Diane Lane Books

I purchased several copies of this book to give to the women in our family, and friends. I feel it is a must read.

This is an excellent book and necessary for each one of us to read to better understand who we are and why we make the choices we have made and continue to make. If we want something different for our lives, this book introduces us to ways to examine the lives and choices of our mothers, grandmothers, etc., in an effort to make different choices......

I have never read a book that revealed more about black male female relationships. I've read this book three times, and I've given as a gift to other sisters in the struggle just as many times. I recommend this book highly to anyone on a search to understand themselves intergenerationally.

This book is an absolute MUST for any black woman (or man for that matter) who wants to deal with intergenerational scarcity beliefs which prevent us from truly experiencing love in our lives. Richardson and Wade do an excellent job of explaining how the slavery experience impacted every facet of black life and remnants of that impact are played out in our relationships with our family, friends, and mates. For instance, many of us can look back in our family tree to locate where different behavioral patterns (i.e. alcoholism, sexual abuse, obesity, etc.) developed and now play out in our own lives. The authors have you do a series of exercises, such as a genogram which lists the scarcity beliefs and self-destructive behaviors members of our families have developed and passed on to us, to help you begin to understand those internalized beliefs and behaviors which prevent us from experiencing real love. The book doesn't just focus on love relationships with mates but explores love relationships with ourselves, our family, and our mates. Personally, I found the chapter on anger to be the most provocative and enlightening. So much so that I have begun using the information I learned about my anger issues in my individual counseling sessions. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to deal with the pain of slavery and its reprecussions on our present day lives.

I cound not put this book down! I was amazed of the imact black slavery has on us today.The entire truth was never taught to me in school. I'm glad this book tells it how it is(or how it use to be)!This book taught me how to heal deep emotional scars that have been pasted down from one generation to the next. I had no idea what a profound impact past emotional abuse has had on my personal life and love relationships today. Don't live in the dark, buy this book and be enlightened to the abudance that was ment for you...

Renown deaf advocate Lane injects himself as Laurent Clerc to write the history of deaf work in America, which began in France.

Briefly this review will attempt to broadbrush some of the consistent historical strokes with which Lane's account through Clerc paints. First, from the outset the seemingly natural language of this minority language group (deaf) appears to be manually with sign, mime and fingerspelling. It is also apparent that there were initially Christian, religious inspiration and motivation for equipping the deaf for the power of words, thoughts and thinking processes. Of this, I am personally interested and indebted to its inclusion without apparent editing. Further, wonder if this has anything at all to do with subsequent intrusion of oral method, which seemingly also has removed much of religious instruction from sign language? This oralist movement fueled by likes of telephone inventor Bell has an unmoral edge to it (if this historical record is anywhere indicative of truth) of not caring at all about the deaf as human, but more substandard, without much respect for their humanity at all.)

What develops from these is the developments which drop this history off at our chronological doorstep. One might also check out the fascinating book by Winefield "Never the Twain Shall Meet: Debate between Galladet and Bell".

This book will certainly give great historical precedent to this continuing and complex debate for the hearing outsider such as myself, providing much to ponder and investigate. Primarily, will seek out the deaf to listen to their perspective. That is the great value of reading this book. We must listen to their viewpoint and give it weight.

This book is a historical exploration into the question of how the deaf should be educated, through sign or through oral speech. I wouldn't call it "a comprehensive history of the deaf" as advertised on the back of the book, and I wouldn't even call it "the history of relations between the society of hearing-speaking people and the community of deaf-signing people" as Lane suggests in his foreword. The book stays almost exclusively on the topic of education for the deaf, which in itself is quite interesting.

