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Her Worship
by Tom UrbaniakMississauga is Canada's sixth largest city and its largest suburban municipality. Toronto's upstart western neighbour, with its multicultural population of more than 700,000, is a place not only of endless subdivisions and monotonous industrial parks, wide thoroughfares, and even wider expressways, but also of some distinctive older communities, notable lakefront and riverside parks, and occasionally bold architecture. Hazel McCallion, Mississauga's octogenarian mayor, is a national celebrity and a municipal icon. Head of the city council since 1978, she holds a position with limited formal authority but remains the virtually undisputed - and often feared - leader of this sprawling city. The first full-length study of McCallion's politics and the development of Mississauga, Her Worship examines the mayor's shrewd pragmatism and calculated populism. Tom Urbaniak argues that McCallion's executive skills and dynamic personality only partially explain the mayor's dominant and pre-emptive political position. He points also to key historical and geographical factors that contributed to a kind of civic stability - but also to stagnation and missed opportunities - in a place that had once been fraught with political rivalry and heated conflicts over future growth. A fascinating account both of a remarkable public figure and of an area that is emblematic of "edge city" development in North America, Her Worship is a fresh look at municipal governance and politics in rapidly growing communities.
Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton
by Jeff Gerth Don Van NattaTwo Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times investigative journalists deliver: Previously undisclosed details about the Clinton's multi-decade plan for power including 8 years in the White House for Bill and 8 years for Hillary. Never-before-revealed information about Hillary's involvement in her husband's campaigns - including cover-ups and the truth about Bill's draft record; New details regarding Hillary's rivalry with Al Gore - and why it is likely to heat up. Provocative new information about Hillary's vote to authorize the Iraq War, and the steps she has taken to distance herself from that vote Revelations about Bill Clinton's role in Hillary's campaign and his surprising opinion of Barack Obama; New details of Hillary's failure to adhere to Senate ethics rules, and what this says about her political empire She is one of the most influential and recognizable figures in our country, and perhaps the single most divisive individual in our political landscape. She has been the subject of both hagiography and vitriolic smear jobs. But although dozens of books have been written about her, none of them have come close to uncovering the real Hillary--personal, political, in all her complications. Now, as she make her historic run for the presidency, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporters Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr. bring us the first comprehensive and balanced portrait of the most important woman in American politics. Drawing upon myriad new sources and previously undisclosed documents, Her Way shows us how, like many women of her generation, Hillary Rodham Clinton tempered a youthful idealism with the realities of corporate America and big-league politics. It takes readers from the dorm rooms at Wellesley to the courthouses of Arkansas and Washington; to the White House and role as First Lady like none other; inside the back rooms of the Senate, where she expertly navigates the political and legislative shoals; to her $4 million mansion in Washington, where she presides over an unparalleled fundraising machine; and to her war room, from which she orchestrates ferocious attacks against her critics. Throughout her career, she has been alternately helped and hindered by her marriage to Bill Clinton. Her Way unravels the mysteries of their political partnership--one of the most powerful and enigmatic in American history. It also explains why Hillary is such a polarizing figure. And more than any other book, it reveals what her ultimate hopes and ambitions are--for herself and for America.
Her Truth and Service: Lucy Diggs Slowe in Her Own Words
by Lucy Diggs SloweLucy Diggs Slowe (1885–1937) was one of the most remarkable and accomplished figures in the history of Black women’s higher education. She was a builder of institutions, organizing the first historically Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, while a student at Howard University in 1908; establishing the first junior high school for Black students in Washington, D.C.; and founding as well as leading other major national and community organizations. In 1922 Slowe was appointed the first Dean of Women at Howard, making her the first Black woman to serve as dean at any American university. Beyond her trailblazing career in higher education, she was a committed teacher, an ardent antiracist advocate, and even a national tennis champion.Her Truth and Service showcases Slowe’s speeches, articles, and letters, illuminating her multifaceted accomplishments and unwavering dedication to the quest for equality and justice. In these texts, readers encounter Slowe’s powerful voice and keen intellect, witnessing her triumphs and travails as an educator, a leader, and a Black woman in a deeply exclusionary society. Slowe’s writings depict her personal and professional efforts to topple race and gender barriers and open up greater opportunities for Black women and girls, as well as the obstacles she faced in male-dominated institutions including the Howard administration. Her Truth and Service is an important document of a significant figure in the development of Black institutions and an inspiring testament to the lifelong struggle for social justice.
