A horrific car accident put Jovienne in a coma. When she awakened months later, she was told that her family had died. And Jovienne? She felt different?irreversibly changed somehow. Years passed, and she was raised by a stranger who trained her to use the quintanumin. She excelled at every...  more

A horrific car accident put Jovienne in a coma. When she awakened months later, she was told that her family had died. And Jovienne? She felt different?irreversibly changed somehow. Years passed, and she was raised by a stranger who trained her to use the quintanumin. She excelled at every lesson, and she longed for her mentor to become much more. Yet, when the time came for her final test, a death-match against a demon, she uncovered a terrible truth: the man she had trusted to teach her had a dreadful secret, and Jovienne had become a monster?s monster. The traumatized Jovienne becomes desperate for a way out of this new life, working on a way to rescind her immortality. But this only brings the demons ever closer, one of which claims to know a secret of its own about Jovienne?a secret she doesn?t even know herself.

Dispatches from the new Britain: a slyly funny and compulsively readable portrait of a nation finally refurbished for the twenty-first century. Sarah Lyall, a reporter for the New York Times, moved to London in the mid-1990s and soon became known for her amusing and incisive dispatches on...  more

Dispatches from the new Britain: a slyly funny and compulsively readable portrait of a nation finally refurbished for the twenty-first century. Sarah Lyall, a reporter for the New York Times, moved to London in the mid-1990s and soon became known for her amusing and incisive dispatches on her adopted country. As she came to terms with its eccentric inhabitants (the English husband who never turned on the lights, the legislators who behaved like drunken frat boys, the hedgehog lovers, the people who extracted their own teeth), she found that she had a ringside seat at a singular transitional era in British life. The roller-coaster decade of Tony Blair's New Labor government was an increasingly materialistic time when old-world symbols of aristocratic privilege and stiff-upper-lip sensibility collided with modern consumerism, overwrought emotion, and a new (but still unsuccessful) effort to make the trains run on time. Appearing a half-century after Nancy Mitford's classic Noblesse Oblige, Lyall's book is a brilliantly witty account of twenty-first-century Britain that will be recognized as a contemporary classic.  

CHINATOWN, U.S.A.: a state of mind, a world within a world, a neighborhood that exists in more cities than you might imagine. Every day, Americans find "something different" in Chinatown's narrow lanes and overflowing markets, tasting exotic delicacies from a world apart or bartering for a...  more

CHINATOWN, U.S.A.: a state of mind, a world within a world, a neighborhood that exists in more cities than you might imagine. Every day, Americans find "something different" in Chinatown's narrow lanes and overflowing markets, tasting exotic delicacies from a world apart or bartering for a trinket on the street -- all without ever leaving the country. It's a place that's foreign yet familiar, by now quite well known on the Western cultural radar, but splitting the difference still gives many visitors to Chinatown the sense, above all, that things are not what they seem -- something everyone in popular culture, from Charlie Chan to Jack Nicholson, has been telling us for decades. And it's true that few visitors realize just how much goes on beneath the surface of this vibrant microcosm, a place with its own deeply felt history and stories of national cultural significance. But Chinatown is not a place that needs solving; it's a place that needs a more specific telling. In American Chinatown, acclaimed travel writer Bonnie Tsui takes an affectionate and attentive look at the neighborhood that has bewitched her since childhood, when she eagerly awaited her grandfather's return from the fortune-cookie factory. Tsui visits the country's four most famous Chinatowns -- San Francisco (the oldest), New York (the biggest), Los Angeles (the film icon), Honolulu (the crossroads) -- and makes her final, fascinating stop in Las Vegas (the newest; this Chinatown began as a mall); in her explorations, she focuses on the remarkable experiences of ordinary people, everyone from first-to fifth-generation Chinese Americans. American Chinatown breaks down the enigma of Chinatown by offering narrative glimpses: intriguing characters who reveal the realities and the unexpected details of Chinatown life that American audiences haven't heard. There are beauty queens, celebrity chefs, immigrant garment workers; there are high school kids who are changing inner-city life in San Francisco, Chinese extras who played key roles in 1940s Hollywood, new arrivals who go straight to dealer school in Las Vegas hoping to find their fortunes in their own vision of "gold mountain." Tsui's investigations run everywhere, from mom-and-pop fortune-cookie factories to the mall, leaving no stone unturned. By interweaving her personal impressions with the experiences of those living in these unique communities, Tsui beautifully captures their vivid stories, giving readers a deeper look into what "Chinatown" means to its inhabitants, what each community takes on from its American home, and what their experience means to America at large. For anyone who has ever wandered through Chinatown and wondered what it was all about, and for Americans wanting to understand the changing face of their own country, American Chinatown is an all-access pass.

