Iran, 1980: the revolutionaries have taken charge. In a deserted Teheran hotel, Ry-szard Kapuscinski tries to make journalistic and human sense out of the mass of notes, tapes, and photographs he has accumulated during his extended stay in Iran. Just what happened and how? What did Khomeini have to offer that the Shah, who promised to "create a second America within a generation," did not? Where did the revolution come from, and where is it going? After all this blood has been spilled, what has it given its people or the world? "We have given the world poetry, miniatures, carpets," says a rug merchant in Teheran. "We have given the world this miraculous, unique use-lessness."Kapuscinski tells a rich story that combines factual reporting with his own impressions and reflections. Always engrossing and frequently revelatory, it is a unique portrait of the psychological state of a country in revolution. Views: 15
Melinda Gamble wants to make a difference in the world. Without hesitation, she accepts a job as a schoolteacher in the small town of Paris, Idaho. She has many challenges but it’s a rugged rancher who challenges Melinda with the one thing for which she was least prepared—love. Views: 15
The beloved characters of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s bestselling novel Sister of My Heart are reunited in this powerful narrative that challenges the emotional bond between two lifelong friends, as the husband of one becomes dangerously attracted to the other.Anju and Sudha formed an astounding, almost psychic connection during their childhood in India. When Anju invites Sudha, a single mother in Calcutta, to come live with her and her husband, Sunil, in California, Sudha foolishly accepts, knowing full well that Sunil has long desired her. As Sunil’s attraction rises to the surface, the trio must struggle to make sense of the freedoms of America–and of the ties that bind them to India and to one another.From the Trade Paperback edition.Amazon.com ReviewThe Vine of Desire is peopled by Indian immigrants and--just as palpably--by their hopes and dreams. As one character says, "All immigrants are dreamers, but they're practical about it. They know what's OK to dream about, and what isn't." Though it's a sequel to Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's Sister of My Heart, the novel stands alone as an exploration of the contemporary immigrant experience. Anju and Sudha, cousins and best friends since their Calcutta girlhood, find themselves in the Bay Area, Anju with a husband and Sudha with a baby daughter. Each covets what the other has until finally their relationship collapses. Anju finds solace among her fellow Berkeley students, while the beautiful Sudha learns, for the first time, what it's like to pay her own way. Digressive and overwritten, The Vine of Desire can try your patience, but it's so well plotted and compassionately told that you can't help but care about these immigrant dreams. --Claire DedererFrom Publishers WeeklyThis exquisitely rendered tale of passion, jealousy and redemption continues the extraordinary relationship between Anjou and Sudha, the two exceptional women at the heart of Divakaruni's praised Sister of My Heart. The two cousins have traveled a lifetime away from their home city of Calcutta to California, a place so foreign to their native culture and traditions that they must constantly reevaluate their bearings and values. Anjou, miserable after a miscarriage and its unhappy effect on her marriage, and Sudha, fleeing both a husband whose family urged her to abort her daughter, and a first love who wants to take care of her and her child, hope to find solace in their sisterlike relationship. Divakaruni expertly juxtaposes the challenges, freedoms and crassness of modern-day America with the issues, both personal and cultural, each woman faces. Anjou uses Sudha to help her cope with a growing restlessness as well as with dissatisfaction with her husband, Sunil. Sudha is both comforted and suffocated by her life as an escapee from her past, becoming a servant in her cousin's household. At the same time, each woman must eventually acknowledge Anjou's husband's unspoken but obvious attraction to Sudha. Divakaruni combines a gift for absorbing narrative with the artistry of a painter. Her lyrical descriptions of the characters' inner and outer worlds bring a rich emotional chiaroscuro to an uplifting story about two women who learn to make peace with the difficult choices circumstances have forced upon them. Agent, Sandra Dijkstra. National author tour. (Feb. 1)Forecast: Already a reading group favorite, and consistently hailed by critics, Divakaruni can expect excitement for this book to build quickly. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Views: 15
Born in squalid London at the turn of the eighteenth century, a girl makes a fresh start in the New World Fanny's father, Henry Harding, has known Oliver Barebones since the two men were children. Together they survived the Great Plague and the Great Fire, and now they are rich, middle-aged, and unmarried. Everyone's shocked when Oliver, a lifelong bachelor, falls headfirst for a superstitious young girl named Rose. In two days he's decided to marry her. For the Hardings and the Barebones, it will be years before they find such happiness again. Ruin comes to them all in the shape of Alfred Montagu, a cold-hearted moneylender who ensnares them in crushing debt and schemes to marry Fanny. After her father dies, Fanny attempts to take refuge in France. It's not far enough to escape her troubles, so with Oliver and Rose, she departs for a far-off place called Connecticut, dodging Montagu by diving into the teeth of dangers no London girl could ever imagine. Views: 15
A dysfunctional British nuclear family seek a new life away from the big city in the sleepy Somerset countryside. At first their new home, The Hollow, seems to embrace them, creating a rare peace and harmony within the family. But when the house turns on them, it seems to know just how to hurt them the most--threatening to destroy them from the inside out. A stand-alone novel from acclaimed author Kim Newman. Views: 15
Beginning with their introduction in the eleventh century, and ending with their widespread abandonment in the seventeenth, Marc Morris explores many of the country's most famous castles, as well as some spectacular lesser-known examples. At times this is an epic tale, driven by characters like William the Conqueror, King John and Edward I, full of sieges and conquest on an awesome scale. But it is also by turns an intimate story of less eminent individuals, whose adventures, struggles and ambitions were reflected in the fortified residences they constructed. Be it ever so grand or ever so humble, a castle was first and foremost a home.
