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A Real Emergency: Stories from the Ambulance
by Joanna SokolIntrospective, richly layered, and surprisingly hopeful, A Real Emergency is a love letter from a paramedic to the best and worst parts of her career.For fifteen years, Joanna Sokol filled private notebooks with her confusion, humor, and anger toward the strange world of emergency street medicine. As her career on the ambulance progressed, she found herself taking notes on scraps of paper, the backs of gloves, and in the margins of EKG printouts. She listened to her patients&’ stories, left food out for their pets, and turned off the stove under their oxtail stews. Once, she read half a poem left in a dead woman&’s typewriter. She learned about the history that brought ambulances into their current role as the caretakers of society&’s forgotten and spoke to her colleagues about their own experiences and perspectives. Those reflections are collected here, in a series of raw, powerful essays about the state modern healthcare. Sokol&’s life as a paramedic took her to three different counties: the casinos and trailer parks of the Nevada desert, the cozy beach town of Santa Cruz, and, eventually, the crowded tenements of San Francisco&’s Tenderloin district. There are no clear villains or heroes in Sokol&’s world, only a group of patients and medics who are doing their best in a deeply broken system. Combining impactful research, compassionate reflections on her most memorable patients, and the strong voices of her fellow paramedics, Sokol takes readers deep into the everyday reality of 911 first responders, offering insight, empathy, and a reminder of both the power and limitations of care.
The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust
by Joanna Sliwa Elizabeth B. WhiteThe &“remarkable…inspiring&” (The Wall Street Journal) true story of Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg—a Jewish mathematician who saved thousands of lives in Nazi-occupied Poland by masquerading as a Polish aristocrat—drawing on Mehlberg&’s own unpublished memoir.World War II and the Holocaust have given rise to many stories of resistance and rescue, but The Counterfeit Countess is unique. It tells the astonishing unknown story of &“Countess Janina Suchodolska,&” a Jewish woman who rescued more than 10,000 Poles imprisoned by Poland&’s Nazi occupiers, becoming &“a heroine for the ages&” (Larry Loftis, author of The Watchmaker&’s Daughter). Mehlberg operated in Lublin, Poland, headquarters of Aktion Reinhard, the SS operation that murdered 1.7 million Jews in occupied Poland. Using the identity papers of a Polish aristocrat, she worked as a welfare official while also serving in the Polish resistance. With guile, cajolery, and steely persistence, the &“Countess&” persuaded SS officials to release thousands of Poles from the Majdanek concentration camp. She won permission to deliver food and medicine—even decorated Christmas trees—for thousands more of the camp&’s prisoners. At the same time, she personally smuggled supplies and messages to resistance fighters imprisoned in Majdanek, where 63,000 Jews were murdered in gas chambers and shooting pits. Incredibly, she eluded detection, and ultimately survived the war and emigrated to the US. Drawing on the manuscript of Mehlberg&’s own unpublished memoir supplemented with prodigious research, Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa, professional historians and Holocaust experts, have uncovered the full story of this remarkable woman. They interweave Mehlberg&’s sometimes harrowing personal testimony with broader historical narrative. Like The Light of Days, Schindler&’s List, and Irena&’s Children, The Counterfeit Countess is a &“riveting…stunning&” (Debbie Cenziper, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of Citizen 865) account of inspiring courage in the face of unspeakable cruelty.
Hotbed: Bohemian Greenwich Village and the Secret Club that Sparked Modern Feminism
by Joanna ScuttsThe dazzling story of the Greenwich Village feminists who blazed the trail for the movement&’s most radical ideasOn a Saturday in New York City in 1912, around the wooden tables of a popular Greenwich Village restaurant, a group of women gathered, all of them convinced that they were going to change the world.It was the first meeting of &“Heterodoxy,&” a secret social club. Its members were passionate advocates of free love, equal marriage, and easier divorce. They were socialites and socialists; reformers and revolutionaries; artists, writers, and scientists. Their club, at the heart of America&’s bohemia, was a springboard for parties, performances, and radical politics. But it was the women&’s extraordinary friendships that made their unconventional lives possible, as they supported each other in pushing for a better world.Hotbed is the never-before-told story of the bold women whose audacious ideas and unruly acts transformed a feminist agenda into a modern way of life.