In this tenth-anniversary edition of the much-loved Biblioholism: The Literary Addiction, author Tom Raabe takes a humorous look at the all-consuming love of books and has updated the information within by discussing the ever-mutating new E-landscape and its effects on fellow biblioholics...  more

In this tenth-anniversary edition of the much-loved Biblioholism: The Literary Addiction, author Tom Raabe takes a humorous look at the all-consuming love of books and has updated the information within by discussing the ever-mutating new E-landscape and its effects on fellow biblioholics everywhere. Have you ever awakened the morning after a book-buying spree and been unable to remember how many volumes you bought or how much you spent? Have you ever been reprimanded or fired for reading on the job? Have you ever purchased or rented additional living space just for your books? If you answer "yes" to any or all of these questions, don't worry. You are not alone. Your complete recovery awaits you-just buy one more book!

The striking debut novel from award-winning writer Pete FrommAbilene and Austin, a sister and brother frustrated with the small-town Texas life their parents have chosen, turn to each other to escape the story they're all too tired of hearing: their father's unvarying account of "How All This...  more

The striking debut novel from award-winning writer Pete FrommAbilene and Austin, a sister and brother frustrated with the small-town Texas life their parents have chosen, turn to each other to escape the story they're all too tired of hearing: their father's unvarying account of "How All This Started"-how he met their mother then settled down in the middle of nowhere.Pinning her dreams on her younger brother, Abilene becomes dead-set on making Austin a pitching star, a "fireballer" like Nolan Ryan. Swept up in her irresistible exuberance, they try, with baseball and firearms, to combat the stagnation of the Texas landscape--so fiercely it's uncertain whether either of them will survive Abilene's manic dreams.Introducing one of the most memorable female characters in contemporary literature, How All This Started portrays with strength and subtlety the visceral bond between a brother and sister.

Risking all for freedom – and love The governor has disbanded the Colonial Assembly, removing the last shred of representative government from American shores. The Rebel Mechanics and their magister allies can’t let the Empire get away with that. The time has come to act. But to...  more

Risking all for freedom – and love The governor has disbanded the Colonial Assembly, removing the last shred of representative government from American shores. The Rebel Mechanics and their magister allies can’t let the Empire get away with that. The time has come to act. But to truly start turning the wheels of revolution, they need popular support from ordinary laborers, housewives, students, and the middle class—people outside the rebel movements. That’s a job for Verity Newton, under the guise of her journalistic alter ego. As the rebel movement builds momentum, Verity must take a more public, open stand for the cause—a stand that could jeopardize her job, her home, and her place in society. At the same time, a revolution is the only way Verity stands a chance of being with Lord Henry, since they’re divided by class and by the fact that he’s wanted for treason. It’s a risk she’s willing to take

Dovey learns that demons lurk in places other than the dark corners of her mind in this southern gothic fantasy from the author of the Blud series. A year ago, Hurricane Josephine swept through Savannah, Georgia, leaving behind nothing but death and destruction?and taking the life of Dovey?s...  more

Dovey learns that demons lurk in places other than the dark corners of her mind in this southern gothic fantasy from the author of the Blud series. A year ago, Hurricane Josephine swept through Savannah, Georgia, leaving behind nothing but death and destruction?and taking the life of Dovey?s best friend, Carly. Since that night, Dovey has been in a medicated haze, numb to everything around her. But recently she?s started to believe she?s seeing things that can?t be real?including Carly at their favorite café. Determined to learn the truth, Dovey stops taking her pills. And the world that opens up to her is unlike anything she could have imagined. As Dovey slips deeper into the shadowy corners of Savannah?where the dark and horrifying secrets lurk?she learns that the storm that destroyed her city and stole her friend was much more than a force of nature. And now the sinister beings truly responsible are out to finish what they started.