Her Sunburnt Country: The Extraordinary Literary Life of Dorothea Mackellar
by Deborah FitzGeraldThe official biography of Australian poet and writer Dorothea Mackellar, author of the celebrated poem &‘My Country.&’ 'I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains…&’ Though many Australians know lines from Dorothea Mackellar&’s classic poem &‘My Country&’ by heart, very little has been written about the poet&’s extraordinary life. From her childhood and youth in Sydney&’s Point Piper, to discovering her love for the Australian landscape on the family farm in Gunnedah, Dorothea engaged with the intellectual elite of Sydney and abroad as she embarked on a decades-long literary career that saw her linked to some of the leading lights of her day. A keen traveller, Dorothea ventured as far as Japan, Egypt and the Caribbean between longer stints in Europe. In the heart of literary London, she socialised with Joseph Conrad and Ezra Pound. At home, she counted among her friends Ether Turner, the famed war correspondent Charles Bean, and journalistic royalty in the form of the Fairfax family. Never before published letters and diaries reveal her unorthodox relationship with her best friend and collaborator Ruth Bedford. Battling against a masculine tradition of Australian bush poetry led by Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson, Dorothea Mackellar boldly carved out a place for herself, leaving an indelible mark on the Australian imagination. Now, for the first time, the poet's unconventional life story is told – a hidden gem of Australian history, and a tale of one woman&’s extraordinary passion for her poetry, her family and her country.
Her Story, Her Strength: 50 God-Empowered Women of the Bible
by Sarah Parker RubioGirls are beautifully and wonderfully made in God&’s image. This comprehensive collection of stories focused on 50 women of the Bible shows how God worked in their lives and continues to have a plan and a purpose for his beloved daughters today.In a world that too often tells girls that they are not enough, Her Story, Her Strength uses biblical retellings and reflections that include the historical context behind each story?to remind young women that they have a God who loves them deeply and empowers them to live and love like he does. For any girl ages 8 and up who is asking questions about her worth, identity, and place in the world and church, this colorful and engaging book provides a positive, loving, and scriptural lens that helps them interpret the messages they receive from their peers, media, and society.Girls who read Her Story, Her Strength will:come to a profound, unshakable understanding of God&’s love for them and their value in his eyes.see how they reflect God&’s image both innately and through the actions, words, and attitudes they choose each day.learn about biblical characters and events in a way designed specifically for them. In addition, Her Story, Her Strength:features readers&’ favorite women of the Bible as well as many less-well-known characters, showing God&’s consistent presence in the lives of women throughout Scripture.is divided into short sections that are both comprehensive and accessible, making it a wonderful tool for school or church lessons as well as family devotions or personal reflection.emphasizes how each woman reflects the image of her Creator, demonstrating the immense value God places on women and girls and pointing them back to him—all from a position rooted in biblical values.includes beautiful, full-color illustrations that help bring each woman to life.