To me, the book had a unique and rather odd approach, in which the author related the history through the vantage point of Laurent Clerc (the French deaf teacher brought to the US by Thomas Gallaudet). Throughout the first part of the book, the story is told entirely in the first person, as if Clerc wrote it, and Lane simply was the translator. But judging from the extensive footnotes, only a 20th century author could have had access to so many primary sources, so Lane must have been the author after all. But I was never 100% certain about the authorship, and that was a bit annoying. In addition, if Clerc wasn't the author, then Lane stretched his historical research a bit far in projecting attitudes and opinions into Clerc's voice that we really have no way of confirming, and would probably be unlikely for people in the 19th to have. Overall, the historical details are incredibly rich, often perhaps too much so, yet there is not a great focus on dates or chronology, making it difficult in places to identify when specific events took place.

The book makes an extremely strong argument for educating the deaf through sign rather than orally. More than that, the argument is that the deaf are best educated in residential signing schools, at least from a 19th century vantage point. It would seem that Clerc would most likely argue against modern-day mainstreaming as well.

I think most deaf people who read this book would agree that sign language is extremely important for all facets of life, especially education. Nevertheless, hearing parents of deaf children who are trying to decide how to educate their children may still cling to the idea of oralism in the hopes of helping their child better adapt to majority society. But as argued in this book, a deaf child who is mainstreamed and taught lip reading is handicapped, having curtailed abilities to interact with peers. Meanwhile, a deaf child who attends school with other deaf children is completely normal within deaf society. The choice between oralism or sign is really no less than choosing between making the child normal or handicapped - which would you want for your child?

As a hearing person, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to do a college exchange at a school which had a large number of deaf students. In fact, most of the students in my dorm were deaf. Almost immediately upon arrival, I began to observe the importance of sign language for communication. Deaf students who had not been exposed to sign language until their teenage years had obvious communication difficulties, and I was told that many of them probably never would develop the language skills that native signers had. It was obvious to me how much the deaf students at the school enjoyed being there and succeeded in their studies because they were supported with sign. These experiences convinced me that the best place for a deaf child to study is in a school with many other deaf children to sign with. On this point, I agree completely with Lane (and Clerc).

I picked this book up after reading Oliver Sacks's When the Mind Hears, and I am very glad I did. Without it, I might very well be blind to one of the world's most infuriating injustices: the attempt to gloss over deafness and discredit sign language. Moreover, the book is beautifully written and provides tons of information on the people and places involved. Everyone should read this book, because everyone who does will be motivated to help right the situation.

As a deaf person who has struggled long and hard to get my PhD in science and science education, this book with its history comes as no surprise to me. Harlan Lane is a hearing person who has taken up the cause of those in the deaf world with a vengence, and I do mean with a vengence! Dr. Lane has a tendency to write with immense vigor and sometimes his books tend to go overboard in stating the case. However, this book is a classic and is definitely one of his best written ones.

The history of the deaf in the United STates is strewn with great minds and small minds. We have had people who supported our education, and those who mistakenly viewed us as being less worthy of the normal needs and desires of life. This includes having a life, getting an education, living in society, being able to find gainful employment, getting married, and having children. The research of Dr. Lane is impeccable, and I have found it useful to refer to him in papers and use his references/bibliography for my own work on discrimination against the deaf in science education. Even if I sometimes do not agree with Dr. Lane's biased outlook on history of the deaf, I certainly appreciate all that he has done to bring the sometimes terrible prejudices and misdeeds to the attention of the hearing public. Yes, the deaf were and continue to be discriminated against, just as other differences are whether a disability or racial/cultural minority. Those who wish to understand the extent to which this discrimination went, should definitely read this book. To an extent, those of us with life-long hearing differences are learning to advocate for ourselves, and take pride in our accomplishments. It is thanks to people like Dr. Lane that we have been able to reach this point over the past 40 years. Karen Sadler, Science education, University of Pittsburgh

I picked this book up after reading Oliver Sacks's When the Mind Hears, and I am very glad I did. Without it, I might very well be blind to one of the world's most infuriating injustices: the attempt to gloss over deafness and discredit sign language. Moreover, the book is beautifully written and provides tons of information on the people and places involved. Everyone should read this book, because everyone who does will be motivated to help right the situation.