A solar system fights to survive and reform in the wake of war, but the real battle is about to begin.Across the six-planet expanse of the Gaia system, the Earthlike Gretia struggles to stabilize in the wake of an interplanetary war. Amid an uneasy alliance to maintain economies, resources, and...  more

A solar system fights to survive and reform in the wake of war, but the real battle is about to begin.Across the six-planet expanse of the Gaia system, the Earthlike Gretia struggles to stabilize in the wake of an interplanetary war. Amid an uneasy alliance to maintain economies, resources, and populations, Aden Robertson reemerges. After devoting twelve years of his life to the reviled losing side, with the blood of half a million casualties on his hands, Aden is looking for a way to move on. He?s not the only one.A naval officer has borne witness to inconceivable attacks on a salvaged fleet. A sergeant with the occupation forces is treading increasingly hostile ground. And a young woman, thrust into responsibility as vice president of her family?s raw materials empire, faces a threat she never anticipated.Now, on the cusp of an explosive and wide-reaching insurrection, Aden plunges once again into the brutal life he longed to forget. He?s been on the wrong side of war before. But this time, the new enemy has yet to reveal themselves?or their dangerous endgame.

One of the engineering wonders of the world, the Inca Road was built more than five hundred years ago to link the far-flung outposts of a fabled empire -- an empire that ruled in golden splendor until the conquistadors arrived to plunder El Dorado and put a swift, cruel end to its extraordinary...  more

One of the engineering wonders of the world, the Inca Road was built more than five hundred years ago to link the far-flung outposts of a fabled empire -- an empire that ruled in golden splendor until the conquistadors arrived to plunder El Dorado and put a swift, cruel end to its extraordinary culture. But its legend survives in the masterful masonry of its paving blocks and the ruined glory of ghost cities such as Cuzco. In this vivid, free-wheeling expedition, Karin Muller travels the ancient route to explore its dramatic history and discover new adventures along its length and breadth. Along the Inca Road shares the stillness of sunrise in the haunted aerie of Machu Picchu, clings to the roof of a rattletrap bus skirting the vertiginous precipices of the Andes, carouses through the streets of an Altiplano city on Carnival, and inches warily forward as Ecuadorian soldiers probe for land mines with bayonets. Muller's ready for just about anything, whether it's challenging the Pacific surf in a traditional Inca reed boat, locking horns with a bull in a cheering Peruvian arena, or joining a crack Bolivian anti-narcotics team on a hunt for clandestine cocaine labs deep in the jungle. She initiates us into the mysteries of the spirits at a shaman's rite involving hamsters, hallucinogens, and copious libations of moonshine, and high in a mountain meadow captures a struggling vicuna, whose prized silky fleece once was reserved for the Inca god-king alone. And these are only a few of the traveler's tales from a 3,125-mile odyssey encompassing four countries and every form of transportation under the sun, from footslogging, mule train, and motorbike to state-of-the-art military vehicles. As she spins the wool of her stories into a modern tapestry of faces and memories, Muller intertwines a chronicle of the ancient Inca from their race's mythical birth on an island in lofty Lake Titicaca to their sudden plunge from the height of imperial power at the hands of a ragtag band of Spanish soldiers of fortune. We learn how they lived, worshipped, and warred, and why such a magnificent culture proved so vulnerable to invaders. As spectacular as the mountainscapes that are its breathtaking backdrop, Along the Inca Road is a wonderful panorama of past and present -- the kind of sharply observed portrait of a unique part of the world and its colorful people that displays the art of travel literature at its best.

