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The Lady Is a Spy is the audacious and riveting true story of Virginia Hall, America's greatest spy and unsung…
hero, brought to vivid life by acclaimed author Don Mitchell.When Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Virginia Hall was traveling in Europe. Which was dangerous enough, but as fighting erupted across the continent, instead of returning home, she headed to France.In a country divided by freedom and fascism, Virginia was determined to do her part for the Allies. An ordinary woman from Baltimore, MD, she dove into the action, first joining a French ambulance unit and later becoming an undercover agent for the British Office of Strategic Services. Working as part of the intelligence network, she made her way to Vichy, coordinating Resistance movements, sabotaging the Nazis, and rescuing Allied soldiers. She passed in plain sight of the enemy, and soon found herself at the top of their most wanted list. But Virginia cleverly evaded discovery and death, often through bold feats and daring escapes. Her covert operations, capture of Nazi soldiers, and risky work as a wireless telegraph operator greatly contributed to the Allies' eventual win.Shining Star: Vera Rubin Discovers Dark Matter
Par Suzanne Slade. 2023
Pioneering astronomer Vera Rubin discovers dark matter—the mysterious substance that makes up most of the universe—while confronting sexism, and paves…
the way for future women scientists in this engaging STEM/STEAM picture book biography.From the moment she first looked out her window at the night sky, future astronomer Vera Rubin was star-struck. Her cosmic questions about stars, galaxies, and the universe gave Vera the drive to build her own telescope and earn multiple degrees in astronomy, despite an army of naysayers who thought women shouldn&’t reach for the stars.But Vera did reach for the stars. Studying spiral galaxies, she searched the skies all through the night, using telescopes in unheated observatories, some of which barred women until Vera insisted they let her in. And her studies revealed something stellar: evidence for the existence of dark matter, the most mysterious substance in the universe.Today, scientists continue to build off of Vera&’s groundbreaking work as they strive to better understand dark matter. A trailblazing scientist, Vera Rubin changed people&’s understanding of both the universe and what a woman can do.Jackie and the Books She Loved
Par Ronni Diamondstein. 2023
"There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all." —Jacqueline Kennedy…
Onassis Discover a delightful new story about Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, one of the most famous women in the world. History remembers Jackie as the consummate First Lady, especially for her White House restoration and the cultural events she instituted during her husband&’s administration. Jackie was on the world stage in 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated. She led the nation in grieving the fallen leader with grace and dignity. In this inspirational celebration of reading, Ronni Diamondstein, with her engaging writing style in this picture book biography, introduces readers to an independent and confident Jackie and the idea of how books guided her life. The insightful story paints the portrait of a child captivated by reading and a love of literature and writing—from five‑year‑old Jackie reading Chekhov stories to a seasoned and confident Jackie at her desk as an editor in the last two decades of her life. Jackie never wrote a memoir but revealed herself in the nearly 100 books she brought into print. Jackie and the Books She Loved is a dazzling book about the real woman behind this American icon of style and grace brought to life by the whimsical and tasteful artwork of Bats Langley.Scientific breakthroughs that changed the way we understand the world—and the fascinating stories of the scientists behind them Some of…
the most significant breakthroughs in science don&’t receive widespread recognition until decades later, sometimes after their author&’s death. Nobel Prize–winner Max Planck, whose black-body radiation law established the discipline of quantum mechanics, stated this as what has become known as Planck&’s principle, commonly summarized as &“Science progresses one funeral at a time.&” In other words, for some truly groundbreaking discoveries, a new consensus builds only when proponents of the old consensus die off. Breakthrough discoveries require a paradigm shift, and it takes time and new minds for the new paradigm to be adopted. In Innovators, Donald Kirsch tells the stories of sixteen visionary scientists who suffered this fate, some now famous like Max Planck himself, Galileo, and Gregor Mendel, and some less well known. Among them are Barbara McClintock who, working with Indian corn, discovered transposons, also known as jumping genes, which provide a major mechanism driving biological evolution; Rachel Carson, catalyst for the environmental movement; and Roger Revelle, the climatologist whose findings were the first to be described by the term &“global warming.&” The breakthroughs cover fields from biology to medicine to physics and earth sciences and include the discovery of prions, life-changing treatments such as drugs for high blood pressure, ulcers, and organ transplantation; the process of continental drift; and our understanding of how molecules form matter.Oprah Winfrey: A Little Golden Book Biography (Little Golden Book)
