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The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick
by Mallory O'MearaThis acclaimed biography shines a light on a trailblazing woman who created a classic movie monster—and the author’s quest to rescue her from obscurity.As a teenager, Mallory O’Meara was thrilled to discover that one of her favorite movies, Creature from the Black Lagoon, featured a monster designed by a woman, Milicent Patrick. But while Patrick should have been hailed as a pioneer in the genre, there was little information available about her. As O’Meara discovered, Patrick’s contribution had been claimed by a jealous male colleague and her career had been cut short. No one even knew if she was still alive.As a young woman working in the horror film industry, O’Meara set out to right the wrong, and in the process discovered the full, fascinating story of an ambitious, artistic woman ahead of her time. Patrick’s contribution to special effects proved to be just the latest chapter in a remarkable, unconventional life, from her youth growing up in the shadow of Hearst Castle, to her career as one of Disney’s first female animators. And at last, O’Meara discovered what really had happened to Patrick after The Creature’s success, and where she went.A true-life detective story and a celebration of a forgotten feminist trailblazer, Mallory O’Meara’s The Lady from the Black Lagoon establishes Patrick in her rightful place in film history while calling out a Hollywood culture where little has changed since.A Hugo and Locus Award FinalistA Thrillist Best Book of the YearOne of Booklist’s 10 Best Art Books of the Year
Lady Gaga: Behind the Fame
by Emily HerbertQueen of Pop, superstar, maverick and fashionista; Lady Gaga is one of the most recognizable and sensational pop stars for a generation. A true original, Gaga found fame the hard way, playing the grimy bars and burlesque shows of New York City, before finally relocating to Los Angeles to begin work on what would become her debut album The Fame. Constantly en vogue and always in the public eye, this is the biography of the rise of Gaga, from her early life as a teenage protégé, to her life as one of the most respected musicians and most recognized entertainers on the planet. This book lifts the lid on Lady Gaga. Find out all you ever wanted to know about the eccentric star.
Lady Gaga: The Biography
by Helia PhoenixWe're all going gaga for Gaga. The first biography of the international superstar, style icon and pop princess...Pop princess. Fashionista. Icon. Rebel. Eccentric. Superstar.She's known all over the world for her catchy music, outlandish style and often controversial opinions. A paparazzi favourite, she manages to grab headlines whilst remaining enigmatic. Whether she's carrying a purple teacup, fuelling the fire about her gender or stealing the limelight with her creative performances, no one can deny this twenty-first-century sensation is turning heads wherever she goes. She is Lady Gaga.But Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was always destined to be a star. Just Dance is the first unauthorised biography to reveal how she achieved popworld domination to become one of the globe's most exciting new entertainers - an artist who constantly pushes the boundaries of music, fashion and culture. Find out why we're all going gaga for Gaga...
Lady Gaga: Just Dance: The Biography
by Helia PhoenixWe're all going gaga for Gaga. The first biography of the international superstar, style icon and pop princess...Pop princess. Fashionista. Icon. Rebel. Eccentric. Superstar.She's known all over the world for her catchy music, outlandish style and often controversial opinions. A paparazzi favourite, she manages to grab headlines whilst remaining enigmatic. Whether she's carrying a purple teacup, fuelling the fire about her gender or stealing the limelight with her creative performances, no one can deny this twenty-first-century sensation is turning heads wherever she goes. She is Lady Gaga.But Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was always destined to be a star. Just Dance is the first unauthorised biography to reveal how she achieved popworld domination to become one of the globe's most exciting new entertainers - an artist who constantly pushes the boundaries of music, fashion and culture. Find out why we're all going gaga for Gaga...
Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame
by Mathieu DeflemThis book investigates the stardom of Lady Gaga within a cultural-sociological framework. Resisting a reductionist perspective of fame as a commodity, Mathieu Deflem offers an empirical examination of the social conditions that informed Lady Gaga's rise to fame. The book delves into topics such as the marketing of Lady Gaga; the legal issues that have dogged her career; the media; her audience; her activism; issues of sex, gender, and sexuality; and Lady Gaga's unique artistry. By training a spotlight on this singular pop icon, Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame invites readers to consider the nature of stardom in an age of celebrity.