When Charlie returns to Lichfield, she steps into chaos. The killer is still on the loose, Lady Harcourt's secret is out, Seth and Gus are gone, and Lady Vickers has come to stay. But nothing compares to the chaos inflicted on Charlie's heart by seeing Lincoln every day. Despite their...  more

When Charlie returns to Lichfield, she steps into chaos. The killer is still on the loose, Lady Harcourt's secret is out, Seth and Gus are gone, and Lady Vickers has come to stay. But nothing compares to the chaos inflicted on Charlie's heart by seeing Lincoln every day. Despite their frequent clashes, Lincoln and Charlie manage to work together to narrow their list of suspects. No one can be trusted, especially not the members of the committee who are not what they seem. Long buried pasts are dug up as Charlie and Lincoln attempt to restore peace to Lichfield. But when danger enters her home, Charlie's world is shattered.

This "science-fictional autobiography" by the author of "Childhood's End" and "2001: A Space Odyssey" is an account of the circumstances and stories that set Arthur C.Clarke on the path to becoming one of the world's most successful science fiction writers.

Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder. She says she's a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil. She says she's working with the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons -- aka "Bad Monkeys." Her confession lands her in the jail's psychiatric...  more

Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder. She says she's a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil. She says she's working with the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons -- aka "Bad Monkeys." Her confession lands her in the jail's psychiatric wing and earns her countless hours of poking, probing, and questioning by a professional. But is Jane crazy or lying? Or is she playing a whole different game altogether?

A Charmed Life tells the story of Liza Campbell, the last child to be born at the impressive and renowned Cawdor Castle, the same locale featured in Shakespeare's Macbeth. It was at the historical ancestral home that Liza's seemingly idyllic fairytale childhood began to...  more

A Charmed Life tells the story of Liza Campbell, the last child to be born at the impressive and renowned Cawdor Castle, the same locale featured in Shakespeare's Macbeth. It was at the historical ancestral home that Liza's seemingly idyllic fairytale childhood began to resemble a nightmare. Increasingly overwhelmed by his enormous responsibilities, Liza's father Hugh, the twenty-fifth Thane of Cawdor, tipped into madness fueled by drink, drugs, and extramarital affairs. Over the years, the castle was transformed into an arena of reckless extravagance and terrifying domestic violence, as Liza and her siblings watched their father destroy himself, his family, and their centuries-old legacy. Painstakingly honest, thoroughly entertaining, and sharply written, Campbell's contemporary fairytale tells of growing up as a maiden in a castle where ancient curses and grisly events from centuries ago live on between its stone walls.

Actress-writer Jaffrey gives us a memoir of her childhood in Delhi in an age and a society that has since disappeared. Madhur (meaning sweet as honey) grew up in a large family compound where her grandfather often presided over dinners with forty or more members of his extended family....  more

Actress-writer Jaffrey gives us a memoir of her childhood in Delhi in an age and a society that has since disappeared. Madhur (meaning sweet as honey) grew up in a large family compound where her grandfather often presided over dinners with forty or more members of his extended family. Picnicking in the Himalayan foothills on meatballs stuffed with raisins and mint and tucked into freshly baked pooris; sampling the lunch boxes of Muslim friends; sneaking tastes of exotic street fare -- such memories flavor Jaffrey's story. Independent, sensitive, and curious, as a young girl she loved uncovering her family's many-layered history, and she was deeply affected by their personal trials and by the devastating consequences of Partition. This is both an account of an unusual childhood and a testament to the power of food to evoke memory. Plus a secret ingredient: more than thirty family recipes.

For Alfred Bester, "the Corps was mother, the Corps was father."But now, his Corps was doomed . . .Under the ruthless command of Alfred Bester, Psi Corps's reign of terror reached unspeakable new heights--and touched off a civil war among the telepaths.  Corps minions fought renegade...  more

For Alfred Bester, "the Corps was mother, the Corps was father."But now, his Corps was doomed . . .Under the ruthless command of Alfred Bester, Psi Corps's reign of terror reached unspeakable new heights--and touched off a civil war among the telepaths.  Corps minions fought renegade defectors--a new resistance movement determined to overthrow Bester's monstrous regime. But the tide was destined to turn . . .Interstellar Alliance President John Sheridan intervenes to stop the bloodshed as a new Psi Corps rises from the ashes. Its first mission: to hunt down and neutralize war criminals, individuals such as Bester himself. Once feared across the galaxy, the dreaded hunter becomes the fleeing prey--with Michael Garibaldi in hot pursuit. Underground and on the run, Bester builds a new life on the ruins of his secret, sinister past. But as the forces of justice--and vengeance--close in, he must confront the hell he created, choose between surrender or survival at any cost, and prepare to make his final stand . . .There is nothing as dangerous as a predator who has been cornered and has nothing left to lose.The stunning finale to the new epic trilogy that uncovers the secret history of the Psi Corps.