Her Space, Her Time: How Trailblazing Women Scientists Decoded the Hidden Universe
by Shohini GhoseAn exciting new title in the vein of Hidden Figures, which tells the inspiring stories of long-overlooked women physicists and astronomers who discovered the fundamental rules of the universe and reshaped the rules of society.Women physicists and astronomers from around the world have transformed science and society, but the critical roles they played in their fields are not always well-sung. Her Space, Her Time, authored by award-winning quantum physicist Shohini Ghose, brings together the stories of these remarkable women to celebrate their indelible scientific contributions. In each chapter of the book, Ghose explores a scientific topic and explains how the women featured in that chapter revolutionized that area of physics and astronomy. In doing so, she also addresses particular aspects of women&’s experiences in physics and astronomy: in the chapter on time, for instance, we learn of Henrietta Leavitt and Margaret Burbidge, who helped discover the big bang and the cosmic calendar; in the chapter on space exploration, we learn of Anigaduwagi (Cherokee) aerospace scientist Mary Golda Ross, who helped make the Moon landings possible; and in the chapter on subatomic particles, we learn of Marietta Blau, Hertha Wambacher, and Bibha Chowdhuri, who contributed to the discovery of the building blocks of the universe, and, in doing so, played a crucial role in determining who gets to do physics today.Engaging, accessible, and timely, Her Space, Her Time is a collective story of scientific innovation, inspirational leadership, and overcoming invisibility that will leave a lasting impression on any reader curious about the rule-breakers and trendsetters who illuminated our understanding of the universe.Some of the featured women scientists in the book Williamina FlemingAnnie Jump CannonCecilia Payne-GaposchkinAntonia MauryHenrietta LeavittMargaret BurbidgeMary Golda RossDilhan EryurtClaudia AlexanderJoyce NeighborsNavajo women of Shiprock Harriet BrooksMarie CurieLise MeitnerMarietta BlauHertha WambacherBibha ChowdhuriWu Chien-ShiungWomen of the Manhattan ProjectVera Rubin
Her Space, Her Time: How Trailblazing Women Scientists Decoded the Hidden Universe
by Shohini GhoseOne of Canada's leading physicists celebrates the many, groundbreaking women scientists who came before her—unsung explorers of the cosmos who both discovered the fundamental rules of the universe and challenged social rules, yet whose names remain largely unknown to us.Her Space, Her Time shares the stories of women in physics and astronomy whose work expanded scientific understanding yet whose accomplishments are often overlooked—creating a thrilling account of scientific discovery, inspirational leadership and persistence in the face of overwhelming challenges. In shaping her narrative around the science that fascinated them and the social context in which they worked, award-winning quantum physicist Shohini Ghose champions these remarkable women&’s contributions, which loom even larger given the misogyny and discrimination they faced. Ghose's canvas stretches from the 19th century to the present and includes many women whose work led to Nobel Prizes that were ultimately awarded to men. Among this list of impressive scientists: Henrietta Leavitt and Margaret Burbidge, who helped discover the big bang and the cosmic calendar; Anigaduwagi (Cherokee) aerospace scientist Mary Golda Ross, who helped make the Moon landings possible; atom splitter Lise Meitner; Bibha Chowdhuri, who discovered two fundamental particles; and Harriet Brooks—a Canadian physicist whose impact on radioactivity research was compared to Marie Curie&’s, but who felt that marriage, not science, was the choice she had to make. Engaging and inspirational, Her Space, Her Time is threaded through with Ghose's own experiences in science—women in STEM still face the same kind of challenges her subjects encountered—and driven by the imperative to make the invisible visible, ensuring that the names of these women who pursued science against all odds will never be forgotten.
Her Piano Sang: A Story about Clara Schumann
by Barbara AllmanTells the story of the German pianist and composer who made her professional debut at age nine and who devoted her life to music and to her husband.
Her Paraphernalia: On Motherlines, Sex/Blood/Loss & Selfies
by Margaret ChristakosHer Paraphernalia, the new book of creative non-fiction from noted Canadian poet Margaret Christakos, presents an intimate and original collection of midlife writings that seeks to make readers think in a very personalized way about family geneology, private sexuality and life changes, including those experiences that exist at the intersections of contemporary digital culture.Through a sequence of ten études (consisting of entre-genre pieces, including prose and lyric poetry, experimental writing that integrates elements of social media posts, and other forms), Christakos's virtuosity with language and wordplay tantalizes, as she explores women's and girls' relationship to self-portraiture in the age of social media, and considers aspects of how we negotiate our public and private identities as women, mothers and daughters. Christakos takes as her starting point the reproductive touchstones of ages 15 and 50, and in this light, reflects upon the closeness and distances between herself, her own daughter, and her Greek and English immigrant grandmothers.Written as a love song to her mother and daughter, Her Paraphernalia is at once a personal and yet wholly personable entrée into major themes that so many people of all ages and stages can relate to—self-identity, the beauty of the selfie, social media, partnership, miscarriage, menstruation, sexual lust, solo travel, depression, menopause, the death of a parent, the writing life, divorce, and women's transgenerational vitality, among others. Interesting, unusually honest and open-minded, this collection will find a welcome audience among intelligent, self-actualizing women interested in contemporary culture and feminist questions; mothers of young women; women in midlife who may be experiencing mother-loss, menopause, empty nest, and divorce and those who self-direct their sexuality; readers interested in the overlap of artists who are mothers, and vice versa; and poets and readers interested in Christakos's oeuvre in general.