Par Alliah L. Agostini. 2023
Help your little one dream big with a Little Golden Book biography about talk show host, producer, and actor Oprah…
Winfrey. Little Golden Book biographies are the perfect introduction to nonfiction for young readers—as well as fans of all ages!This Little Golden Book about Oprah Winfrey--host of the highest-rated daytime talk show in American history, and one of the most influential and successful women in the world--is an inspiring read-aloud for young children, as well as their parents and grandparents.Look for more Little Golden Book biographies: • Misty Copeland • Frida Kahlo • Iris Apfel • Bob Ross • Queen Elizabeth II • Harriet TubmanJacqueline Kahanoff: A Levantine Woman (Perspectives on Israel Studies)
Par David Ohana. 2023
Jacqueline Kahanoff: A Levantine Woman is the first intellectual biography of this remarkable Egyptian-Jewish intellectual, whose work has secured her…
place in literary pantheon as a herald of Levantine, Mediterranean, and transnational culture. Growing up Jewish in cosmopolitan Egypt in the 1920s and 1930s, Jacqueline Kahanoff experienced a bustling Middle East enriched by diverse languages, religions, and peoples who nonetheless were deeply connected to each other through history, business, daily practices, and shared landscape. At the age of twenty-four, Kahanoff immigrated to the United States. Her stories, essays, and short autobiographical novel attest to her penchant to cross boundaries, generations, social classes, sexes, and Western and Eastern constructs. After immigrating to Israel in the early 1950s, she critically addressed the country's "provinciality" and "ethnic nationalism" as seen through her conception of a transnational Levantine culture. Through many writings, Kahanoff set forth her distinctive vision of Israel as a Mediterranean country with a broad, multicultural Levantine identity. Drawing on an extensive array of sources, ranging from interviews with Jacqueline Kahanoff's acquaintances and contemporaries to unpublished writings, David Ohana explores her fascinating life and intellectual journey from Cairo to Tel Aviv. The encompassing vision of a Levantine Israel made Kahanoff the initiator of a different cultural possibility, more extensive than that offered in her time, and also, perhaps, than is offered today.Summary and Analysis of Victoria: Based on the Book by Julia Baird (Smart Summaries)
Par Worth Books. 2016
So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Victoria: The Queen tells you what you need to…
know—before or after you read Julia Baird&’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and gives you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Victoria: The Queen includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsProfiles of the main charactersDetailed timeline of key eventsImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original workAbout Victoria:The Queen by Julia Baird: Julia Baird explores and unpacks the legend of Victoria: long-reigning monarch, wife, mother, and symbol of the British Empire. Rather than contributing to the myths surrounding this fascinating and complex woman, Baird describes Victoria as she really was: passionate, strong-willed, hot-tempered, hard-working, and desperate to hold on to power and govern her nation while remaining the loyal wife to her beloved Prince Albert. Baird&’s biography takes readers through Queen Victoria&’s life and long reign, giving a clear and lucid analysis of often complex political events and relationships, as well as the personal dynamics of her household, and providing a thorough understanding of a transformative era in British history. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.We're Going Home: A True Story of Life and Death
Par Cynthia Thayer. 2023
They were an unlikely pair: a “fast and frantic” woman and a steady, “pickin’ at it” man. And even though…
both had been raised in cities and knew nothing about farming, Bill and Cynthia Thayer moved to Maine, started an organic farm, and made it work for more than forty years. Then a mysterious disaster strikes and Bill is found lying in the road. In We’re Going Home, Cynthia relates the aftermath of the accident, interspersed with recollections of her life with her beloved “Farmer Bill,” from their first meeting to their final goodbye—and her life beyond.There Is No Blue
Par Martha Baillie. 2023
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: BOOKS TO READ IN FALL 2023Martha Baillie’s richly layered response to her mother’s passing, her father's…
