In a narrative that flows like a late-night confession, Bibish recounts her story... Born into an impoverished family in a deeply religious village, Bibish was named 'Hadjarbibi' in honour of her grandfather's hadj, his pilgrimage to Mecca. But her holy name could not protect her when, at the age of eight, she was brutally abused, and left for dead in the desert. Bibish's tenacity helped her survive the attack - she instinctively knew to keep her experience a secret rather than risk further punishment. But soon her love for dancing - prohibited by Islamic custom - resulted in her being beaten, victimized, and ostracized from her family and her community. Despite all this, Bibish secretly cultivated her own dreams of freedom - of dancing, of raising a family, and of escaping to tell her story to the world. The Dancer from Khiva is testament to Bibish's extraordinary resilience and spirit: the harrowing and ultimately inspiring story of a woman who risked everything. Views: 63
What lurks behind the magic mirrors? How are they connected to the missing Sultan's Crown and what secrets does the mysterious Black Tower hold? From an Edinburgh literally cloaked in tartan, through the forbidding Highland hills, Neil and Clara set out on a perilous journey of winged horses and snow witches — and a reluctant broomstick. Anne Forbes was born in Edinburgh and divides her time between Scotland and Kuwait. The Wings of Ruksh is her second novel. Views: 63
The period under review covers the years of 1984-87 - nearing the end of the third decade of the Troubles. It will use research and oral contributions from the mid to late 1980s and will show not only how the Provisional IRA (PIRA) grew in financial and logistical strength, but also how the Security Forces (SF) worked hard to contain them. It was also a period where the Republican terror group fully embraced Danny Morrison’s mantra: ‘The Armalite and the ballot box’ as they moved toward a realization that the British military could not be beaten, but that they (PIRA) could at least sit down with them from a position of strength. Thereafter, their intention was not only political agitation, but also to keep up the terror campaign and force the British Government to talk; further to ensure that they – the British - accepted that there could only be an impasse (albeit one of continued violence). However, whilst they fought, talked and then fought again, a...
About the Author: Ken Wharton is 59 and is resident now in Australia with his partner Helen. Father of seven and grandfather to three with a fourth pending, he is a skydiver and former football referee. He is also a former soldier and now author of three oral histories on the Northern Ireland troubles. He writes from the perspective of the British soldier as he seeks to put across their story of a conflict, largely forgotten by both Government and public, which claimed the lives of around 1300 military lives. / He has only been writing since 2007 but is planning a further oral history of the troubles, a book on the Australians in Vietnam and a childrens' science fiction book over the next year or two. / There is a clamour from veterans of the Northern Ireland conflict to tell their story and ensure that the truth comes out and in Ken Wharton they have found a conduit for those stories and a man they can trust to ensure that the truth is finally told about the conflict which raged not only a short 30 minute flight from home but also on our own doorsteps. Ken Wharton is 59 and is resident now in Australia with his partner Helen. Father of seven and grandfather to three with a fourth pending, he is a skydiver and former football referee. He is also a former soldier and now author of three oral histories on the Northern Ireland troubles. He writes from the perspective of the British soldier as he seeks to put across their story of a conflict, largely forgotten by both Government and public, which claimed the lives of around 1300 military lives. / He has only been writing since 2007 but is planning a further oral history of the troubles, a book on the Australians in Vietnam and a childrens' science fiction book over the next year or two. / There is a clamour from veterans of the Northern Ireland conflict to tell their story and ensure that the truth comes out and in Ken Wharton they have found a conduit for those stories and a man they can trust to ensure that the truth is finally told about the conflict which raged not only a short 30 minute flight from home but also on our own doorsteps. Views: 63
This intriguing, suspense-packed novel is the fourth Jack Taggart Mystery in the series commencing with Loose Ends, Above Ground, and Angel in the Full Moon. This time the implacable Mountie Jack Taggart goes undercover to follow the trail of a cheap Saturday-night special found at the scene of a murder.He traces the gun from the manufacturer to the person it was stolen from and through several criminals until the trail leads him to a suspected heroin importer. Taggart pretends to be an Irish gangster and penetrates the criminal organization, only to discover that the real crime boss is a mysterious figure out of Asia.Taggart and his partner are unexpectedly taken aboard a private jet where they find themselves alone and without backup in the lair of one of the largest yakuza organized crime families in Japan. East meets west. The clash of culture explodes into violence when their real identities are discovered.Review"Easton will quickly suck you into the story with his crisp, clean prose, fast-moving plots, and a gift for dialogue that breathes life into his characters."From the Inside FlapJack Taggart goes undercover to follow the trail of a cheap weapon found at the scene of a murder. He traces the gun to a suspected heroin importer and pretends to be an Irish gangster to penetrate the criminal organization -- only to discover that the real crime boss is a mysterious figure out of Asia. Views: 63