Her Own Woman: The Life of Mary Wollstonecraft
by Diane JacobsAt the height of the French Revolution, a thirty-three-year-old Englishwoman arrived in the port of Calais. She was a foreign correspondent, commissioned by a famous London publisher to write about all the momentous events since the fall of the Bastille. The watchwords of the Revolution--liberty, fraternity, and equality--spoke to her own deepest desires. Since childhood, she'd battled injustice: from her father, who had prepared only his male children for meaningful futures; from her mother, who had clearly favored her older brother, Ned. She was tall and pretty but had no dowry or inheritance; only her courage and tenacity pushed her forward. Everything she knew she had taught herself. She had fought to succeed in the man's world of professional writing. Author of the famous book "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman", and role model to many, this is the life story of Mary Wollstonecraft, a woman who dared to establish a mark of her own!
Her Own Two Feet (Scholastic Focus): A Rwandan Girl's Brave Fight To Walk
by Meredith Davis Rebeka UwitonzeRebeka Uwitonze was born in Rwanda with curled and twisted feet, which meant she had to crawl or be carried to get around. At nine years old, she gets an offer that could change her life. A doctor in the US might be able to turn her feet. But it means leaving her own family behind and going to America on her own.Her Own Two Feet tells Rebeka's inspiring story through her eyes, with the help of one of her hosts. She travels from Rwanda to Austin, Texas, to join the Davis family, despite knowing almost no English. In the face of dozens of hospital visits and painful surgeries, Rebeka's incredible bravery and joyful spirit carry her to the opportunity of a lifetime. A stunning debut about hope, perseverance, and what becomes possible when you take a risk.
Her Name Was Margaret: Life and Death on the Streets
by Denise DavyAt age eighteen, Margaret Jacobson was admitted to the Ontario Hospital, later renamed the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital. Years later, she died homeless and alone in the city. With meticulous research and deep compassion Denise Davy has pieced together Margaret's story – from promising student to patient, to homeless woman, to an unmarked grave – and asks us to look hard at the system that buried her there.
Her Name Was Freedom: 35 Fearless Women Who Fought for India’s Independence
by Anu KumarA BRAVE QUEEN OF AVADH WHO LED HER KINGDOM DURING AN UPRISING.A 73-YEAR-OLD FREEDOM FIGHTER WHO STOOD HER GROUND AGAINST BRITISH SOLDIERS.A FEARLESS TEEN HERO FROM NAGALAND WHO DEFENDED THE RIGHTS OF HER COMMUNITY.These extraordinary Indian women, and others like them featured in this book, shared one common goal: to stand up against the British and fight for India's freedom from colonial rule.Fearless and feisty, these homemakers and princesses, politicians and poets, doctors and educators, and lawyers and activists marched in protest, endured hunger strikes, rallied supporters, went to jail and led from the front. From Sarojini Naidu to Matangini Hazra, from Aruna Asaf Ali to Rani Gaidinliu, from Muthulakshmi Reddi to Hansa Mehta, and from Annie Mascarene to Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, they showed amazing courage in breaking their shackles and facing grave challenges to liberate the country.Bringing together the inspiring life stories of more than 35 remarkable women, Her Name Was Freedom is a tribute to these brave torchbearers of India's independence movement, who left a lasting legacy.