life, and her sister’s suicide is an exploration of how the body, the rooms we inhabit, and our languages offer the psyche a home, if only for a time. Three essays, three deaths. The first is the death of the author’s mother, a protracted disappearance, leaving space for thoughtfulness and ritual: the washing of her body, the making of a death mask. The second considers the author’s father, his remoteness, his charm, a lacuna at the centre of the family even before his death, earlier than her mother’s. And then, the shocking death of the author’s sister, a visual artist and writer living with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, who writes three reasons to die on her bedroom wall and then takes her life."Martha Baillie’s novels are thrillingly, joyously singular, that rare combination of sui generis and just plain generous. That There Is No Blue, her memoir, is all of those things too, is no surprise; still, she has gone somewhere extraordinary. This triptych of essays, which exquisitely unfolds the “disobedient tale” of the lives and deaths of her mother, her father, and her sister, is a meditation on the mystery and wonder of grief and art making and home and memory itself. It made me think of kintsugi, the Japanese art of repair, in which the mending is not hidden but featured and beautifully illuminated. Baillie’s variety of attention, carved out of language, is tenderness, is love." – Maud Casey, author of City of Incurable Women"This is a stunning memoir, intense and meticulous in its observations of family life. Baillie subtly interrogates and conveys the devastating mistranslations that take place in childhood, the antagonism and porousness of siblings, and the tragedy of schizophrenia as it unfolds. I couldn’t put it down." – Dr. Lisa Appignanesi, author of Mad, Bad and Sad and Everyday Madness"Exquisite." – Souvankham Thammavongsa, author of How to Pronounce Knife"I am grateful for this profound meditation on family and loss.” – Charlie Kaufman, filmmaker"This strange, unsettling memoir of outer life and inner life and their bizarre twining captures the author’s identity by way of her mother’s death, her sister’s failing battle with mental illness, and the mysterious figure of her father. It combines anguished guilt, deep tenderness, and bemused affection in highly evocative, often disturbing prose. Its brave honesty is amplified by a persistent lyricism; its undercurrent of fear is uplifted by a surprising, resilient hopefulness. It is both a plea for exoneration and an act of exoneration, an authentic meditation on the terrible difficulty of being human." – Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday DemonLas 999 mujeres de Auschwitz: La extraordinaria historia de las jóvenes judías que llegaron en el primer tren
Par Heather Dune Macadam. 2020
Una increíble historia de amistad, sororidad y supervivencia. La historia de las primeras 999 mujeres judías que fueron enviadas al…
campo de exterminio. «Todo comenzó con las chicas», dice Giora Amir, de 91 años. El 25 de marzo de 1942, cientos de jóvenes mujeres judías y solteras abandonaron sus hogares para subir a un tren. Estaban impecablemente vestidas y peinadas, y arrastraban sus maletas llenas de ropa tejida a mano y comida casera. La mayoría de estas mujeres y niñas nunca habían pasado ni una noche fuera de casa, pero se habían ofrecido voluntariamente para trabajar durante tres meses en época de guerra. ¿Tres meses de trabajo? No podía ser algo tan malo. Ninguno de sus padres habría adivinado que el gobierno acababa de vender a sus hijas a los nazis para trabajar como esclavas. Ninguno sabía que estaban destinadas a Auschwitz. Los libros de historia han podido pasar por alto este hecho, pero lo cierto es que el primer grupo de judíos deportados a Auschwitz para trabajar como esclavos no incluía a combatientes de la resistencia, ni a prisioneros de guerra, no. No había ni un solo hombre prisionero en esos vagones de ganado. Era un tren de 999 chicas solteras, vendido a la Alemania nazi por una dote de 500 Reich Marks, el equivalente a 200 euros. Sabemos que la historia está escrita por el vencedor. Casi todas las figuras poderosas en ambos lados de este conflicto eran hombres. Estas 999 mujeres jóvenes fueron consideradas indignas e insignificantes, no sólo porque eran judías, sino también porque eran mujeres. Estas chicas eran peones en un gran plan de destrucción humana, pero frustraron ese plan al sobrevivir y dejar su testimonio a sus familiares. Este libro da voz a esas mujeres y niñas que la historia olvidó. La crítica ha dicho...«La historia olvidada de las jóvenes judías que llegaron al campo en el primer tren, allá por marzo de 1942.»El País «Un relato conmovedor que ofrece las claves precisas para entender todo el horror –y toda la solidaridad entre sus víctimas– que encierra la barbarie.»La Vanguardia «Heather Dune Macadam cuenta las historias que ha logrado reunir, 75 años después, de aquellas chicas judías que llegaron en el primer tren a Auschwitz.»El Mundo «Una historia que, según la autora, ha sido "escondida o pasada por alto" cuando, en realidad, "estuvieron allí más tiempo que cualquier hombre judío".»20 minutos «Macadam nos cuenta lo que los libros de historia nunca nos han contado.»The Objective«Un texto difícil pero necesario para que esas historias no se pierdan y esas mujeres sean recordadas como se merecen.»Ataques de pánico «Es un libro extremadamente duro, pero necesario.»Lectora lila «Una lectura dolorosa pero muy interesante que recomiendo a todos aquellos que les interese esta temática o suceso en particular.»Leer es viajar «Es un libro tan impresionante como necesario, porque todo lo que se escriba sobre aquel horror siempre será insuficiente, tanto como memoria histórica como de advertencia para el futuro, pero que en este caso además cuenta con una excepcional habilidad y calidad narrativa.»Anika entre librosUncultured: A Memoir