I love this snappy, informative book with its vintage photographs, evocative memorabilia,great layout, and fact-filled text. The authors cover all aspects of the bowling phenomenon -- from the history of the sport to fashion, technology, and
architecture, and helped me understand the important social and cultural role of this sport. Two things really stayed with me: the authors' ability to connect bowling to American social history; and the fantastic design. This book puts me in a great mood! Intelligently written -- without being high brow--and full of entertaining anecdotes, Bowled Over makes a great present for bowlers and fans of popular culture.

A pleasant enough short history of bowling, giving just enough detail to be interesting without getting too technical though in some cases I would have appreciated more information, in particular the development of the automatic pinsetter (surely the one item that pushed the sport into the big-time) and the architecture of bowling lanes, the work of the architectural company Powers, Daly & DeRosa helped pull in the customers to the flamboyant lanes of the fifties.

The book is a neat square shape (seven by seven inches) and well produced with over a hundred pictures but before you order your copy you have to know that (amazingly) none of the pictures have captions! Some of them clearly are just graphics to help the design along but I counted fifty-two that really should have some explanation for the reader, for instance page eleven shows actor Telly Savalas just about to bowl, when was it taken and where? Page forty-seven shows the outside of the streamline Tower Bowl in San Diego (designed by Charlie Lee) I think readers should be told this in a caption, page ninety-six has a bowling championship in progress, where, when? I'm surprised that the publisher did not pick up this rather fundamental flaw in the books presentation.

A book I enjoyed more than 'Bowled Over' is 'Bowl-O-Rama' by Thomas Steele, essentially a visual history with hundreds of pictures (all with captions) and short introductions to the nine chapters. Oh and the cover shows part of a bowling ball with three holes punched right though the stiff cardboard.

This book has changed my life for the better! For many years I have had a fear of clowns, in itself an emotional wall put up to deal with my inability to embrace the inner child. My girlfriend on the other hand loves clowns and has been begging me to come to terms with my emotional problems. I used to hide behind the hunstmans rifle in a misplaced attempt to deal with my emotional shortcomings but now things are getting better, and in no small part thanks to this book.

Diane Keaton is familiar to all as a talented Hollywood actress but few will know that she is also a patron of the arts. This book showcases her collection of clown paintings and they are accompanied by the comments and stories from many famous celebrities. The pictures distressed me at first but somehow the warm words of Diane Keaton and the humourous comments of the celebs made me keep coming back. Before long I recognised these paintings for what they truly are, an insight into the very essence of the clown. I see that often behind the greasepaint and oversized shoes there often lies a fragile and passionate soul. In particular a picture in the book entitled 'Let Down' moved me and provided my breakthru moment. It features a clown with his unicycle backstage, just about ready to enter the big top. But his wheel is flat and he cannot go on. A small tear gently rolls down his cheek, making the white and red makeup run a little, as he casts a heartfelt glance at his clown comrades running into the arena. A beautiful, poignant picture which the famous director Alan Smithee summed up as 'moving beyond belief'.

Buy this book and you will not regret it. Beautiful pictures appreciated by beautiful people.

This is scary stuff and should be kept out of the hands of innocents. It is corruptive, corrosive and full of "CLOWN PAINTINGS", people. Clowns I tell you, clowns!

Need I say more?

I'm off in my jalopy now, away and away and away from those dastardly, red-nosed purveyors of horror.

L.A.E.

I love this book. I'm always looking for clown or circus books. As a Clown lover, I share the same passion as Diane Keaton. This book is a great addition to my personal Clown collection. It feels like this book was published just for me. Being a Clown myself and a Clown artist of fine paintings and sculptures,(www.clownartist.com), I appreciate the works by the different artists and what they communicated. These Clowns evoke a myriad of emotional feelings.
I agree with Diane Keaton about how much we have in common with a clown. We have all felt the emotions that we see on a Clowns face.....CLOWN'S EYES SEE TRUST AND ACCEPTANCE. A WORLD OF FRIENDSHIP...GIVEN AND RECEIVED. A CLOWN'S VIEW IS DIRECT...LIFE IS SIMPLE, UNENCUMBERED...SOMETHING HURTS, HE CRIES, SOMETHING PLEASES HIM, HE LAUGHTS, SOMETHING PUZZLES HIM, HE FROWNS, SOMETHING TOUCHES HIM, HE RESPONDS. LIFE CAN BE THAT SIMPLE...FOR A MOMENT.