Lady Gaga: A Little Golden Book Biography (Little Golden Book)
by Michael JoostenHelp your little one dream big with a Little Golden Book biography about pop music icon, actress, and philanthropist Lady Gaga. 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 Lady Gaga--the genre-straddling singer of hits including "Born This Way" and "Shallow" and star of House of Gucci and A Star is Born--is an inspiring read-aloud for young children and their parents who are fans. Look for more Little Golden Book biographies: • Willie Nelson • Beyoncé • Dolly Parton • Taylor Swift • Tony Bennett
Lady Grayl: Owl With a Mission
by Robert W. Nero"This is the story of a man and his owl. But what a man and what an owl! The owl is one of our planet’s most beautiful and elusive beings, an enchanting spook, a feathered spirit from some ancient world. "The man is Robert Nero, his name synonymous with that of the Great Gray Owl, his love affair with the species spanning twenty-five years. For me, a non-professional adrift in a sea of biologists, it is heartening to find in Dr. Nero not just the able scientific mind but also a sense of wonder, undiminished by the years. Perhaps it is the mortality of all living things that makes them exquisite to him, for he writes of their brief beauty in poetry and prose. His words remind us of joys we once knew, of worlds to which we have grown blind. "What a privilege it is to share a time on Earth with a man like this, and to call him friend." - Katherine McKeever, The Owl Foundation, Vineland, 1994 "Bob Nero, one of Canada’s finest nature writers, has done it again! His fifth book, about Lady Grayl, is a personal account, something close to a love story. For nine years, since the rescue of a starving runt owlet from a wild brood, he has taken his beautiful owl, Lady Grayl, to countless schools and public meetings to preach the gospel of conservation. She and Bob are well-known throughout Manitoba, and beyond. "Bob’s careful observations of this imprinted owl supplement his 25 years of research into Great Gray Owls in the wild. Six sensitive poems and numerous photographs depict the owl in many moods and settings. This book will rank along with Bernd Heinrich’s acclaimed One Man’s Owl, which dealt with an imprinted Great Horned Owl, and will be of special interest to all who have been fortunate enough to see Lady Grayl." - C. Stuart Houston, University of Saskatchewan
A Lady Has the Floor: Belva Lockwood Speaks Out for Women's Rights
by Kate HanniganWritten in the same vein as the recent best-selling titles I DISSENT and SHE PERSISTED, here is a nonfiction picture book biography of Belva Lockwood, a lawyer, activist and presidential candidate who devoted her life to overcoming obstacles and demanding equality for women.Activist Belva Lockwood never stopped asking herself the question Are women not worth the same as men? She had big dreams and didn't let anyone stand in her way--not her father, her law school, or even the U.S. Supreme Court. She fought for equality for women in the classroom, in the courtroom, and in politics. In her quest for fairness and parity, Lockwood ran for President of the United States, becoming the first woman on the ballot. In this riveting nonfiction picture book biography, award-winning author Kate Hannigan and celebrated artist Alison Jay illuminate the life of Lockwood, a woman who was never afraid to take the floor and speak her mind.
Lady Icarus: Balloonmania and the Brief, Bold Life of Sophie Blanchard
by Deborah NoyesA riveting middle-grade biography about Sophie Blanchard, the first woman to work as a professional aeronaut in France in the late 1700s, set against the thrilling backdrop of early flight.Before Amelia Earhart, there was Sophie Blanchard, the first woman to earn her living in the air. While no one knows the fate of Earhart, a terrified crowd of thousands looked on as French aeronaut Sophie Blanchard met her end in a tragic blaze of glory over the streets of Paris in 1819.But first, Blanchard made nearly 70 spectacular flights, survived a revolution, and become a court favorite of the emperor Napoleon (who gave her the title, "Aeronaut of the Official Festivals") and later of the King of France. Set against the backdrop of the history of flight, watch as Balloonmania-- a phenomenon that riveted all of Europe-- took hold and inspired a great many artists authors, and dreamers. This lively scrapbook-style biography with more than fifty black-and-white photos throughout, introduces a frightened, nervous girl who became a fearless legend in the skies.