Par Daniella Mestyanek Young. 2022
"A painful and propulsive memoir delivered in the honest tones of a woman who didn’t always think she’d live to…
tell her story." —The New York Times A Buzzfeed Best Book of September In the vein of Educated and The Glass Castle, Daniella Mestyanek Young's Uncultured is more than a memoir about an exceptional upbringing, but about a woman who, no matter the lack of tools given to her, is determined to overcome. Behind the tall, foreboding gates of a commune in Brazil, Daniella Mestyanek Young was raised in the religious cult The Children of God, also known as The Family, as the daughter of high-ranking members. Her great-grandmother donated land for one of The Family’s first communes in Texas. Her mother, at thirteen, was forced to marry the leader and served as his secretary for many years. Beholden to The Family’s strict rules, Daniella suffers physical, emotional, and sexual abuse—masked as godly discipline and divine love—and is forbidden from getting a traditional education.At fifteen years old, fed up with The Family and determined to build a better and freer life for herself, Daniella escapes to Texas. There, she bravely enrolls herself in high school and excels, later graduating as valedictorian of her college class, then electing to join the military to begin a career as an intelligence officer, where she believes she will finally belong. But she soon learns that her new world—surrounded by men on the sands of Afghanistan—looks remarkably similar to the one she desperately tried to leave behind.Told in a beautiful, propulsive voice and with clear-eyed honesty, Uncultured explores the dangers unleashed when harmful group mentality goes unrecognized, and is emblematic of the many ways women have to contort themselves to survive.Dancing in My Dreams: A Spiritual Biography of Tina Turner (Library of Religious Biography (LRB))
Par Ralph H. Craig. 2023
If you don&’t know Tina Turner&’s spirituality, you don&’t know Tina. When Tina Turner reclaimed her throne as the Queen…
of Rock &‘n&’ Roll in the 1980s, she attributed her comeback to one thing: the wisdom and power she found in Buddhism. Her spiritual transformation is often overshadowed by the rags-to-riches arc of her life story. But in this groundbreaking biography, Ralph H. Craig III traces Tina&’s journey from the Black Baptist church to Buddhism and situates her at the vanguard of large-scale movements in religion and pop culture. Paying special attention to the diverse metaphysical beliefs that shaped her spiritual life, Craig untangles Tina&’s Soka Gakkai Buddhist foundation; her incorporation of New Age ideas popularized in &’60s counterculture; and her upbringing in a Black Baptist congregation, alongside the influences of her grandmothers&’ disciplinary and mystical sensibilities. Through critical engagement with Tina&’s personal life and public brand, Craig sheds light on how popular culture has been used as a vehicle for authentic religious teaching. Scholars and fans alike will find Dancing in My Dreams as enlightening as the iconic singer herself.Malala Yousafzai (First Names)
Par Lisa Williamson. 2020
Meet the young activist who stood up for her rights—and changed millions of lives Before Malala Yousafzai (b. 1997) became…
the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, she was a girl fighting for her education in Pakistan. Growing up, Malala’s father encouraged her to be politically active and speak out about her educational rights. When she did, she was shot by a member of the Taliban and the story received worldwide media coverage. Protests and petitions from around the world helped to pass an educational-rights bill in Pakistan, and Malala used this platform to continue her activism and fight for women’s rights. Inspiring and moving, Malala Yousafzai tells the story of one girl’s bravery in her fight for equal rights. It includes a timeline, bibliography, glossary, and index.Beyoncé (First Names)
Par Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl. 2021
Meet the woman who changed music forever and showed that girls can run the world! Before she was an international…
