Winner of the 2003 World Fantasy Award Graham Joyce chronicles a haunting, war-torn terrain in this heartrending novel of one family's quest to begin again -- without forgetting the lives they left behind. The Facts of Life Set in Coventry, England, during and immediately after World War II, The Facts of Life revolves around the early years of Frank Arthur Vine, the illegitimate son of young, free-spirited Cassie and an American GI. Because Cassie is too unreliable and unstable to act as his proper guardian -- and is prone to blue periods in which she wanders off without warning or recollection -- Frank is brought up in the care of his strong-willed, stout-drinking grandmother, Martha Vine, who has, among other homemaking talents, the untoward ability to communicate with the dead. So begins the first decade of Frank's life, one in which ghosts have a place at the table and divine order dictates the outcome of his days. Along the way there are brief stays with each of his six eccentric aunts, visits to the local mortuary, and voices inside of his own head that suggest that he, too, has the gift of supernatural intuition. An affecting tale of family and history, war and peace, love and madness, The Facts of Life will leave readers spellbound with its resounding expression of magic realism.
A collection of letters spanning 50 years. Joyce Grenfell and Virginia Graham were best friends from the age of 7 until Joyce's death. When they were apart they wrote daily letters to each other. The letters date from 1929-1979, and mention such events as the Abdication and the atomic bomb.
Sam Olive wanted desperately to find Marie Donovan and other missing children who were rumored to be hidden in the Okefenokee Swamp and sold into prostitution. He was denied the privilege of being one of the policemen, but took matters into his own hands and went with a companion into the swamp and faced great danger in order to find Marie. He achieves much more than he expected.
This collection can help you discover more happiness and JOY. It's a guide to finding the JOY you are seeking and to achieving small steps each day! This is a must-have book for everyone seeking more happiness and sharing it with those they love. Each author invites you to experience their JOY-Filled journey as they share their story with you.
Called "a sharp, short, terrifying adventure" by "Kirkus Reviews, " Graham Joyce's latest novel is a literary page turner, as a father searches for his missing daughter in the hothouse atmosphere of Thailand.
Maggie and Alex have their problems. their old, drafty house, for one thing. Their stressed-out marriage, for another. Then one day, uncovering and cleaning the house's original fireplace, they discover a dead blackbird...and an old handwritten diary full of herbal lore. Maggie takes an interest in the diary. Soon, with the help of her friends Ash, and herbalist,and Old Liz, and old woman with a deep knowledge of ancient ways, Maggie tried to find her way in a world of power and magic. But Maggie's searching has awakened her Dark Sister, a malevolent force that threatens her hold on her family and her sanity.
I arrived at San Diego State University (then State College ) in 1969 and so was "present at the creation" and watched the events described in Joyce Nower's The Sister Chronicles unfold. Nower examines and evokes the creation of the first Women's Studies program in the nation with a remarkable intertextual weaving of prose and rather formal verse ... And so the reconstruction of history to include "her story" began, and you will find the triumphs and setbacks, the exhilaration and disappointment, the hope and the struggle of those days powerfully recalled on these pages. Nower even has the audacity to turn bureaucratic academic procedures into poetry. -Fred Moramarco, poet and editor of Poetry International [The] Sister Chronicles (sharp title) about the formation of the first women's studies in the USA ... is entirely original. The prose is nicely paced, but it's the poetry that charms this reader, with its lyrical, musical voice, its mix of sassy, down home, traditional and erudite, witty and playful voices ("Dido Did It"), the somber beauty of "On the Path to Athena Proneia," "The Danaids" .... The poems connect smoothly to the narration. The poems that reflect the physical world in San Diego, birds, flora, the back country of the hunter-those "Sloan Canyon Songs"-are strong ... I like the witty rhymes ... The "Meditation on the Maelstrom" seems an excellent last poem and lands on an affirming note ....I am grateful to know about the mystic, pagan, fourth-century BC mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria. These sonnets, with their no-nonsense earthy language ... delighted me. "Jericho Again and Again" sets a philosophical mode into motion. After the fires, the blood of "Hypatia...," it offers a quieter tone. I especially like #7 "Childhood's Globe of Light," the pleasure of the rhymed couplets. -Colette Inez, poet (The Woman Who Loved Worms, Alive and Taking Names) Writing in the tradition of the Iliad and Odyssey, Joyce Nower charts the stormy waters of the Sixties. Her luminous poetry breaks over the shoals of the past, bringing calm at last. The Sister Chronicles is a tour de force of history and literature. -Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, historian (All You Need is Love: The Peace Corps and the 1960s)
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.