Remember Us to Life: A Graphic Memoir
by Joanna Rubin DrangerWINNER OF THE NORDIC COUNCIL LITERATURE PRIZE • Available for the first time in English: a moving and masterful graphic memoir exploring one woman's search for identity as she slowly uncovers the truth of how her Jewish relatives "disappeared" during World War II.Told through a genre-defying blend of illustrations, photography, and found objects, Remember Us to Life chronicles Joanna Rubin Dranger&’s investigation into her Jewish family&’s history, spanning time, space, and three continents in search of her lost relatives. As discolored photos are retrieved from half-forgotten moth-eaten boxes, Joanna discovers the startling modernity and vibrancy of the lives her family never spoke about—and the devastating violence that led to their senseless murders.Carefully researched and expertly told, Remember Us to Life recounts Joanna&’s family&’s immigration from Poland and Russia to Sweden and Israel, where her relatives found work, marriage, and community, blissfully unaware of the horrors to come. Interweaving these anecdotes and stories are historical accounts of the persecution of Jewish people in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, and Russia prior to and during World War II, as well as the antisemitic policies and actions of the supposedly neutral government of Sweden, Joanna&’s home country. Joanna&’s unflinchingly brave and intimate portrayal of one of history&’s greatest tragedies will capture and break readers&’ hearts.Following in the tradition of classics such as Art Spiegelman&’s Maus and Marjane Satrapi&’s Persepolis, Remember Us to Life is a thought-provoking exploration of grief, alienation, and reclamation of one&’s history.
My Salinger Year
by Joanna RakoffPoignant, keenly observed, and irresistibly funny: a memoir about literary New York in the late nineties, a pre-digital world on the cusp of vanishing, where a young woman finds herself entangled with one of the last great figures of the century. At twenty-three, after leaving graduate school to pursue her dreams of becoming a poet, Joanna Rakoff moves to New York City and takes a job as assistant to the storied literary agent for J. D. Salinger. She spends her days in a plush, wood-paneled office, where Dictaphones and typewriters still reign and old-time agents doze at their desks after martini lunches. At night she goes home to the tiny, threadbare Williamsburg apartment she shares with her socialist boyfriend. Precariously balanced between glamour and poverty, surrounded by titanic personalities, and struggling to trust her own artistic instinct, Rakoff is tasked with answering Salinger's voluminous fan mail. But as she reads the candid, heart-wrenching letters from his readers around the world, she finds herself unable to type out the agency's decades-old form response. Instead, drawn inexorably into the emotional world of Salinger's devotees, she abandons the template and begins writing back. Over the course of the year, she finds her own voice by acting as Salinger's, on her own dangerous and liberating terms. Rakoff paints a vibrant portrait of a bright, hungry young woman navigating a heady and longed-for world, trying to square romantic aspirations with burgeoning self-awareness, the idea of a life with life itself. Charming and deeply moving, filled with electrifying glimpses of an American literary icon, My Salinger Year is the coming-of-age story of a talented writer. Above all, it is a testament to the universal power of books to shape our lives and awaken our true selves. From the Hardcover edition.
Negotiating New York: Life, Love and the Pursuit of Real Estate
by Joanna R. Douglas Alfred RennaNail-biting competition, multi-million dollar deals, wrangling clients and resolving nightmare renovations—New York&’s top real estate agents take it in stride (and often in high heels).Ever dreamed of your own beach bungalow in the Hamptons or swanky Manhattan penthouse? Or maybe you&’ve dreamed of the dough you could earn from selling one? Get an exclusive view of what it&’s like to work in one of the world&’s most competitive real estate markets—and the secrets to coming out on top! With more than thirty years experience in New York real estate, Joanne Douglas dishes on how she navigates a dynamic market with her quick wits and the support of her tight-knit team. Douglas and her brother Alfred Renna share the euphoria of landing deals worth millions, the agony of tough losses, and the quirky characters encountered along the way. From pioneering real estate sales in the digital age, orchestrating stealthy midnight renovation projects inside exclusive apartment buildings, and high stakes conference calls pitting agent against agent, there&’s never a dull moment. Joanne and her compatriots attack each problem with aplomb, even while going through the highs and lows of their personal lives. Laugh, scheme, and celebrate along with Joanne, Alfred, and the team as you learn the secrets to some of the most pressing questions when buying and selling real estate. What type of realtor is right for you? How do you make yourself attractive to even the toughest co-op boards? What will make the seller except your offer? Heed Joanne&’s advice from one of the world&’s toughest markets. Because if you can make it there…well, you know the rest.