Her Name Was Dolores: The Jenn I Knew
by Pete SalgadoThe untold story of the iconic Jenni Rivera through the perspective of her former managers, Pete Salgado and Gabriel Vazquez and it will be the basis for a TV series that airs on Univision. This book will take us into the boiler room and offer a behind-the-scenes look into the strategies and moments that lead to national headlines. Pete Salgado was Jenn’s longstanding manager, considered by Jenn her fifth bother, he worked with her for nearly a decade, and helped negotiate many of her deals. She shared things with him she did not with others, and he came to know her in ways no one else did. The months before Jenni’s death were filled with betrayals and disappointments from those she most loved and trusted. Salgado addresses that and takes readers deep inside some cryptic tweets Jenni posted as well of answering very difficult questions such as: Did Chiquis have an affair with Jenni’s husband, Esteban? Who really was the person Jenni called El Pelón and tweeted about, and what did he mean to her? Was Jenni embroiled with the drug cartel? Did the notorious narco El Barbie mistreat her? Was she going to buy a plane? Was Jenni’s death truly an accident? This book describes everything that went into that final moment, and for the first time, truly depict the beauty, love, complexity, and pain of Jenni’s relationship with Chiquis – which was much different and went much deeper than a traditional mother-daughter relationship. Salgado shares who Dolores really was that her fans did not know and did not see on stage… Salgado and Vasquez give readers a better perspective of the life of the “Diva de la banda” from the two people most deeply involved in helping build her career, and who knew her in ways that no one else did.
Her Majesty's Spymaster
by Stephen BudianskyQueen Elizabeth I and England's First Spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham's official title was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I, but in fact this pious, tight-lipped Puritan was England's first spymaster. A ruthless, fiercely loyal civil servant, Walsingham worked brilliantly behind the scenes to foil Elizabeth's rival Mary Queen of Scots and outwit Catholic Spain and France, which had arrayed their forces behind her. Though he cut an incongruous figure in Elizabeth's worldly court, Walsingham managed to win the trust of key players like William Cecil and the Earl of Leicester before launching his own secret campaign against the queen's enemies. Covert operations were Walsingham's genius; he pioneered techniques for exploiting double agents, spreading disinformation, and deciphering codes with the latest code-breaking science that remain staples of international espionage.
Her Majesty: Queen Elizabeth II and Her Court
by Robert HardmanFrom one of Britain's best-known observers of the monarchy--an intimate portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, England's longest-reigning queen, in celebration of her Diamond Jubilee History has known no monarch like her. She has traveled farther than all her predecessors put together and lived longer than any of them. She has known more historic figures than anyone alive--from Churchill to Mandela, de Gaulle to Obama. Now, the distinguished royal writer Robert Hardman has been granted special access to the world of Queen Elizabeth II to produce this enthralling new portrait of one of the most popular public figures on earth. Not only has Elizabeth II reigned through Britain's transformation from an imperial power to a multicultural nation, but she has also steered the monarchy through more reforms in the last twenty-five years than in the previous century. Queen Elizabeth II sits at the head of an ancient institution that remains simultaneously popular, regal, inclusive, and relevant in a twenty-first-century world. It is down to neither luck nor longevity: It is down to the shrewd judgment of a thoroughly modern monarchy--with no small assistance from the longest-serving consort in history. Here is the inside story.
Her Majesty: The Court Of Queen Elizabeth Ii
by Robert HardmanThe hotly anticipated American edition of Robert Hardman's biography of Queen Elizabeth (formerly Our Queen in the U.K.)—An intimate portrait of England's soon-to-be longest reigning queen, in celebration of her diamond jubilee—and the first-ever book interview with her grandson, Prince William.History has known no monarch like her. She has traveled farther than all her predecessors put together and lived longer than any of them. She has known more historic figures than anyone alive—from Churchill to Mandela, de Gaulle to Obama. Now, the distinguished royal writer Robert Hardman has been granted special access to the world of Queen Elizabeth II to produce this enthralling new portrait of one of the most popular pubic figures on earth. Not only has Elizabeth II reigned through Britain&’s transformation from an imperial power to a multi-cultural nation, but she has also steered the monarchy through more reforms in the last twenty-five years than in the previous century. Queen Elizabeth II sits at the head of an ancient institution that remains simultaneously popular, regal, inclusive, and relevant in a twenty-first-century world. It is down to neither luck nor longevity: it is down to the shrewd judgment of a thoroughly modern monarchy—with no small assistance from the longest-serving consort in history. Here is the inside story.