Marcus Yallow is no longer a student. California's economy has collapsed, taking his parents' jobs and his university tuition with it. Thanks to his activist past, Marcus lands a job as webmaster for a muckraking politician who promises reform. Things are never simple, though: soon...  more

Marcus Yallow is no longer a student. California's economy has collapsed, taking his parents' jobs and his university tuition with it. Thanks to his activist past, Marcus lands a job as webmaster for a muckraking politician who promises reform. Things are never simple, though: soon Marcus finds himself embroiled in lethal political intrigue and the sharp end of class warfare, American style.

The Pastons family of Norfolk, England, has long been known to medieval scholars for its large collection of personal correspondence, which has survived five centuries. Revealing a wealth of information about manners, morals, lifestyle, and attitudes of the late Middle Ages, the letters also...  more

The Pastons family of Norfolk, England, has long been known to medieval scholars for its large collection of personal correspondence, which has survived five centuries. Revealing a wealth of information about manners, morals, lifestyle, and attitudes of the late Middle Ages, the letters also tell the story of three generations of the fifteenth-century Paston family that treads like a historical novel full of memorable characters: Margaret Paston, the indomitable wife and mother who fought the family's battles; her husband, John Paston I, tough, hardheaded, and thrice confined to Fleet Prison but never yielding to his enemies; daughter Margery, who scandalized family and friends by falling in love with the Paston bailiff, Richard Calle; lighthearted, chivalric Sir John; and cheerful, sensible John III, who against all odds succeeded in marrying for love. A Medieval Family traces the Pastons history from 1420, through the stormy Wars of the Roses, to the early 1500s. The family's story, extracted from their letters and papers and told largely in their own words, shows a side of history rarely revealed: the lives and fortunes not of kings and queens but of ordinary middle-class people with problems, tragedies, and moments of happiness. Praise for Frances and Joseph GiesCathedral, Forge and Waterwheel"The authors...demonstrate not only their remarkable well-informed and articulate mastery of technical detail but also their command of the historiographical issues that continue to enliven this field of study."--Historical"In their latest medieval study, the Gieses explore the myth that the Middle Ages were unconcerned with the empirical and demonstrate that the Renaissance itself was the outcome of gradual progress made over the previous thousand years...A mine of information."--Kirkus ReviewLife in a Medieval VillageWhat marks {Life in a Medieval Village} is its lucidity and the vividness of its imaginative reconstruction of the past--the detail of its pictures of peasant homes, peasant diet, parish politics, and peasant religion."--New York Review of Books"Extremely detailed research takes up in turn food, clothing, farm tools, marriage custom, prayer, games--in short, all conceivable threads in the fabric of village life...The simple and logical organization of the material--together with the lively illustrations taken from manuscript illumination, woodcuts, tapestry--makes Life in a Medieval Village a good introduction to the history of this period."--Los Angeles TimesWomen in the Middle Ages"A reliable survey of the real and varied roles played by women in the medieval period...Highly recommended."--ChoiceLife in a Medieval Castle"Joseph and Frances Gies offer a book that helps set the record straight--and keeps the romance too...The authors allow medieval man and women to speak for themselves through selections from past journals, songs, even account books."--Time

Every family has its problems, But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unreasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice and Jack Plumb gather together to...  more

Every family has its problems, But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unreasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice and Jack Plumb gather together to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother Leo, freshly released from rehab.

THIS MISSION WILL GET UNDER HER SKIN  Reserve Major Ariane Kedros needs a shot at redemption - and the mysterious aliens known as the Minoans need an extraordinary human pilot with a rejuv-stimulated metabolism such as Ariane for a dangerous expedition to a distant solar system....  more

THIS MISSION WILL GET UNDER HER SKIN  Reserve Major Ariane Kedros needs a shot at redemption - and the mysterious aliens known as the Minoans need an extraordinary human pilot with a rejuv-stimulated metabolism such as Ariane for a dangerous expedition to a distant solar system. But there's a catch. The Minoans have to implant their technology in Ariane's body, and it might not be removable. Ariane is willing to take the risk, but as she begins the perilous journey, she is unaware that hiding within the exploration team, there is an old enemy who is determined to see that this mission will be the major's last.