Introducing the first volume in an exciting new annual anthology featuring the year's most outstanding fiction by some of today's finest African American writers.From stories that depict black life in times gone by to those that address contemporary issues, this inaugural volume gathers the very best recent African American fiction. Created during a period of electrifying political dialogue and cultural, social, and economic change that is sure to captivate the imaginations of writers and readers for years to come, these short stories and novel excerpts explore a rich variety of subjects. But most of all, they represent exceptional artistry.Here you'll find work by both established names and up-and-comers, ranging from Walter Dean Myers to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Mat Johnson, and Junot Díaz. They write about subjects as diverse as the complexities of black middle-class life and the challenges of interracial relationships, a modern-day lynching in the South... Views: 62
'An affectionate tribute to someone who quietly but firmly shaped her own place in the world.' Books+Publishing Brenda Niall has turned her biographer's eye to a personal subject—her grandmother, Aggie. She tells the story of a fiercely independent and intelligent woman who braved a new country as a single woman, teaching in a country school, before marrying a Riverina grazier, whose large powerful family was wary of the newcomer with ideas of her own. Aggie dealt with hardships and loneliness after the early and drawn-out death of her husband, and brought up her seven children to be happy—all with a calm determination. But it was the memory box and her longing for the sea that captured the imagination of her granddaughter.Brenda Niall is one of Australia's foremost biographers. She is the author of five award-winning biographies, including her acclaimed accounts of the Boyd family. In 2016 she won the Australian Literature... Views: 62
From award-winning writer Billie Livingston, an unsparing novel of loyalty and survival that is fierce, sharp and funny even when it's breaking your heart.The child of 2 con artists, 16-year-old Sammie Bell always prided herself on knowing the score. But now she finds herself backed into a corner. After a hustle gone dangerously wrong, her mother, Marlene, is sliding into an abyss of alcoholic depression, spending her days fantasizing aloud about death--a goal Sammie is tempted to help her accomplish. Horrified by the appeal of this, Sammie packs a bag and leaves her mother to her own devices.With her father missing in action, she has nowhere else to go but the home of a friend with 2 parents who seem to actually love their daughter and each other--and who awkwardly try to extend some semblance of family to Sammie. Throughout a long summer of crisis among the normals, Sammie is torn between her longing for the approval of the con-man father she was named for and... Views: 62
Look up the word “playa” in a dictionary and you’ll find a description of Jaylin “Naughty Boy” Rogers. He’s always lived up to his bad boy persona, and there doesn’t appear to be a woman in the world who can wash her hands of this addictive man. Now, the time has come for him to make some critical changes, or else his playing days are about to get him played. Even after Jaylin fails to prove to Scorpio that he’s a one-woman man, she still can’t let him go. Their relationship revolves around lies and manipulation—and electrifying sex. Scorpio’s serving it up on demand, until she finds out that Jaylin’s lifetime love, Nokea, just might be serving it up again as well. Just when Jaylin thinks he’s got the world in the palms of his hands, “Jaylin’s World” slips away. He’s not being too particular with his female companions, and settling for anything sends him plunging into a lonely life without anyone by his side. Can he wake up and smell the coffee before it’s too late, or will a change for this man just never come? Views: 61
A haunting, powerful novel about the power of the land and the passions of people trying to make it their own. One spring day in late 1992, when William was halfway between his eighth birthday and his ninth, he looked out from the back verandah of his home and saw, huge in the sky, the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion. He stared at it, wondering. The thunderhead was dirty black, streaked with billows of grey. It rolled and boiled as it climbed into the clear blue day, casting a vast shadow upon the hills beyond. But there was no sound, no rumble of an explosion. William was aware of the smell of burning . . . but it was a good smell, a familiar smell. The smell of grass, of wheat, of the farm itself. His father dead by fire and his mother plagued by demons of her own, William is cast upon the charity of his unknown uncle - an embittered old man encamped in the ruins of a once great station homestead, Kuran House. It's a baffling and sinister new world for the boy, a place of decay and secret histories. His uncle is obsessed by a long life of decline and by a dark quest for revival, his mother is desperate for a wealth and security she has never known, and all their hopes it seems come to rest upon William's young shoulders. But as the past and present of Kuran Station unravel and merge together, the price of that inheritance may prove to be the downfall of them all. The White Earth is a haunting, disturbing and cautionary tale. 'The novel is beautifully structured, filled with parallels and reverberations which come back to haunt and illuminate the reader as the story unfolds.' - Katharine England, Adelaide Views: 61
Unlucky in life, twice as unlucky in the after-life? When Tuesday dies and becomes a guardian angel, he's sure his luck has turned. Little does he know he'll have to face were-beavers, old sweethearts, archangels, and even Lucifer himself. Nevertheless, Tuesday's death may turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to him.
### About the Author
Alicia lives in Northern California where she is a writer and an attorney, but she remains a Southerner at heart. She enjoys mystery and dark fantasy novels and tries to give her own works a little bit of both. Views: 61