superstar and feminist icon, Beyoncé was a girl from Texas who loved to sing and dance. As a member of Destiny’s Child, she climbed the charts and became a member of one of the most famous girl groups in history. This launched Beyoncé into her solo career, and since then, she’s become an unstoppable force in music and pop culture. Beyond music, she is a successful businesswoman and activist who helps bring issues of race and gender into the global conversation. Empowering and inspirational, Beyoncé tells the story of the woman who showed that girls can run the world. It includes a timeline, glossary, and index. First Names is a highly illustrated nonfiction series that puts readers on a first-name basis with some of the most incredible people in history and of today!Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life
Par Brigitta Olubas. 2007
The first biography of Shirley Hazzard, the author of The Transit of Venus and a writer of “shocking wisdom” and…
“intellectual thrill” (The New Yorker).Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life tells the extraordinary story of a great modern novelist. Brigitta Olubas, Hazzard’s authorized biographer, has drawn, with great subtlety and understanding, on her fiction; on an extensive archive of letters, diaries, and notebooks; and on the memories of surviving friends and colleagues to create this resonant portrait of an exceptional woman. This biography explores the distinctive times of Hazzard’s life, from her youth and middle age to her widowhood and years of decline, and traces the complex and intricate processes of self-fashioning that lay beneath Hazzard’s formidable, beguiling presence. Olubas shows us the places of Hazzard’s life, of which she wrote with characteristic lyricism, accompanied by rare photographs from Hazzard’s collection and elsewhere.Hazzard was the last of a generation of self-taught writers, devotees of a great literary tradition, and her depth of perception and expressive gifts have earned her iconic status. Olubas has brought her brilliantly alive, enhancing and deepening our understanding of the singular woman who created some of the most enduring fiction of the past sixty years. As Dwight Garner wrote in The New York Times, “Hazzard’s stories feel timeless because she understands, as she writes in one of them: ‘We are human beings, not rational ones.’” Here, in Shirley Hazzard, is the story of a remarkable human being.The book describes how Lisa Meitner, of Jewish heritage, found herself working as a physicist at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute…
in Berlin when the Nazis came to power in 1933; how she was hounded out of the country and forced to relocate to Sweden; how German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman continued with the project – on the effect of bombarding uranium (the heaviest known element at the time) with neutrons, a project which Lise herself had initiated, being the intellectual leader of the group. It describes how Hahn and Strassmann, with whom she kept in touch, came up with some extraordinary results which they were at a loss to explain; how Lise, and her nephew Otto Frisch, who was also a physicist, confirmed what they had achieved - the ‘splitting of the atom’, no less, and provided them with a theoretical explanation for it. This laid the foundation for nuclear power, medical-scanning technology, radiotherapy, electronics, and of course, the atomic bomb - the creation of which filled Lise with horror. It describes the crucial part that Lise played in our understanding of the world of atoms, and how deliberate and strenuous attempts were made to deny her contribution; to belittle her achievements, and to write her out of the history books, even though Albert Einstein said she was even ‘more talented than Marie Curie herself’. The author is fortunate and honoured to have been granted several interviews with Lise’s nephew Philip Meitner – himself a refugee from the Nazis - who with his wife Anne, provided much valuable information and many photographs.Overlooked: A Celebration of Remarkable, Underappreciated People Who Broke the Rules and Changed the World
Par Amisha Padnani, New York Times. 2023
An unforgettable collection of diverse, remarkable lives inspired by &“Overlooked,&” the groundbreaking New York Times series that publishes the obituaries…
of extraordinary people whose deaths went unreported in the newspaper—filled with nearly 200 full-color photos and new, never-before-published content Since 1851, The New York Times has published thousands of obituaries—for heads of state, celebrities, scientists, and athletes. There&’s even one for the person who invented the sock puppet. But, until recently, only a fraction of the Times&’s obits chronicled the lives of women or people of color. The vast majority tell of the lives of men—mostly white men.Started in 2018 as a series in the Obituary section, &“Overlooked&” has sought to rectify this, revisiting the Times&’s 170-year history to celebrate people who were left out. It seeks to correct past mistakes, establish a new precedent for equitable coverage of lives lost, and refocus society&’s lens on who is considered worthy of remembrance.Now, in the first book connected to the trailblazing series, Overlooked shares 66 extraordinary stories of women, BIPOC and LGBTQIA figures, and people with disabilities who have broken rules and overcome obstacles. Some achieved a measure of fame in their lifetime but were surprisingly omitted from the paper, including Ida B. Wells, Sylvia Plath, Alan Turing, and Major Taylor. Others were lesser-known, but noteworthy nonetheless, such as Katherine McHale Slaughterback, a farmer who found fame as &“Rattlesnake Kate&”; Ángela Ruiz Robles, the inventor of an early e-reader; Terri Rogers, a transgender ventriloquist and magician; and Stella Young, a disabled comedian who rejected &“inspiration porn.