I am a clown lover. Clowns have always amazed me and grabbed my attention. I love them not because they are funny or clumsy, but by their beauty, pureness, and happiness/sadness contrast. And this is what this book shows, the esthetic and humane sides of the art of clowning. Lovely colorful crying/laughing clowns!

'Clown Paintings' is a very extensive and interesting collection of clown paintings. Diane Keaton is crazy about clowns and many of the paintings are from her private collection. The book also presents a very rich collection of personal beliefs (short texts) about clowns from various famous authors, directors, writers...

The quality of the printing is very very good, the hardcover is really wonderful (without the paper covering), and the price is insignificant for such a piece of art.

With Clown Paintings (2002), idiosyncratic actor, author, and director Diane Keaton has produced the kind of offbeat creative work that is sorely lacking in American culture today. Clown Paintings is just what is appears to be: a slim compendium of presumably amatuer clown paintings which were happily discovered at swap meets, jumble sales, bargain bins, and thrift stores. What makes Clown Paintings surprising is that Keaton treats the sixty - six paintings as oddball if serious pieces of work, and pointedly avoids treating them as banal, ironic objects of kitsch or high or low camp. Created roughly over a period of thirty years, all of the paintings were made by unknown artists, and many are unsigned, further obscuring their etiology.

Keaton and Los Angeles gallery owner Robert Berman each contribute a brief but fascinating essay. Keaton, a well - known comedian herself, perceives clowns as perpetually bright - eyed innocents and eternally hopeful beings that are easily wounded but fundamentally incapable of learning from negative experience or their own mistakes. Noting that clowns were acceptable enough subjects for Picasso, Beckmann, and Matisse, Keaton believes that clowns images "expose the human experience at its most transcendent on one hand, and on the other, its most tragic." Berman, who thinks "one clown painting alone may look like a silly indulgence," dreams "of a gallery full of clowns, floor to ceiling, walls of clowns - so powerful that the viewers would be overwhelmed."

Keaton has asked a broad range of mostly - American comedians to comment on the subject, including Woody Allen, Don Knotts, Phyllis Diller, Carol Burnett, Ben Stiller, Chevy Chase, Sandra Bernhard, and Jerry Lewis. Not surprisingly, most of those solicited find both clowns and their painted images appalling, frightening, repulsive, or subtle metaphors for psychopathology. With few exceptions, these short commentaries are insightful and touching rather than merely glib or clever. Based on the written selections, it appears clowns are rarely if ever a neutral subject. Like garden gnomes, clowns seem to be "loved by millions, and loathed by millions more."

What Clown Paintings only barely touches upon is the clown as an archetypal trickster figure, a psychopomp, a mythical straddler of at least two conflicting states, a figure perpetually at the crossroads, a subversive, borderland creature who manifests in dreams, childhood memories, literature, popular entertainment, consumerism, world history, and in the gray area of symbol and metaphor. Clowns are and have been everywhere and nowhere at once throughout history, like witches. As with all numinous images, they both reveal and conceal simultaneously. Are clowns predominantly good or predominantly evil? Trustworthy or innately figures of suspicion? Well - intended or conspicuously devious? Social outcasts or masters of their fates? Where does the man end, and the clown artifice begin? Are clowns partially transvestite figures? Or gussied - up memento moris? Like glamorized, inverted modern Medusas, clowns and clown images are capable of eliciting at least a brief fit of paralysis in their audience or viewer.

Despite their apparent obviousness and bluntness, these paintings, which underscore several American traditions, proudly maintain their mystery, even when their dignity seems to be faltering. Regardless of the viewer's discipline or angle of approach, their secrets remain inscrutable and thus safe forever. Curious readers willing to give these pieces their time will be adequately rewarded, for, ultimately, Clown Paintings is an eccentric, funhouse - mirror meditation on the strangeness of being human.