Freedom Fighter: My War Against ISIS on the Frontlines of Syria
by Joanna PalaniJoanna Palani made headlines across the world when her role fighting ISIS in the Syrian conflict was revealed. Inspired by the Arab Spring, Joanna left behind her student life in Copenhagen and traveled to the Middle East in order to join the YPJ—the all-female brigade of the Kurdish militia in Syria. After undergoing considerable military training, including as a saboteur and sniper, Joanna served as a YPJ fighter over several years and took part in the brutal siege of Kobani. Despite her heroism, she was taken into custody on her return to Denmark for breaking laws designed to stop citizens from joining ISIS, making her the first person to be jailed for joining the international coalition. In this raw and unflinching memoir, Joanna provides an eye-witness account of this devastating war and reveals the personal cost of the battles she has fought on and off the frontlines.
The Last Voyage of Mrs Henry Parker: An unforgettable love story from the author of Kindle bestseller THE SINGLE LADIES OF JACARANDA RETIREMENT VILLAGE
by Joanna NellA poignant ode to love and the memories that make a well-lived life, from the author of THE SINGLE LADIES OF JACARANDA RETIREMENT VILLAGE As the wife of retired ship's doctor Dr Henry Parker, Evelyn is living out her twilight years aboard the Golden Sunset. Every night she dresses for dinner - gown, tiara, runners - and regales her fellow passengers with stories of a glamorous life travelling the world in luxury, as well as showing off her superior knowledge of everything from ships' customs to biographical details of her heroine, Florence Nightingale. The crew treat her with deference. And forbearance. But when Henry goes missing, Evelyn sets off to search every part of the grand ocean liner to find him, casino, nightclub and off-limits areas included. Misadventures are had, new friends are made, scandalous behaviour noted - all news to Evelyn. If only she could remember the events of the night before as clearly as she can recall the first time she met Henry on a passage from England to Australia in 1953 and fell in love, abandoning her dreams to become a midwife to be a wife instead - and the long-ago painful events that left Evelyn all at sea. Why is it so hard to forget some things and so hard to remember others? And where is Henry?(p)2019 Hachette Australia
The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village: an uplifting tale of love and friendship
by Joanna NellA moving, funny, heartwarming tale of love and friendship, for anyone who loved The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, The Keeper of Lost Things and Three Things About Elsie.'Hugely entertaining . . . funny and heart-warming' Woman & Home'A gentle, warm-hearted book that had me rooting for all the characters and laughing out loud at points'' LIBBY PAGE, author of The LidoIt's never too late to grow old disgracefully...The life of 79-year-old pensioner Peggy Smart is as beige as the décor in her retirement village. Her week revolves around aqua aerobics and appointments with her doctor. The highlight of Peggy's day is watching her neighbour Brian head out for his morning swim. Peggy dreams of inviting the handsome widower - treasurer of the Residents' Committee and one of the few eligible men in the village - to an intimate dinner. But why would an educated man like Brian, a chartered accountant no less, look twice at Peggy? As a woman of a certain age, she fears she has become invisible, even to men in their eighties.But a chance encounter with an old school friend she hasn't seen in five decades - the glamorous fashionista Angie Valentine - sets Peggy on an unexpected journey of self-discovery. Can she channel her 'inner Helen Mirren' and find love and friendship in her twilight years?(P)2018 Hachette Australia
The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington
by Joanna MoorheadIn 2006 journalist Joanna Moorhead discovered that her father's cousin, Prim, who had disappeared many decades earlier, was now a famous artist in Mexico. Although rarely spoken of in her own family (regarded as a black sheep, a wild child; someone they were better off without) in the meantime Leonora Carrington had become a national treasure in Mexico, where she now lived, while her paintings are fetching ever-higher prices at auction today.Intrigued by her story, Joanna set off to Mexico City to find her lost relation. Later she was to return to Mexico ten times more between then and Leonora's death in 2011, sometimes staying for months at a time and subsequently travelling around Britain and through Europe in search of the loose ends of her tale. They spent days talking and reading together, drinking tea and tequila, going for walks and to parties and eating take away pizzas or dining out in her local restaurants as Leonora told Joanna the wild and amazing truth about a life that had taken her from the suffocating existence of a debutante in London via war-torn France with her lover, Max Ernst, to incarceration in an asylum and finally to the life of a recluse in Mexico City.Leonora was one of the last surviving participants in the Surrealist movement of the 1930s, a founding member of the Women's Liberation Movement in Mexico during the 1970s and a woman whose reputation will survive not only as a muse but as a novelist and a great artist. This book is the extraordinary story of Leonora Carrington's life, and of the friendship between two women, related by blood but previously unknown to one another, whose encounters were to change both their lives.
