The English writer Christopher Isherwood settled in California in 1939 and spent the war years working in Hollywood film studios, teaching English to European refugees, and converting to Hinduism. By the time the war ended, he realized he was not cut out to be a monk. With his self-imposed wartime vigil behind him, he careened into a life of frantic socializing, increasing dissipation, anxiety, and, eventually, despair.For nearly a half decade he all but ceased to write fiction and even abandoned his lifelong habit of keeping a diary.
This is Isherwood's own account, reconstructed from datebooks, letters, and memory nearly thirty years later, of his experience during those missing years: his activities in Santa Monica, and also in New York and London, just after the war.Begun in 1971, in a postsixties atmosphere of liberation, "Lost Years" includes explicit details of his romantic and sexual relationships during the 1940s and unveils a hidden and sometimes shocking way of life shared with friends and acquaintances--many of whom were well-known artists, actors, and film-makers. Not until the 1951 Broadway success of "I Am a Camera, " adapted from his Berlin stories, did Isherwood begin to reclaim control of his talents and of his future.
Isherwood never prepared "Lost years" for publication because he rapidly became caught up in writing the book that established him as a hero of gay liberation, "Christopher and His Kind."
With unpolished directness, and with insight and wit, "Lost Years" shows how Isherwood developed his private recollections into the unique mixture of personal mythology and social history that characterizes much of his best work. This surprising and important memoir also highlights his determination to track down even the most elusive and unappealing aspects of his past in order to understand and honestly portray himself, both as a writer and as a human being. Views: 506
Pre-order the BRAND NEW instalment in the bestselling Mulberry Lane series!With Mulberry Lane's favourite pub, The Pig & Whistle undergoing renovation, proprietors Peggy and Able Ronoscki leave the chaos behind and head off on a trip of a lifetime to America. But disaster hits and Peggy finds herself in a critical condition in hospital. Meanwhile, business is booming for young entrepreneurs Fay Ronoscki and Maggie Rowan with their new restaurant and catering empire. It seems neither has time for love. But when fate throws a famous global singing sensation and glamourous racing car driver into the girls paths, falling in love with Jace and Greg seems beyond their control. Cupid has struck. Life is made up of laughter, love and tears. What is next for the folk of Mulberry Lane - can they find the happiness they all so crave? Another passionate tearjerker from Rosie Clarke in the Mulberry Lane series. Views: 506
A tour de force of history and imagination, The Lady and the Unicorn is Tracy Chevalier’s answer to the mystery behind one of the art world’s great masterpieces—a set of bewitching medieval tapestries that hangs today in the Cluny Museum in Paris. They appear to portray the seduction of a unicorn, but the story behind their making is unknown—until now.
Paris, 1490. A shrewd French nobleman commissions six lavish tapestries celebrating his rising status at Court. He hires the charismatic, arrogant, sublimely talented Nicolas des Innocents to design them. Nicolas creates havoc among the women in the house—mother and daughter, servant, and lady-in-waiting—before taking his designs north to the Brussels workshop where the tapestries are to be woven. There, master weaver Georges de la Chapelle risks everything he has to finish the tapestries—his finest, most intricate work—on time for his exacting French client. The results change all their lives—lives that have been captured in the tapestries, for those who know where to look.
In The Lady and the Unicorn, Tracy Chevalier weaves fact and fiction into a beautiful, timeless, and intriguing literary tapestry—an extraordinary story exquisitely told. Views: 505
"A heart-wrenching exploration of the decisions women must make when their loyalties are put to the test in the most unimaginable of circumstances." –Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost ApothecaryA woman must rescue her cousin's family from a train bound for Auschwitz in this riveting tale of bravery and resistance, from the bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris1942. Hannah Martel has narrowly escaped Nazi Germany after her fiancé was killed in a pogrom. When her ship bound for America is turned away at port, she has nowhere to go but to her cousin Lily, who lives with her family in Brussels. Fearful for her life, Hannah is desperate to get out of occupied Europe. But with no safe way to leave, she must return to the dangerous underground work she thought she had left behind.Seeking help, Hannah joins the Sapphire Line, a secret resistance network led by a mysterious woman named... Views: 505
Emma Lapp tries to be the perfect daughter, to earn the loving embrace of her family and her Amish community in Pennsylvania. Yet she can't quite win her mother's smile—or her forgiveness for a transgression Emma can't quite place . . . Emma knows she's the source of her mother's greatest sorrow, having been born on the same day Mamm lost her beloved sister. The one bright spot has been the odd trinkets anonymously left at her aunt's grave each year on Emma's birthday—gifts Emma secretly hides because they upset her parents. But the day she turns 22, a locket bears a surprise that sends her on an unexpected journey . . . Searching for answers, Emma travels to the English world and finds a kinship as intriguing as it is forbidden. But is this newfound connection enough to leave behind the future she'd expected? The answers are as mysterious, and as devastating, as the truth that divides Emma from the only family, and the only life, she's ever... Views: 505