Richard Jordan is a telepath, but he hides his mental powers, considering them a curse -- until a fateful encounter with an alien species awakens him to the full potential of his abilities. For as humanity spreads through the stars, only Richard may hold the secret to faster-than-light...  more

Richard Jordan is a telepath, but he hides his mental powers, considering them a curse -- until a fateful encounter with an alien species awakens him to the full potential of his abilities. For as humanity spreads through the stars, only Richard may hold the secret to faster-than-light communication.

Room for Doubt is about one writer’s growing suspicion that there are more things in heaven and earth than were dreamt of in her previous philosophy. Through Wendy Lesser’s account of her stay in a city that she never imagined she would see, a book she thought she wanted to write but...  more

Room for Doubt is about one writer’s growing suspicion that there are more things in heaven and earth than were dreamt of in her previous philosophy. Through Wendy Lesser’s account of her stay in a city that she never imagined she would see, a book she thought she wanted to write but never did, and a friendship that constantly broke down and endured, she offers us an unusual journey through the terrain of feeling and beliefs, and in the end shows us how, once examined, things are never quite what she thought they were.Raised as an agnostic who acknowledged her Jewish heritage mainly because it seemed like caving in to Hitler not to do so, Lesser always assumed that she would never visit Germany. Yet once in Berlin, she is astonished to discover a place that is at once spur and antidote to many of her dissatisfactions and longings. Hoping, in Berlin, to write a book about the Scottish philosopher David Hume, she is not sure whether it is the writer or his ideas that she finds sympathetic, and eventually she comes to see that the only way to learn something from Hume is not to think about him as having something to teach. Instead of writing about Hume, she decides to write about her “difficult friendship” with Leonard Michaels. In doing so, she comes to see that their difficulties––fights and reconciliations, mutual obstinacy, and an intensely shared interest in the arts––were an essential and binding aspect of a friendship which, despite Michaels’ recent death, remains an important part of her life.A completely honest, at times funny, and always engaging self-portrait unlike any other memoir or autobiography.

In ancient Rome, a poor philosopher races to rescue his kidnapped lover before she is abused by the sinister Christian cult The son of a wealthy Roman family, Marcus gave up the prestige and riches that were his birthright to devote himself to philosophy. His noble mind attracted Tullia, a...  more

In ancient Rome, a poor philosopher races to rescue his kidnapped lover before she is abused by the sinister Christian cult The son of a wealthy Roman family, Marcus gave up the prestige and riches that were his birthright to devote himself to philosophy. His noble mind attracted Tullia, a Senator’s daughter whose father wanted her to have nothing to do with the penniless intellectual. The news that she is to marry a prosperous merchant shatters Marcus, who goes to her house, hoping to plead his case, only to see her attacked and abducted by disguised ruffians. That she was kidnapped is tragedy enough, and it gets worse when he learns who took her: the sinister Christian cult. He knows not what vile rituals they will expose her to, and he does not want to find out. His lover in danger, the philosopher must turn warrior before it is too late.

1999 National Book Award nominee!  In 1900, a provincial beauty best known as the child bride of a famous Parisian rake captivated the Belle Epoque by writing a story that invented the modern teenage girl. It was the first in a series of wildly popular but also critically acclaimed...  more