The content of this book was interesting, but the thing that really stood out for me was the number of grammatical errors, particularly in subject-verb agreement and apostrophe use. In some cases, the errors were so egregious that I had to read the sentence two or three times to figure out what the authors meant. Everybody makes mistakes, but in the publishing world, that's what editors are for! I hope some of these mistakes are caught before the paperback printing.

Complaint aside, I did find the book rather interesting. I learned a fair amount about feminine figures in myth, history, and literature, although a majority of the figures covered are pretty well-known to most people. I also learned a bit about myself, via the warrior-type quiz at the back of the book.

The final thing I would like to note about this book is that the title is a bit of a misnomer. The authors spend almost as much time discussing male warrior archetypes as they do female archetypes. I understand that this is necessary in order to create a precedent on which to build the female archetypes, but then why is the warrior-type quiz and the chaper explaining how to interpret your results written towards both men and women? If the authors expect men to benefit from this study as well as women, then maybe they should change the title to reflect this.

This book is fantastic. Not only does it give a in-depth history of Women Warriors, it also takes the historical characters and relates them to present day women. The personality quizes in the back tie it all together helping you to realize which warrior personality you have and how that fits in to your daily life.

How is it that this even got published? I am a voracious reader, even books I don't really care for I finish just because I want to see what happens in the end. But I just couldn't do it with this one. How can you be so possibly boring?? Have you ever been stuck on the phone with someone who just loves to talk about themselves? You listen, occasionally give a few grunts as acknowledgement, and sigh in relief when they finally run out of words and use for your ear. This book was that, in text form. Frances Mayers needs someone to talk to, I guess no one would listen, so she wrote it all down in book format. If this is all it takes to publish a book, maybe I'll become a writer!

This is a wonderful, wonderful, journey, adventure, book. By all means, it should be read....just not aloud by the author. Why do people think that if they write a book they have the skill to read it??

ISBN 0767900383 - As a fan of lists, I'm always curious about books that make bestseller lists. I rarely read them, but I'm always curious. This was the case with Under the Tuscan Sun until a rather beat-up, unsellable copy fell into my hands. My curiosity, but little else, has been satisfied.

A recap of the plotline is usually the second paragraph for me. The trouble here is that this book doesn't actually have a plotline. The author and her boyfriend bought a house in Tuscany, living there during the summer and restore it and the land around it. Seriously, that's it: no actual point, no build up, not a character to root for (although there were moments I admit to rooting for the house to fall down on them, just to liven things up). So much for the recap!

Beautifully written, Under the Tuscan Sun isn't without redeeming qualities. Tuscany sounds like a bit of Heaven on Earth and Mayes, reputed to be a good cook, turns out to be a decent writer, at least so far as descriptive writing goes. A few short sections are even well-done humor. For that, the richness of language, the way you can nearly smell the food and hear the quiet of the countryside, for that, Mayes gets 5 stars. For boring me nearly to death, ZERO stars! An average of 3 stars seems a reasonable compromise. There are definitely readers for this type of book, I just happen to not be one of them. If you're looking for a relaxing read, this one certainly fits your needs; if you want a storyline, something more exciting than recipes, this book is a snore - if your blood flowed to the rhythm of this book, you'd be dead.

I picked up this book when it first came out and couldn't get through it because of the painfully detailed descriptions of the remodeling. This is less a book about beginning a new life in Italy and more about the remodeling of a house which just happens to be in Italy. I picked up the book again last week and did manage to finish it. I'm really surprised that this became a bestseller and would probably not read other books by this author. Julia Child wrote a wonderful, wonderful book called "My Life in France" that I would definitely recommend as a great example of travel writing.

I was so looking forward to reading, "Under The Tuscan Sun". An avid traveler, I love to explore various places through books since having 3 kids doesn't allow me to travel as much as I used to. I assumed the book would be good considering it was a #1 New York Times Bestseller.