Manchester's Radical Mayor: Abel Heywood, The Man who Built the Town Hall
by Jeremy Roberts Joanna M. WilliamsKnown in his day as the man who built the Town Hall, Abel Heywood was a leading Manchester publisher who entertained royalty at his home and twice became Mayor of Manchester. Yet before he found success his life was one of poverty and hardship, marked by a prison term in his pursuit of a free press. A campaigner for votes for all and social reform, Heywood attempted to enter Parliament twice, but his working-class origins and radical ideas proved an insurmountable obstacle. As councillor, alderman and mayor, he worked passionately and tirelessly to build the road, railway and tram systems, develop education, improve the provision of hospitals, museums and libraries, better the living conditions of the poor, and make Manchester a great city. Going beyond the experiences of one man, this book explores the wider political, cultural and class context of the Victorian city. It is an honest tale of rags to riches that will appeal to all who wish to discover more about the dramatic history of industrial Manchester and its people.
The Great Miss Lydia Becker: Suffragist, Scientist & Trailblazer
by Joanna M. WilliamsFifty years before women were enfranchised, a legal loophole allowed a thousand women to vote in the general election of 1868. This surprising event occurred due to the feisty and single-minded dedication of Lydia Becker, the acknowledged, though unofficial, leader of the women's suffrage movement in the later 19th century. Brought up in a middle-class family as the eldest of fifteen children, she broke away from convention, remaining single and entering the sphere of men by engaging in politics. Although it was considered immoral for a woman to speak in public, Lydia addressed innumerable audiences, not only on women's votes, but also on the position of wives, female education and rights at work. She battled grittily to gain academic education for poor girls, and kept countless supporters all over Britain and beyond abreast of the many campaigns for women's rights through her publication, the Women's Suffrage Journal. Steamrollering her way to Parliament as chief lobbyist for women, she influenced MPs in a way that no woman, and few men, had done before. In the 1860s the idea of women's suffrage was compared in the Commons to persuading dogs to dance; it was dismissed as ridiculous and unnatural. By the time of Lydia's death in 1890 there was an acceptance that the enfranchisement of women would soon happen. The torch was picked up by a woman she had inspired as a teenager, Emmeline Pankhurst, and Lydia's younger colleague on the London committee, Millicent Fawcett. And the rest is history.
A Queen for All Seasons: A Celebration of Queen Elizabeth II on her Platinum Jubilee
by Joanna LumleyA sparkling celebration of our much-loved Queen Elizabeth II for her Platinum Jubilee including special writings and illuminating insights around key moments in her 70-year reign, introduced and edited by her biggest fan Joanna Lumley.In 2022 Queen Elizabeth II celebrates seventy years as Queen and Head of the Commonwealth. She is Britain's longest reigning monarch and the very first to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. A Queen For All Seasons, edited and introduced by Joanna Lumley, is a perceptive, touching and engaging tribute to this unique woman. A treasure chest of first-hand writings, insights and snapshots of the Queen during key moments of her reign to form a vibrant portrait of the woman herself and the extraordinary role she plays. Joanna Lumley guides us as we meet Princess Elizabeth in 1952, aged just twenty-five, and about to become Queen, and brings us through to the present day when, as our matriarch, the Queen keeps the national ship steady, including in moments of crisis and suffering. Here are unique perspectives into some of the most fascinating aspects of the Queen's life - her role as head of state at home and abroad, her private passions and public interests and a bird's-eye look at key events that have held the nation together and the Queen in our affection throughout Britain and beyond.This book is a special and unique portrait of our constant Queen in an ever-changing world.