1999 National Book Award nominee!  In 1900, a provincial beauty best known as the child bride of a famous Parisian rake captivated the Belle Epoque by writing a story that invented the modern teenage girl. It was the first in a series of wildly popular but also critically acclaimed novels that, combined with a flamboyant career on the stage, made this former country girl the first authentic superstar of the century.But for all her celebrity as one of France's greatest and most notorious novelists and personalities, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette was a profoundly reticent and self-suspicious creature who fiercely resists being known. Now, following her acclaimed life of Isak Dinesen, winner of the 1983 National Book Award for biography, Judith Thurman gives us an incomparably nuanced and revealing portrait of the elusive woman, the prodigious writer, and the revered but misunderstood idol.Having spent her village childhood in the shadow of a queenly, possessive mother who taught her the value of resilience, Colette would go on to embody the image of the modern woman. At twenty, she marries the canny but unscrupulous Willy, who not only takes the credit -- and the royalties -- for her best-selling Claudine novels, but also keeps her enthralled in more primal ways. In 1908, she divorces her Pygmalion and pursues the most public of her many affairs with women. At forty, she gives birth to her only and much-neglected child. Her second marriage, to her daughter's father -- a brilliant, predatory, patrician journalist and politician -- falters, then fails. At forty-seven, she seduces her adolescent stepson. At menopause, she rediscovers her mother. At fifty-two, she embarks upon a torrid adventure with a much younger man that blooms -- against all expectations -- into the serene and enduring mutual devotion she has yearned for but has never known. This third husband, Maurice Goudeket, also becomes the source of her worst anguish when he is arrested by the Gestapo during the Occupation.As Colette redefines the conventions of loving and aging, she continues to live and write with Olympian vitality. Her principal subject is the bonds of love; her one true faith the consoling power of sensual pleasure. She opens a beauty institute and does makeovers in a lab coat; she produces a body of incisive journalism; she writes enchanting gems like Gigi and Sido, and provocative masterpieces like Cheri, Break of Day, The Ripening Seed, and The Pure and the Impure. Her wartime work remains the most controversial part of her legacy, and Thurman addresses the troubling questions it raises with a typically lucid and tenacious intelligence.Drawing upon a rich mine of new documents, candid interviews, and unpublished letters, Secrets of the Flesh evokes Colette in the fullness of her contradictions. A work of penetrating psychological insight, historical perspective, and literary discernment, superbly written, it is sure to reanimate our appreciation of its iconic subject.

Everyone who knows of Armed Forces Consortium of Autonomous Worlds (AFCAW) Reserve Major N-pilot Ariane Kedros besides her partner Matthew Journey sees her differently. The Terran Exploration League (TEL) believes the Aether Exploration pilot is a war criminal who needs execution for the murder...  more

Everyone who knows of Armed Forces Consortium of Autonomous Worlds (AFCAW) Reserve Major N-pilot Ariane Kedros besides her partner Matthew Journey sees her differently. The Terran Exploration League (TEL) believes the Aether Exploration pilot is a war criminal who needs execution for the murder of billions in one of their solar systems (see PEACEKEEPER); her side the Autominists believes her to be a war hero. Although she did her duty she agrees with the Terrans that she deserves to die, but refuses to surrender to them. Someone with obvious insider help, strong connections and capital steals a temporal distortion bomb at the same time that tension mounts between the Autominists and the Terrans. The AFCAW directs Kedros and Journey to fly Master Sergeant Joyce to G-145, an enigmatic orb that seems in the middle of nowhere yet has drawn strong attention from both sides of the hostile Cold War and the unknown alien Minoans. As Kedros arrives with her human CAW cargo, the terrorists who stole the bomb also have come to this remote planet with plans to ignite it on G-145 as their leader has vengeance and justice in mind for past crimes.

Once safely out of Nebraska, Seth McKenna does everything he can to erase his oppressive hometown and abusive childhood, leaving his sister Cassie behind to fend for herself. Seth is making a new life for himself as an artist in New York when he falls hard for an alluring older man who is...  more

Once safely out of Nebraska, Seth McKenna does everything he can to erase his oppressive hometown and abusive childhood, leaving his sister Cassie behind to fend for herself. Seth is making a new life for himself as an artist in New York when he falls hard for an alluring older man who is astonished to find in Seth the second love of his life. The couple+s relationship is complicated by Cassie+s unexpected arrival with significant secrets and plans of her own. Now Seth must confront his past and the consequences of the lies he+s told to move forward in his life.A gorgeous whirlwind of a family drama and an emotional, sexy love story, What Love Means to You People is rich with the atmosphere of New York and a cast of irresistible characters.