To understand castles - who built them, who lived in them, and why - is to understand the forces that shaped medieval Britain. Views: 15
Imagine a world where the American government signed a conservation act to "restore all indigenous flora and fauna to the Great Plains," which means suddenly the Great Plains are Indian again. Now fast-forward fourteen years to a bowling alley deep in the Indian Territories. People that bowling alley with characters named LP Deal, Cat Stand, Mary Boy, Courtney Peltdowne, Back Iron, Denim Horse, Naitche, and give them a chance to find a treaty signed under duress by General Sherman, which effectively gives all of the Americas back to the Indians, only hide that treaty in a stolen pipe, put it in a locker, and flush the key down the toilet. Ask LP Deal and the rest what they will trade to get that key backmaybe, everything.
Advertising Views: 15
A young warrior sets out to rescue a Viking princess On the frosty coast of Scandinavia, the greatest warriors are the berserkers—men chosen by the god Odin to perform superhuman feats of strength, obliterating their enemies with the frenzied passion of a wild bear. More than anything, Gauk wishes to join their ranks. On a hunting trip in the blighted North, his best friend is slain by a bear, and Gauk is forced to kill the great animal. As he dons the pelt of his victim, Gauk fills with Odin's spirit, and knows that he is on his way to becoming a legend. When the most beautiful princess in a Norwegian village is kidnapped by a pack of bloodthirsty Danes, Gauk knows it is his destiny to rescue her—and neither ice nor ocean nor an enemy's steel blade can keep a Viking from his destiny. Views: 15
EVERY WOMAN HAS HER MYSTERY
And Sarah Mars-Hutchins had more than one secret to keep. But her
tumultuous past caught up with the young widow in the flesh when a
devastatingly handsome former FBI agent came to question her. Royce "The
Tracker" Graham was dangerous to the safe little world Sarah had
created for herself and her son in the tiny town of Winter Falls,
Michigan. Someone wanted to remove Sarah from her child's life, yet
Royce was there, foiling kidnapping attempts and murderous plots...all
the while disarming her with his sultry midnight kisses. But could Royce
unlock the secrets of Sarah's heart before it was too late? Views: 15
Americans of late have taken to waving the Constitution in the air and proclaiming, "The founders were on MY side! See, it’s all right here!" But these phantom constitutions bear little relation to the historical one.By entering the world of the Constitution’s framers, and experiencing it one day after the next as they did, Ray Raphael helps us understand how and why they created the document they did. Casting aside preconceptions and commonly held beliefs, he asks provocative questions that get to the heart of the document and its purposes: Was the aim of the Constitution really to limit government? Why didn’t the framers include a Bill of Rights? Did they hate taxes? Was James Madison actually the "Father of the Constitution," as proclaimed in our textbooks? Can we find the true meaning of the Constitution by reading The Federalist Papers or by revealing the framers' "original intent"? The answers to these questions are bound to surprise and... Views: 15
From award winning author Laura Trentham comes Set the Night on Fire, a novel about starting over, finding your way back home—and falling head over heels. . . Ella Boudreaux has a lot to prove to her family, friends, and foes—and to herself. So when her marriage ends she decides to invest her energy and money into a place that brings back some of Ella's happiest memories: the Abbott brothers' garage. Maybe, if she puts her mind to it, she can teach skeptical, stubborn Mack Abbott how to make the business a true success. Which would be a lot easier if the hunky mechanic didn't make her motor run quite so fast...and hot.Mack was furious when his brother, Ford, sold his share of the business. He's in no rush to team up with a wealthy divorcée who shows up to the garage in stilettos—and the longest, sexiest legs he's seen in forever. But Ella's grit and determination won't quit...and soon Mack can see that she's been down a... Views: 15