A Queen for All Seasons: A Celebration of Queen Elizabeth II on her Platinum Jubilee
by Joanna Lumley'Lovely... delivers the warmest of glows' - The TelegraphA sparkling celebration of our much-loved Queen Elizabeth II for her Platinum Jubilee including special writings and illuminating insights around key moments in her 70-year reign, introduced and edited by her biggest fan Joanna Lumley.In 2022 Queen Elizabeth II celebrates seventy years as Queen and Head of the Commonwealth. She is Britain's longest reigning monarch and the very first to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. A Queen For All Seasons, edited and introduced by Joanna Lumley, is a perceptive, touching and engaging tribute to this unique woman. A treasure chest of first-hand writings, insights and snapshots of the Queen during key moments of her reign to form a vibrant portrait of the woman herself and the extraordinary role she plays. Joanna Lumley guides us as we meet Princess Elizabeth in 1952, aged just twenty-five, and about to become Queen, and brings us through to the present day when, as our matriarch, the Queen keeps the national ship steady, including in moments of crisis and suffering. Here are unique perspectives into some of the most fascinating aspects of the Queen's life - her role as head of state at home and abroad, her private passions and public interests and a bird's-eye look at key events that have held the nation together and the Queen in our affection throughout Britain and beyond.This book is a special and unique portrait of our constant Queen in an ever-changing world.
A Queen for All Seasons: A Celebration of Queen Elizabeth II on her Platinum Jubilee
by Joanna LumleyA sparkling celebration of our much-loved Queen Elizabeth II for her Platinum Jubilee including special writings and illuminating insights around key moments in her 70-year reign, introduced and edited by her biggest fan Joanna Lumley.In 2022 Queen Elizabeth II celebrates seventy years as Queen and Head of the Commonwealth. She is Britain's longest reigning monarch and the very first to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. A Queen For All Seasons, edited and introduced by Joanna Lumley, is a perceptive, touching and engaging tribute to this unique woman. A treasure chest of first-hand writings, insights and snapshots of the Queen during key moments of her reign to form a vibrant portrait of the woman herself and the extraordinary role she plays. Joanna Lumley guides us as we meet Princess Elizabeth in 1952, aged just twenty-five, and about to become Queen, and brings us through to the present day when, as our matriarch, the Queen keeps the national ship steady, including in moments of crisis and suffering. Here are unique perspectives into some of the most fascinating aspects of the Queen's life - her role as head of state at home and abroad, her private passions and public interests and a bird's-eye look at key events that have held the nation together and the Queen in our affection throughout Britain and beyond.This book is a special and unique portrait of our constant Queen in an ever-changing world.(P)2021 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Absolutely: A Memoir
by Joanna LumleyIllustrated memoir by the absolutely fabulous Joanna LumleyJoanna Lumley is one of Britain's undisputed national treasures, an English actress, voiceover artist and author, best known for her roles in the British television series ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS portraying Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone, as well as parts in THE NEW AVENGERS and SAPPHIRE & STEEL. A former model and Bond girl, her distinctive voice has been supplied for animated characters, film narration and AOL's "You've got mail" notification in the UK. She has spoken out as a human rights activist for Survival International and the recent Gurkha Justice Campaign, and is now considered a 'national treasure' of Nepal as well as the UK because of her support. She is an advocate for a huge number of charities. She has won two BAFTA awards, but it is the sheer diversity of her life that has made her so compelling a personality - early years in Kashmir and Malaya, growing up in Kent, then a photographic model before becoming an actress, appearing in a huge range of roles, whether it is the Nimble bread TV ad, movies like ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, dramas like SENSITIVE SKIN and documentaries on the Northern Lights, Bhutan and the Nile, and of course as the unforgettable Patsy in ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS or as Purdy in THE NEW AVENGERS, where her plummy vowels and upper-class demeanour has made her one of our most recognisable actors.