&” These overlooked figures might have lived in different times, and had different experiences, but they were all ambitious and creative, and used their imaginations to invent, innovate, and change the world.Featuring stunning photographs, exclusive content about the process of writing obituaries, and contributions by writers such as Veronica Chambers, Jon Pareles, Amanda Hess, and more, this visually arresting book compels us to revisit who and what we value as a society—and reminds us that some of our most important stories are hidden among the lives of those who have been overlooked.Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific
Par Mary Cronk Farrell. 2014
&“Farrell chronicles the harrowing story of U.S. Army and Navy nurses based in the Philippines during WWII . . . a memorable portrayal.&”…
—Booklist (starred review) In the early 1940s, young women enlisted for peacetime duty as U.S. Army nurses. But when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 blasted the United States into World War II, 101 American Army and Navy nurses serving in the Philippines were suddenly treating wounded and dying soldiers while bombs exploded all around them. The women served in jerry-rigged jungle hospitals on the Bataan Peninsula and in underground tunnels on Corregidor Island. Later, when most of them were captured by the Japanese as prisoners of war, they suffered disease and near-starvation for three years. Pure Grit is a story of sisterhood and suffering, of tragedy and betrayal, of death and life. The women cared for one another, maintained discipline, and honored their vocation to nurse anyone in need—all 101 coming home alive. The book is illustrated with archival photographs and includes an index, glossary, and timeline. &“Farrell doesn&’t spare her young readers any grim details . . . She includes the challenges these women faced and the joy they felt on returning home. As awful as history can be, now might be the right time to introduce the next generation to this important period.&” —The Washington Post &“Young readers who enjoyed Tanya Lee Stone&’s Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream will also appreciate this story of courageous women whose story was nearly forgotten.&” —School Library JournalTurning: A Year in the Water
Par Jessica J. Lee. 2017
Longlisted for the 2018 Frank Hegyi Award for Emerging Authors&“Jessica J. Lee is a writer of rare and exhilarating grace. In…
Turning, she sounds the depths of lakes and her own life, never flinching from darkness, surfacing to fresh understandings of her place in the welter of natural and human history. A beautiful, moody, bracing debut.&” —Kate Harris, award-winning author of Lands of Lost BordersThrough the heat of summer to the frozen depths of winter, Lee traces her journey swimming through 52 lakes in a single year, swimming through fear and heartbreak to find her place in the worldJessica J. Lee swims through all four seasons and especially loves the winter. "I long for the ice. The sharp cut of freezing water on my feet. The immeasurable black of the lake at its coldest. Swimming then means cold, and pain, and elation." At the age of twenty-eight, Jessica, who grew up in Canada and lived in England, finds herself in Berlin. Alone. Lonely, with lowered spirits thanks to some family history and a broken heart, she is there, ostensibly, to write a thesis. And though that is what she does daily, what increasingly occupies her is swimming. So she makes a decision that she believes will win her back her confidence and independence: she will swim fifty-two of the lakes around Berlin, no matter what the weather or season. She is aware that this particular landscape is not without its own ghosts and history. This is the story of a beautiful obsession: of the thrill of a still, turquoise lake, of cracking the ice before submerging, of floating under blue skies, of tangled weeds and murkiness, of cool, fresh, spring swimming—of facing past fears of near-drowning and of breaking free. When she completes her year of swimming, Jessica finds she has new strength, and she has also found friends and has gained some understanding of how the landscape both haunts and holds us. This book is for everyone who loves swimming, who wishes they could push themselves beyond caution, who understands the deep pleasure of using the body's strength, who knows what it is to abandon all thought and float home to the surface.Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
Par Emily Mann, Sarah Delany, Annie Delany. 1996
THE STORY: HAVING OUR SAY opens as 103-year-old Sadie Delany and 101-year-old Bessie Delany welcome us into their Mount Vernon,…
New York, home. As they prepare a celebratory dinner in remembrance of their father's birthday, they take us on a remark