The Lady in Black
by Juan Moisés de la SernaWhat a confusing fact, full of cross lines, that grab my interest but grow my fear up when the mystery wasn’t undiscovered for me, the mystery behind the lake that was surrounded by mysterious waters. Everyone would like to throw this episode from his memory, but it burnt my brain with all the incredible events I have ever lived with, until I got to this town, to this mysterious lake in particular. For me, it wasn’t difficult to remember such these events, that I lived them through my trips, and this ability is what I am frightened of, not because of the possibility of getting an accident at some points of my life, but even losing it, it is just an assumed thing and that fact makes me won on my fear about it. Although there were still other events that I experienced, all leading me up to one ending that I have always drawn, which is I am about a witness of unexplained wonders.
The Lady in Red: An Eighteenth-Century Tale of Sex, Scandal, and Divorce
by Hallie RubenholdShe was a spirited young heiress. He was a handsome baronet with a promising career in government. The marriage of Lady Seymour Dorothy Fleming and Sir Richard Worsley had the makings of a fairy tale—but ended as one of the most scandalous and highly publicized divorces in history.In February 1782, England opened its newspapers to read the details of a criminal conversation trial in which the handsome baronet Sir Richard Worsley attempted to sue his wife's lover for an astronomical sum in damages. In the course of the proceedings, the Worsleys' scandalous sexual arrangements, voyeuristic tendencies, and bed-hopping antics were laid bare. The trial and its verdict stunned society, but not as much as the unrepentant behavior of Lady Worsley.Sir Joshua Reynolds captured the brazen character of his subject when he created his celebrated portrait of Lady Worsley in a fashionable red riding habit, but it was her shocking affairs that made her divorce so infamous that even George Washington followed it in the press. Impeccably researched and written with great flair, Hallie Rubenhold's The Lady in Red is a lively and moving true history that presents a rarely seen picture of aristocratic life in the Georgian era.
Lady in Red: An Intimate Portrait of Nancy Reagan
by Sheila TateLady in Red is the long-awaited collection of behind-the-scenes stories and iconic images of one of the most influential First Lady in modern history -- Nancy Reagan. Lovingly compiled by long-time close confidante and aide, Sheila Tate, the book provides a rare and much-anticipated look into the personal life of the president's wife, from her daily routines and travels as First Lady to her friendships and deep influence in the Reagan White House.Lady in Red depicts a nuanced portrait of this graceful yet strong woman who felt it was her mission to restore a sense of grandeur, mystique, and excitement to the presidency, showcasing the various roles that Mrs. Reagan played during her years in the White House, that of Wife, Mother, Protector, Host, Diplomat, and Advisor, among others. The book also features twenty-four pages of gorgeous color photographs, including "Nancy's Album," a collection of Mrs. Reagan's favorite photographs, which she entrusted to Sheila to share with the world after she and her beloved Ronnie had passed.To complete the portrait, Lady in Red includes interviews with the friends and politicians who knew Mrs. Reagan best: President George H. W. Bush, Chris Wallace, James Baker, Ed Meese, Maureen Dowd, and Marlin Fitzwater share their most cherished memories of the First Lady.