Her Lost Words: A Novel of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley
by Stephanie Marie ThorntonFrom A Vindication of the Rights of Woman to Frankenstein, a tale of two literary legends—a mother and daughter—discovering each other and finding themselves along the way, from USA Today bestselling author Stephanie Marie Thornton. 1792. As a child, Mary Wollstonecraft longed to disappear during her father&’s violent rages. Instead, she transforms herself into the radical author of the landmark volume A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, in which she dares to propose that women are equal to men. From conservative England to the blood-drenched streets of revolutionary France, Mary refuses to bow to society&’s conventions and instead supports herself with her pen until an illicit love affair challenges her every belief about romance and marriage. When she gives birth to a daughter and is stricken with childbed fever, Mary fears it will be her many critics who recount her life&’s extraordinary odyssey… 1818. The daughter of infamous political philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, passionate Mary Shelley learned to read by tracing the letters of her mother&’s tombstone. As a young woman, she desperately misses her mother&’s guidance, especially following her scandalous elopement with dashing poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Mary struggles to balance an ever-complicated marriage with motherhood while nursing twin hopes that she might write something of her own one day and also discover the truth of her mother&’s unconventional life. Mary&’s journey will unlock her mother&’s secrets, all while leading to her own destiny as the groundbreaking author of Frankenstein. A riveting and inspiring novel about a firebrand feminist, her visionary daughter, and the many ways their words transformed our world.
Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria
by Carolly EricksonA Simon & Schuster eBook. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every reader.
Her Last Death: A Memoir
by Susanna SonnenbergHer Last Death begins as the phone rings early one morning in the Montana house where Susanna Sonnenberg lives with her husband and two young sons. Her aunt is calling to tell Susanna her mother is in a coma after a car accident. She might not live. Any daughter would rush the thousands of miles to her mother's bedside. But Susanna cannot bring herself to go. Her courageous memoir explains why. Glamorous, charismatic and a compulsive liar, Susanna's mother seduced everyone who entered her orbit. With outrageous behavior and judgment tinged by drug use, she taught her child the art of sex and the benefits of lying. Susanna struggled to break out of this compelling world, determined, as many daughters are, not to become her mother. Sonnenberg mines tender and startling memories as she writes of her fierce resolve to forge her independence, to become a woman capable of trust and to be a good mother to her own children. Her Last Death is riveting, disarming and searingly beautiful.
Her Ladyship's Girl: A Maid's Life in London
by Anwyn MoyleAnwyn Moyle was born at the end of the First World War in a small mining village in Wales. At the age of sixteen, she was sent to London to earn her living, where she found a live-in job as a scullery maid. Her day began at 5 a.m., cleaning grates and lighting fires, then she would scrub floors and polish the house - all for two shillings a week, one of which she had to send home to her mother. Things improved when she secured the position of lady's maid in a housein Belgravia, on five shillings a week. Anwyn was required to be a hairdresser, beautician, confidante and secretary. Reporting directly to the lady of the house, she was expected to cover up her mistress's affairs. Her time as a lady's maid was over when she was caught with a young aristocrat in her room and banished from the house, but Anwyn found further employment in a variety of houses, working above and below stairs. However, she found her niche in the jolly working-class atmosphere of the capital city's pubs. London between the wars and during the Blitz is richly evoked and, despite all her hardships, Anwyn never asks for the readers' sympathy. Her story is full of gregariousness and eccentricity, as well as being a poignant account of the history of a woman with an indomitable spirit and love of life.
Her Ladyship's Girl: A Maid's Life in London
by Anwyn MoyleAnwyn Moyle was born at the end of the First World War in a small mining village in Wales. At the age of sixteen, she was sent to London to earn her living, where she found a live-in job as a scullery maid. Her day began at 5 a.m., cleaning grates and lighting fires, then she would scrub floors and polish the house - all for two shillings a week, one of which she had to send home to her mother. Things improved when she secured the position of lady's maid in a housein Belgravia, on five shillings a week. Anwyn was required to be a hairdresser, beautician, confidante and secretary. Reporting directly to the lady of the house, she was expected to cover up her mistress's affairs. Her time as a lady's maid was over when she was caught with a young aristocrat in her room and banished from the house, but Anwyn found further employment in a variety of houses, working above and below stairs. However, she found her niche in the jolly working-class atmosphere of the capital city's pubs. London between the wars and during the Blitz is richly evoked and, despite all her hardships, Anwyn never asks for the readers' sympathy. Her story is full of gregariousness and eccentricity, as well as being a poignant account of the history of a woman with an indomitable spirit and love of life.