Absolutely: The Bestselling Memoir
by Joanna Lumley'Mischievous and measured, Joanna Lumley gives us a remarkable portrait of a groovy life...a life astonishingly rich in experience' THE TIMES'Captures perfectly the mixture of poshness and larkiness that has captivated Joanna Lumley's audiences...Joanna writes beautifully, managing to be both thoughtful and amusing' DAILY MAIL'An actress with an extraordinarily varied life that has taken her from Kashmir to Kent, from Bond girl to Ab Fab. It's all here in this gloriously illustrated, entertaining memoir, that's packed with personal photos and reminiscences' WOMAN & HOMEJoanna Lumley is one of Britain's undisputed national treasures. A single mum, iconic actress, voiceover artist and author, best known for her roles in ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS and THE NEW AVENGERS, she is a former model and Bond girl, a human rights activist for Survival International and the Gurkha Justice Campaign, and is now considered a 'national treasure' of Nepal as well as the UK. She has won two BAFTA awards, but it is the sheer diversity of her life that has made her so compelling a personality - early years in Kashmir and Malaya, growing up in Kent, then a photographic model before becoming an actress, appearing in a huge range of roles, and many documentaries including those on on the Northern Lights, Bhutan and the Nile.'Lumley has done it all, from sex kitten and TV star to activist for the Gurkhas. Read about it here.' - No.2 of The Independent's 'Ten Best New Memoirs' INDEPENDENT
Guts for Glory: The Story of Civil War Soldier Rosetta Wakeman
by Joanna LapatiA dramatically illustrated biography of Private Rosetta &“Lyons&” Wakeman, the only soldier whose letters capture the Civil War from a woman&’s perspective. In 1862, the war between North and South showed no signs of stopping. In rural New York, nineteen-year-old Rosetta Wakeman longed for a life beyond the family farm. One day she made a brave, bold choice: she cut her braid and disguised herself as a man. No one suspected that &“Lyons&” was a woman—not even when she signed up to fight for the Union. As Rosetta&’s new regiment traveled to Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Louisiana, she sent letter after letter home to New York. Army life wasn&’t easy, but Rosetta knew it was where she belonged— supporting her family and serving her country. Through intricately detailed scratchboard art and excerpts from Rosetta&’s letters, this fascinating biography introduces young readers to an unconventional woman who was determined to claim her own place in history. Memorable and inspiring, Guts for Glory is a stirring portrait of the Civil War and the courage of those who fought on its front lines.
Mother of a Suicide: Fighting for the Truth
by Joanna LaneIt's bad enough to lose a child to suicide, but what do you do if you discover that the depression was caused by an underlying medical condition, and that a million others are at risk because vital medical information is being suppressed? Joanna Lane tells the story of her 31-year-old son's death, her grief and her search for the reason behind his suicide. When she finds that a rarely diagnosed but far from rare condition probably lay behind his despair she tries to raise the alarm to save others. However, her unsuspecting attempts are met with obstruction after obstruction. Gradually she confronts the truth that the organisations set up to protect the public are not doing their job, and we are all at risk. A must-read for anyone who has ever had a head injury, or been diagnosed with ME, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia. And a must-read for anybody who still believes that important health decisions are made with the patient's welfare in mind. In this heartfelt, heartrending, angry and yet uplifting book, Joanna Lane charts her journey through grief and on to a fight that saw her set against the entrenched world of the medical establishment. A world that still in large part turns away from the truth which she uncovered.
George W. Bush: A Little Golden Book Biography (Little Golden Book)
by Joanna KeithHelp your little one dream big with a Little Golden Book biography all about President George W. Bush! The perfect introduction to nonfiction for preschoolers! This Little Golden Book about George W. Bush--the forty-third president of the United States and a talented artist--is an inspiring read-aloud for young readers. Look for more Little Golden Book biographies: • John McCain • My LGB About the White House • My LGB About Johnny Appleseed
The Ice Museum
by Joanna KavennaJoanna Kavenna went north in search of the Atlantis of the Arctic, the mythical land of Thule. Seen once by an Ancient Greek explorer and never found again, mysterious Thule came to represent the vast and empty spaces of the north. Fascinated for many years by Arctic places, Kavenna decided to travel through the lands that have been called Thule, from Shetland to Iceland, Norway, Estonia, and Greenland. On her journey, she found traces of earlier writers and travellers, all compelled by the idea of a land called Thule: Richard Francis Burton, William Morris, Anthony Trollope, as well as the Norwegian Polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen. She met wilderness-lovers; poets writing epics about ice; Inuit musicians and Polar scientists trying to understand the silent snows. But she came to discover that a darkness also inhabits Thule: the Thule Society, obsessed with the purity of the Nordic peoples; the 'war children' - the surviving progeny of Nazi attempts to foster an Aryan race; as well as ice-bound relics of the Cold War. Finally she arrived in Svalbard, a beautiful Arctic archipelago, at the edge of the frozen ocean. Blending travelogue, reportage, memoir, and literary essay, Joanna Kavenna explores the changing life of the far North in the 20th Century. The Ice Museum is a mesmerising story of idealism and ambition, wars and destruction, survival and memories, set against the haunting backdrop of the northern landscape.