It wouldn't be the first time the crime of murder disrupted a family, but how often does that crime happen in a previous life?The Baxters seemed the idyllic couple; almost love at first sight. Certainly there was a strong attraction that both passed on to just having the right chemistry. But soon after the honeymoon, things began to unravel...so much so that they now stood before a Judge after their third 'domestic dispute' intervention by local police. Yet, neither could recall what any of the arguments were about. In another time, they might be considered demon possessed. In modern time, they were remanded to court-ordered psychological evaluation. Hypnosis became the tool that unlocked crimes from a past life whose devastating effects continued to be felt over a hundred years later. Views: 505
"For me—as I'm certain it will be for every reader of the wonderful Norwegian By Night—Derek B. Miller's new novel is a genuine literary event (Sheldon Horowitz is back!). Miller has long deserved to be a household name. How to Find Your Way in the Dark should finally make him one."—Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and Chances Are... With the wit and scope of Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Derek B. Miller tackles his most ambitious epic yet. At its heart is the return of Sheldon Horowitz, the protagonist from Miller's award-winning first novel, Norwegian by Night, who was lauded by Pulitzer Prize–winning author Richard Russo as "one of the most memorable characters . . . that I've encountered in years."MEET SHELDON IN THE MORNING OF HIS LIFE Twelve-year old Sheldon Horowitz is still recovering from the tragic loss of his mother only... Views: 505
Matthew Scudder knows that justice is an elusive commodity in the big city, where a harmless man can be shot dead in a public place criminals fly free through holes in a tattered legal system. But now a vigilante is roaming among the millions, executing those he fees deserve to die. He calls himself "The Will of the People"—an ingenious serial killer who announces his specific murderous intentions to the media before carrying through on his threats. A child molester, a Mafia don, a violent anti-abortionist—even the protected and untouchable are being ruthlessly erased by New York's latest celebrity avenger. Views: 505
Jimmy O’Conner, an enforcer for the Chicago mob, is in a race against time. A visit from a supernatural being, a cryptic prophecy, a psychotic killer, and a little girl named Angel have turned Jimmy’s trip to see his dying sister Sarah upside down. Can Jimmy save the little girl from killer’s clutches and possibly help save Sarah’s life? Find out in this exciting thriller by C.L.Wells.Jimmy O’Conner, an enforcer for the Chicago mob, is in a race against time. A visit from a supernatural being, a cryptic prophecy, a psychotic killer, and a little girl named Angel have turned Jimmy’s trip to see his dying sister Sarah upside down. Can Jimmy save the little girl from killer’s clutches and possibly help save Sarah’s life? Who is sending him these cryptic messages to enlist his help? Can this mysterious person really help save his dying sister? Jimmy’s not sure exactly what’s going on, but he is certain of one thing; he would do anything to help save his sister’s life – anything.In the prequel to the Paranormal Gift series by author C.L. Wells, nothing is as it seems when good and evil square off in Tucson, Arizona. Just start reading The Tucson Prophecy – you won’t be able to put it down until the exciting finish! Views: 505
It was colder inside the car than outside when Jim slid out. He made no attempt to kiss her...Janet slid behind the wheel and backed Jim's classic BMW viciously out of the parking space, her mind still busy on events of the previous evening. It had been "one of those days" for Jim and Janet, but each had a different perspective on the events.INSIDE — Exclusive 2012 Daytime Emmy Awards Changes! Anonymous Reels! Guest Star Category! No More Bloc Voting! How All My Children Changed Next Year’s Race! Web Acting To Be Honoured! Lauralee Bell Exclusive: Would Bill Bell Bring Back Y&R’s Victoria Rowell? Plus: Her Father’s Upcoming Bio! The Current Creative State of Y&R! Beer Guzzling! Web Soaps! Story Shocker: DAYS’s Will Spies EJ and Sami’s Grief Sex! Kimberly McCullough out at GH? Which male GH superstar is out, too? B&B On Location Again! Which Major GH Fan Fave Becomes a Serial Killer? Jonathan Jackson Quits! Is Jake Alive on GH? All My Children Cancelled… Again? Was Gary Tomlin headed to Prospect Park? One Life Cancels Fraternity Row! The Great Eric Braeden Hits Toronto! Is Trevor St. John returning to One Life? Dirty Soap’s Farah Fath on Calling Deidre Hall “A Bitch!” Too Far, Too Fary: Mama Bjorlin Introduces Nadia to a New Man! Fearless November Sweeps Preview! GH’s Ingo Rademacher back? Garin Wolf out; David Kreizman in? Writer Kay Alden temporarily out at B&B! More Brandon Beemer: “Nadia’s Beemer Guzzling is always good for me!” Douglas Marland, who? Learn How To Wreck a Show in 12 Steps or Less! Andrew Trischitta: One Life’s Secret Weapon? Y&R’s New Supercouple: Avery and Sharon?! Last week’s Soap Reviews; Next Week’s Preview Cheat Sheet! And every week: Unbelievable Blind Items! Views: 505
Tommy and Grizelvi, 509 pp. Includes black and white plates. "Scottish dramatist and novelist known for the whimsy and sentimental fantasy of his work. Tommy and Grizel is the follow up to Sentimental Tommy, considered one of his most revealing and outstanding prose works. The two books are thought to have a Peter Pan quality to them. The book begins: 'O. P. Pym, the colossal Pym, that vast and rolling figure, who never knew what he was to write about until he dipped grandly, an author in such demand that on the foggy evening which starts our story his publishers have had his boots removed lest he slip thoughtlessly round the corner before his work is done, as was the great man's way-shall we begin with him or with Tommy, who has just arrived in London carrying his little box and leading a lady by the hand? It was Pym, as we are about to see, who in the beginning held Tommy up to the public gaze, Pym who first noticed his remarkable indifference to female society, Pym who gave him-But, alack, does no one remember Pym for himself; is the king of the Penny Number already no more than a button that once upon a time kept Tommy's person together? And we are at the night when they first met Let us hasten into Marylebone, before little Tommy arrives and Pym is swallowed like an oyster.'"Keywords: J.M. BARRIE LITERATURE FICTION PETER PAN SCOTTISH AUTHOR Views: 505