Lady in the Dark: Iris Barry and the Art of Film
by Robert SittonIris Barry (1895–1969) was a pivotal modern figure and one of the first intellectuals to treat film as an art form, appreciating its far-reaching, transformative power. Although she had the bearing of an aristocrat, she was the self-educated daughter of a brass founder and a palm-reader from the Isle of Man. An aspiring poet, Barry attracted the attention of Ezra Pound and joined a demimonde of Bloomsbury figures, including Ford Maddox Ford, T. S. Eliot, Arthur Waley, Edith Sitwell, and William Butler Yeats. She fell in love with Pound's eccentric fellow Vorticist, Wyndham Lewis, and had two children by him.In London, Barry pursued a career as a novelist, biographer, and critic of motion pictures. In America, she joined the modernist Askew Salon, where she met Alfred Barr, director of the new Museum of Modern Art. There she founded the museum's film department and became its first curator, assuring film's critical legitimacy. She convinced powerful Hollywood figures to submit their work for exhibition, creating a new respect for film and prompting the founding of the International Federation of Film Archives. Barry continued to augment MoMA's film library until World War II, when she joined the Office of Strategic Services to develop pro-American films with Orson Welles, Walt Disney, John Huston, and Frank Capra. Yet despite her patriotic efforts, Barry's "foreignness" and association with such filmmakers as Luis Buñuel made her the target of an anticommunist witch hunt. She eventually left for France and died in obscurity. Drawing on letters, memorabilia, and other documentary sources, Robert Sitton reconstructs Barry's phenomenal life and work while recasting the political involvement of artistic institutions in the twentieth century.
The Lady In The Palazzo: An Umbrian Love Story
by Marlena De BlasiMarlena di Blasi seduced readers to fall in love with Venice, then Tuscany, with her popular and critically acclaimed books A Thousand Days in Venice and A Thousand Days in Tuscany. Now she takes readers on a journey into the heart of Orvieto, an ancient city in the less-trodden region of Umbria. Rich with history and a vivid sense of place, her tale is by turns romantic and sensual, joyous and celebratory, as she and her husband search for a home in this city on a hill--finding one that turns out to be the former ballroom of a dilapidated sixteenth-century palazzo. Along the way, de Blasi befriends an array of colorful characters, including cooks and counts and shepherds and a lone violinist, cooking her way into the hearts of her Umbrian neighbors. Brimming with life and kissed by romance, The Lady in the Palazzo perfectly captures the essence of a singular place and offers up a feast--and the recipes to prepare it!--for readers of all stripes.
The Lady in the Palazzo: An Umbrian Love Story (Thorndike Nonfiction Ser.)
by Marlena De BlasiMarlena di Blasi seduced readers to fall in love with Venice, then Tuscany, with her popular and critically acclaimed books A Thousand Days in Venice and A Thousand Days in Tuscany. Now she takes readers on a journey into the heart of Orvieto, an ancient city in the less-trodden region of Umbria. Rich with history and a vivid sense of place, her tale is by turns romantic and sensual, joyous and celebratory, as she and her husband search for a home in this city on a hill—finding one that turns out to be the former ballroom of a dilapidated sixteenth-century palazzo. Along the way, de Blasi befriends an array of colorful characters, including cooks and counts and shepherds and a lone violinist, cooking her way into the hearts of her Umbrian neighbors. Brimming with life and kissed by romance, The Lady in the Palazzo perfectly captures the essence of a singular place and offers up a feast—and the recipes to prepare it!—for readers of all stripes.