Antarctic Pioneer: The Trailblazing Life of Jackie Ronne
by Joanna KafarowskiJackie Ronne reclaims her rightful place in polar history as the first American woman in Antarctica. Jackie was an ordinary American woman whose life changed after a blind date with rugged Antarctic explorer Finn Ronne. After marrying, they began planning the 1946–1948 Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition. Her participation was not welcomed by the expedition team of red-blooded males eager to prove themselves in the frozen, hostile environment of Antarctica.On March 12, 1947, Jackie Ronne became the first American woman in Antarctica and, months later, one of the first women to overwinter there.The Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition secured its place in Antarctic history, but its scientific contributions have been overshadowed by conflicts and the dangerous accidents that occurred. Jackie dedicated her life to Antarctica: she promoted the achievements of the expedition and was a pioneer in polar tourism and an early supporter of the Antarctic Treaty. In doing so, she helped shape the narrative of twentieth-century Antarctic exploration.
The Polar Adventures of a Rich American Dame
by Joanna KafarowskiThe first comprehensive biography of Louise Arner Boyd — the intrepid American socialite who reinvented herself as the leading female polar explorer of the twentieth century. <P><P> Born in the late 1880s to a gritty mining magnate who made his millions in the California gold rush and a well-bred mother descended from one of New York’s distinguished families, society beauty Louise Arner Boyd was raised during a glittering era. <P><P> After inheriting a staggering family fortune, she began leading a double life. She fell under the spell of the north in the late 1920s after a sailing excursion to the Arctic Ocean. Over the next three decades, she achieved international notoriety as a rugged and audacious polar explorer while maintaining her flamboyant lifestyle as a leading society woman. Yet despite organizing, financing, and directing seven daring Arctic expeditions between 1926 and 1955, she is virtually unknown today.
Red River Girl: The Life and Death of Tina Fontaine
by Joanna JollyA gripping account of the unsolved death of an Indigenous teenager, and the detective determined to find her killer, set against the backdrop of a troubled city.On August 17, 2014, the body of fifteen-year old runaway Tina Fontaine was found in Winnipeg's Red River. It was wrapped in material and weighted down with rocks. Red River Girl is a gripping account of that murder investigation and the unusual police detective who pursued the killer with every legal means at his disposal. The book, like the movie Spotlight, will chronicle the behind-the-scenes stages of a lengthy and meticulously planned investigation. It reveals characters and social tensions that bring vivid life to a story that made national headlines.Award-winning BBC reporter and documentary maker Joanna Jolly delves into the troubled life of Tina Fontaine, the half-Ojibway, half-Cree murder victim, starting with her childhood on the Sagkeeng First Nation Reserve. Tina's journey to the capital city is a harrowing one, culminating in drug abuse, sexual exploitation, and death. Aware of the reality of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, Jolly has chronicled Tina Fontaine's life as a reminder that she was more than a statistic. Raised by her father, and then by her great-aunt, Tina was a good student. But the violent death of her father hit Tina hard. She ran away, was found and put into the care of Child and Family Services, which she also sought to escape from. That choice left her in danger.Red River Girl focuses not on the grisly event itself, but on the efforts to seek justice. In December 2015, the police charged Raymond Cormier, a drifter, with second-degree murder. Jolly's book will cover the trial, which resulted in an acquittal. The verdict caused dismay across the country. The book is not only a true crime story, but a portrait of a community where Indigenous women are disproportionately more likely to be hurt or killed. Jolly asks questions about how Indigenous women, sex workers, community leaders, and activists are fighting back to protect themselves and change perceptions. Most importantly, the book will chronicle whether Tina's family will find justice.
Amateurs In Eden: Nancy and Lawrence Durrell
by Joanna HodgkinNancy Durrell was a woman famous for her silences. Anaïs Nin said 'I think often of Nancy's most eloquent silences, Nancy talking with her fingers, her hair, her cheeks, a wonderful gift. Music again.' As the first wife Lawrence Durrell, author of The Alexandria Quartet, it is perhaps surprising that she is an unknown entity, a constant presence in the biographies of Durrell and others in the Bloomsbury set, yet always a shadowy figure, beautiful and enigmatic. But who was the woman who was with Durrell during the most important years of his development as a writer? Joanna Hodgkin decides to retrace her mother's fascinating story: the escape from her toxic and mysterious family; the years in bohemian literary London and Paris in the 1930s; marriage to Durrell and their discovery of the 'Eden' of pre-war Corfu and her desperate struggle to survive in Palestine alone with a small child as the British Mandate collapsed. Amateurs in Eden is a fascinating biography of a literary marriage and of an unusual woman struggling to live an independent life.