shocked to see smoke and flames pouring from three famous New York landmarks: Hudson Yards, the Empire State building and the new World Trade Centre, reminding her of the horror of the September 11th attacks on the city some twenty years before. Kezia’s neighbour, the famous movie star, Sam Stewart, is also aware of the frightening scene, and watches in horror as the terrifying drama unfolds. Determined to offer their assistance, Kezia and Sam hasten to the site and swiftly become involved in the rescue effort. They do whatever they can to help the emergency services, as it quickly becomes clear that hundreds of lives have been lost. Shocked and traumatized by the events they experienced on 4th July, Kezia and Sam bond in the days and weeks that follow one of the worst nights the country has ever known. What follows is a summer of healing and change, and the discovery that it's never too late for dreams to be born again. . .
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