The Lady in the Tower: A Novel (A Queens of England Novel #4)
by Jean PlaidyOne of history's most complex and alluring women comes to life in this classic novel by the legendary Jean Plaidy.Young Anne Boleyn was not beautiful but she was irresistible, capturing the hearts of kings and commoners alike. Daughter of an ambitious country lord, Anne was sent to France to learn sophistication, and then to court to marry well and raise the family's fortunes. She soon surpassed even their greatest expectations. Although his queen was loving and loyal, King Henry VIII swore he would put her aside and make Anne his wife. And so he did, though the divorce would tear apart the English church and inflict religious turmoil and bloodshed on his people for generations to come.Loathed by the English people, who called her "the King's Great Whore," Anne Boleyn was soon caught in the trap of her own ambition. Political rivals surrounded her at court and, when she failed to produce a much-desired male heir, they closed in, preying on the king's well-known insecurity and volatile temper. Wrongfully accused of adultery and incest, Anne found herself imprisoned in the Tower of London, where she was at the mercy of her husband and of her enemies.From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn
by Alison WeirBONUS: This edition contains a The Lady in the Tower discussion guide.Nearly five hundred years after her violent death, Anne Boleyn, second wife to Henry VIII, remains one of the world's most fascinating, controversial, and tragic heroines. Now acclaimed historian and bestselling author Alison Weir has drawn on myriad sources from the Tudor era to give us the first book that examines, in unprecedented depth, the gripping, dark, and chilling story of Anne Boleyn's final days.The tempestuous love affair between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn scandalized Christendom and altered forever the religious landscape of England. Anne's ascent from private gentlewoman to queen was astonishing, but equally compelling was her shockingly swift downfall. Charged with high treason and imprisoned in the Tower of London in May 1536, Anne met her terrible end all the while protesting her innocence. There remains, however, much mystery surrounding the queen's arrest and the events leading up to it: Were charges against her fabricated because she stood in the way of Henry VIII making a third marriage and siring an heir, or was she the victim of a more complex plot fueled by court politics and deadly rivalry? The Lady in the Tower examines in engrossing detail the motives and intrigues of those who helped to seal the queen's fate. Weir unravels the tragic tale of Anne's fall, from her miscarriage of the son who would have saved her to the horrors of her incarceration and that final, dramatic scene on the scaffold. What emerges is an extraordinary portrayal of a woman of great courage whose enemies were bent on utterly destroying her, and who was tested to the extreme by the terrible plight in which she found herself. Richly researched and utterly captivating, The Lady in the Tower presents the full array of evidence of Anne Boleyn's guilt--or innocence. Only in Alison Weir's capable hands can readers learn the truth about the fate of one of the most influential and important women in English history.
The Lady in the Van: And Other Stories
by Alan BennettNow a major motion picture starring Maggie Smith, Alan Bennett's famous and heartwarming story "The Lady in the Van," and more of Bennett's classic short-form workAlan Bennett has long been one of the world's most revered humorists. From his acclaimed story collection Smut to his hilarious and sharply observed The Uncommon Reader, Bennett has consistently remained one of literature's most acute observers of Britain and life's many absurdities.In this new collection, drawn from his wide-ranging career, you'll read some of Bennett's finest work, including the title story, the basis for a new feature film starring Maggie Smith. The book also includes the rollicking comic masterpiece "The Laying on of Hands" and the bittersweet "Father! Father! Burning Bright," Bennett's classic tale of the tense relationship between a man and his dying father.
Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown
by Anne Glenconner<P><P>An extraordinary memoir of drama, tragedy, and royal secrets by Anne Glenconner--a close member of the royal circle and lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret. As seen on Netflix's The Crown.Anne Glenconner has been at the center of the royal circle from childhood, when she met and befriended the future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, the Princess Margaret. Though the firstborn child of the 5th Earl of Leicester, who controlled one of the largest estates in England, as a daughter she was deemed "the greatest disappointment" and unable to inherit. <P><P>Since then she has needed all her resilience to survive court life with her sense of humor intact. A unique witness to landmark moments in royal history, Maid of Honor at Queen Elizabeth's coronation, and a lady in waiting to Princess Margaret until her death in 2002, Anne's life has encompassed extraordinary drama and tragedy. <P><P>In Lady in Waiting, she will share many intimate royal stories from her time as Princess Margaret's closest confidante as well as her own battle for survival: her broken-off first engagement on the basis of her "mad blood"; her 54-year marriage to the volatile, unfaithful Colin Tennant, Lord Glenconner, who left his fortune to a former servant; the death in adulthood of two of her sons; a third son she nursed back from a six-month coma following a horrific motorcycle accident. <P><P>Through it all, Anne has carried on, traveling the world with the royal family, including visiting the White House, and developing the Caribbean island of Mustique as a safe harbor for the rich and famous-hosting Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Raquel Welch, and many other politicians, aristocrats, and celebrities. With unprecedented insight into the royal family, Lady in Waiting is a witty, candid, dramatic, at times heart-breaking personal story capturing life in a golden cage for a woman with no inheritance. <P><P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown
by Anne Glenconner**SPECTATOR BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2020****SUNDAY TIMES FAVOURITE PAPERBACKS OF 2020**'The best royal book by miles . . . funny, gossipy and riveting'JANE RIDLEY, SPECTATOR'If your jaw doesn't drop at least three times every chapter, you've not been paying proper attention'SUNDAY TIMES'A captivating account of a life lived with resilience and grace'DAILY MAIL'The stoical Lady G writes with infectious joy and optimism'DAILY EXPRESS'The gossip is stupendous but it's also tremendously touching. It's one of those books that makes you long for bed so you can read more!'JILLY COOPER'I can't recommend it highly enough'LORRAINE KELLY'Gentle, wise, unpretentious, but above all inspiring'THE TIMES'A candid, witty and stylish memoir'MIRANDA SEYMOUR, FINANCIAL TIMES'Stalwart and disarmingly honest . . . emotion resonates through this delightful memoir'THE WALL STREET JOURNAL'Discretion and honour emerge as the hallmarks of Glenconner's career as a royal servant, culminating in this book which manages to be both candid and kind'GUARDIAN'I couldn't put it down. Funny and touching - like looking through a keyhole at a lost world.'RUPERT EVERETT~The remarkable life of Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret who was also a Maid of Honour at the Queen's Coronation. Anne Glenconner reveals the real events behind The Crown as well as her own life of drama, tragedy and courage, with the wonderful wit and extraordinary resilience which define her.Anne Glenconner has been close to the Royal Family since childhood. Eldest child of the 5th Earl of Leicester, she was, as a daughter, described as 'the greatest disappointment' by her family as she was unable to inherit. Her childhood home Holkham Hall is one of the grandest estates in England. Bordering Sandringham the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret were frequent playmates. From Maid of Honour at the Queen's Coronation to Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret, Lady Glenconner is a unique witness to royal history, as well as an extraordinary survivor of a generation of aristocratic women trapped without inheritance and burdened with social expectations. She married the charismatic but highly volatile Colin Tennant, Lord Glenconner, who became the owner of Mustique. Together they turned the island into a paradise for the rich and famous, including Mick Jagger and David Bowie, and it became a favourite retreat for Princess Margaret. But beneath the glitz and glamour there has also lurked tragedy. On Lord Glenconner's death in 2010 he left his fortune to a former employee. And of their five children, two grown-up sons died, while a third son had to be nursed back from a coma by Anne, after having suffered a near fatal accident. Anne Glenconner writes with extraordinary wit, generosity and courage and she exposes what life was like in her gilded cage, revealing the role of her great friendship with Princess Margaret, and the freedom she can now finally enjoy in later life.
Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown
by Anne GlenconnerThe remarkable life of Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret who was also a Maid of Honour at the Queen's Coronation - and is a character in The Crown this autumn. Anne Glenconner reveals the real events behind The Crown as well as her own life of drama, tragedy and courage, with the wonderful wit and extraordinary resilience which define her.Anne Glenconner has been close to the Royal Family since childhood. Eldest child of the 5th Earl of Leicester, she was, as a daughter, described as 'the greatest disappointment' by her family as she was unable to inherit. Her childhood home Holkham Hall is one of the grandest estates in England. Bordering Sandringham the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret were frequent playmates. From Maid of Honour at the Queen's Coronation to Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret, Lady Glenconner is a unique witness to royal history, as well as an extraordinary survivor of a generation of aristocratic women trapped without inheritance and burdened with social expectations. She married the charismatic but highly volatile Colin Tennant, Lord Glenconner, who became the owner of Mustique. Together they turned the island into a paradise for the rich and famous, including Mick Jagger and David Bowie, and it became a favourite retreat for Princess Margaret. But beneath the glitz and glamour there has also lurked tragedy. On Lord Glenconner's death in 2010 he left his fortune to a former employee. And of their five children, two grown-up sons died, while a third son had to be nursed back from a coma by Anne, after having suffered a near fatal accident. Anne Glenconner writes with extraordinary wit, generosity and courage and she exposes what life was like in her gilded cage, revealing the role of her great friendship with Princess Margaret, and the freedom she can now finally enjoy in later life. She will appear as a character in the new series of The Crown this autumn.(P) 2019 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
The Lady Is a Spy (Scholastic Focus): Virginia Hall, World War Ii Hero Of The French Resistance
by Don MitchellThe 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.
Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen
by Alison PlowdenFor most, the name of Lady Jane Grey means the 'nine days queen', the child who was used as a pawn in the power politics of the Tudor realm by both her parents, the Suffolks, and Northumberlands. Alison Plowden's new book tells the tragic story of Jane's life, and death, but also reveals her to be a woman of unusual strength of conviction, with an intelligence and steady faith beyond her years. Told with Alison's usual skill and adeptness, this is a story which will stir compassion in the hearts of the hardiest readers. It also gives us insight into the least known of Henry VIII's wives, Katherine Parr.
The Lady Lord Mayors of Norwich, 1923–2017
by Phyllida ScrivensThe Lady Lord Mayors of Norwich 1923 - 2017 offers an entertaining and revealing insight into the diverse lives, both personal and civic, of seventeen remarkable women, who between 1923 and 2017, has each held the honor of being First Citizen of the City of Norwich in Norfolk England. Moreover, the pioneer Ethel Colman, daughter of the mustard giant, simultaneously became the first female Lord Mayor of both Norwich and of Great Britain.Amongst others, meet the war refugee from Czechoslovakia; the Ten Pound Pom; the Manageress of C&A; the keen amateur actress; the Trade Unionist; the Scot from the Glasgow shipyards; the Hairdresser Lord Mayor; the Prison Governors wife and the first known official consort with Downs syndrome. Discover the Civic Coach, priceless regalia, traditional robes, Whifflers, Snap the Dragon and the magnificent Art Deco Norwich City Hall, opened in 1938 by King George VI, allegedly coveted by Adolf Hitler as his regional HQ if the Nazis should win WW2.Using in-depth personal interviews with surviving female Lord Mayors, their colleagues, friends and family members, supported by research material from local archival sources, author Phyllida Scrivens has uncovered fascinating anecdotal stories, both joyous and tragic, many involving royalty and national figures. This book, including original photographs, delves behind the scenes of public office, discovering inspiring women determined to rise above the constraints of a hitherto patriarchal world.
Lady Lucy Houston DBE: Aviation Champion and Mother of the Spitfire
by Miles MacnairThe life-story of Lady Lucy Houston DBE must surely be one of the most romantic and dramatic epics of the last one hundred and fifty years, yet nowadays she is a woman unknown. She was a renowned beauty with a sharp intelligence, and over the years she would exploit her charismatic charm, first as a teenager to entice a wealthy lover, and subsequently to lead three husbands to the altar.She was an ardent and productive campaigner for womens rights, conducting outstanding works of charity during the Great War, such as providing a convalescent home for nurses returning from the front line. In recognition of these endeavours, she was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1917. After the death of her third husband, a known misogynist, under mysterious circumstances, she was temporarily certified mad, but his Will was to make her the richest woman in England. During the rest of her eventful and eccentric lifetime, she spent her fortune on a vast number of charitable causes, whilst waging a feisty political campaign against weak British politicians of all parties. As a great admirer of how Mussolini had restored Italys patriotic self-esteem, she championed men like Winston Churchill as the future saviour of her own beloved country. But her greatest legacy arose from her steadfast support for the Royal Air Force, whose finances were being crippled. She funded the 1931 Schneider Trophy Race as well as the Houston-Mount Everest Expedition of 1933. This funding had a crucial bearing on the development of the Merlin engine and the Spitfire aircraft, essentially kick starting the chain of events that would ultimately end in allied victory during the Battle of Britain. She died before the cataclysmic war that she so accurately predicted however, her death being precipitated by an infatuation with Edward, Prince of Wales.In spite of her many eccentricities, the enchanting, infuriating, inspiring and endlessly controversial Lucy Houston deserves to be remembered as a very patriotic lady indeed.