Her Ladyship's Girl
by Anwyn MoyleAnwyn Moyle was born at the end of the First World War in a small mining village in Wales. At the age of sixteen, she was sent to London to earn her living, where she found a live-in job as a scullery maid. Her day began at 5 a.m., cleaning grates and lighting fires, then she would scrub floors and polish the house - all for two shillings a week, one of which she had to send home to her mother. Things improved when she secured the position of lady's maid in a house in Belgravia, on five shillings a week. Anwyn was required to be a hairdresser, beautician, confidante and secretary. Reporting directly to the lady of the house, she was expected to cover up her mistress's affairs. Her time as a lady's maid was over when she was caught with a young aristocrat in her room and banished from the house, but Anwyn found further employment in a variety of houses, working above and below stairs. However, she found her niche in the jolly working-class atmosphere of the capital city's pubs. London between the wars and during the Blitz is richly evoked and, despite all her hardships, Anwyn never asks for the readers' sympathy. Her story is full of gregariousness and eccentricity, as well as being a poignant account of the history of a woman with an indomitable spirit and love of life.
Her Husband: Hughes and Plath -- A Marriage
by Diane MiddlebrookTed Hughes married Sylvia Plath in 1956, at the outset of their brilliant careers. Plath's suicide six and a half years later, for which many held Hughes accountable, changed his life, his closest relationships, his standing in the literary world, and the style and substance of his verse. In this stunning new biography of their marriage, Diane Middlebrook presents a portrait of Hughes as a man, as a poet, and as a husband haunted--and nourished--his entire life by the aftermath of his first marriage. Drawing on a trove of newly available papers Middlebrook presents Hughes as a complicated, conflicted figure: sexually magnetic, fiercely ambitious, immensely caring, and shrewd in business. She argues that Plath's suicide, though it devastated Hughes and made him vulnerable to the savage attacks of Plath's growing readership, ultimately gave him his true subject--how marriages fail and how men fail in marriage. Writing with the penetrating insight and lucid sympathy that informed her previous bestselling biographies, Middlebrook rises to the multiple challenges presented by this highly fraught, deeply controversial subject. Her Husband is a triumph of the biographer's art and craft.
Her Honor: My Life on the Bench...What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It
by LaDoris Hazzard CordellIn Her Honor, Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell provides a rare and thought-provoking insider account of our legal system, sharing vivid stories of the cases that came through her courtroom and revealing the strengths, flaws, and much-needed changes within our courts.Judge Cordell, the first African American woman to sit on the Superior Court of Northern California, knows firsthand how prejudice has permeated our legal system. And yet, she believes in the system. From ending school segregation to legalizing same-sex marriage, its progress relies on legal professionals and jurors who strive to make the imperfect system as fair as possible.Her Honor is an entertaining and provocative look into the hearts and minds of judges. Cordell takes you into her chambers where she haggles with prosecutors and defense attorneys and into the courtroom during jury selection and sentencing hearings. She uses real cases to highlight how judges make difficult decisions, all the while facing outside pressures from the media, law enforcement, lobbyists, and the friends and families of the people involved. Cordell’s candid account of her years on the bench shines light on all areas of the legal system, from juvenile delinquency and the shift from rehabilitation to punishment, along with the racial biases therein, to the thousands of plea bargains that allow our overburdened courts to stay afloat—as long as innocent people are willing to plead guilty. There are tales of marriages and divorces, adoptions, and contested wills—some humorous, others heartwarming, still others deeply troubling.Her Honor is for anyone who’s had the good or bad fortune to stand before a judge or sit on a jury. It is for true-crime junkies and people who vote in judicial elections. Most importantly, this is a book for anyone who wants to know what our legal system, for better or worse, means to the everyday lives of all Americans.