Maybe my expectations were too high. I found the book to be monotonous, laborious and rather self-indulgent. The relationships Mayes appears to have developed seem superficial at best and imagery of the old, deep south conjured in my mind as I read about her cook "Wille Bell" and her seamstress as a child in Georgia. I thought I would relate to this part of Mayes' life as I too grew up in Georgia, but, again, the absence of any emotional impact left me wanting just to finish the book and be done with it.

Aside from the rehabilitation of her home in Tuscany which was written about mostly at the beginning of the book, I found the book to have a lack of continunity and really any depth. The self-proclamed pagan describes churches and locations, but doesn't capture the romance, innocence and intrigue that will keep you flipping pages.

Mayes does appear to be a fabulous cook and I would probably like a cookbook by her. However, if you are looking for a novel with a plot to sink your teeth into, this is definitely NOT it. I much prefered "Eat, Pray and Love" and the first chapter (which I am now reading) of "Almost French" is wildly more clever and intriguing.

Anthologies of this type are always hit or miss affairs. Even those with the big single title names vary in quality. This edition was, to my mind, utterly miserable. Even those authors who usually have something decent to contribute were a great disappointment.

I managed to trudge through Barbara Metzger's story, even though I couldn't stand any of the main characters. Two couples, and the only sympathetic person among them was the mistress! The mice were annoying.

I then forced myself to skim through Allison Lane's and Diane Farr's tales, but neither was worth it. Lane's situations were ridiculous and would never have occured in the time period. It started out well, but deteriorated once the house party ensued. As for Ms. Farr's story, I can't help but believe that the hero will one day rue marrying such a reckless girl. Her only redeeming quality was her peppiness, which was exhausting. I simply couldn't bring myself to even attempt the last two stories.

Avoid this one at all costs. It is dull and silly.

What a brilliant collection of stories! I hadn't read most of the authors in here - there are five stories and all by different writers - and they are about 1/3 of the length of a normal regency novel - maybe shorter. But all make really satisfying reads and at any time of the year, not just Christmas.

My favourite author of this bunch was Diane Farr who seems to have a special talent for making great fun characters - her Miss Ripley was a gem and the story a real cracker - about a very perservering young girl trying to make her way to Bath in time for Christmas. The story might seem a common one but Farr adds a fresh touch to it and it flows along with immense good humour.

A Regency Christmas Eve features stories from two new-comers, two veterans and one in-between. To begin with, Barbara Metzger's tale of treasure hidden in a little country church and uncovered by the Merry Christmouse (and family) will have you holding your sides, laughing as you read. A rakish viscount is reformed, and made to recognize his true love, while the vicar receives the lady of his choice, as well. The humans may not realize it, but they owe it all to the industrious little Churchmouse dynasty.

The weakest story (for me, at least) was The Marriage Stakes by Allison Lane. Dreary and bleak, with a bit of preposterous thrown in, I couldn't like the characters and the setting wasn't much better. In fact, I nearly didn't finish it at all, but other readers may find this style to be enjoyable and should form their own opinion.

Nancy Butler (who won the RITA award for best Regency this year) shows yet another facet of her talent with a story that blends fantasy into romance for one enjoyable result. When Kit Herne goes into the forest looking for the wise-woman who lives there, he wants her to find a cure for his son's ailment. Instead, he finds her daughter, Pippa, who uses her own variety of magic to cure not only the son, but also his father.

Diane Farr serves up the lightest and happiest confection with The Reckless Miss Ripley and her hapless target, Fred Bates. A mere three minutes too late for the mail coach, Miss Ripley is forced to find another way to travel to Bath where she expects to meet up with her long-time (possibly imaginary) fiancé. She badgers the not-quite unwilling Mr. Bates into accompanying her, with all the travails, humorous and otherwise, that can befall such ill-prepared travelers.

And then, to close the book, Edith Layton tells a wonderful, heart-warming story with a twist. (Be sure to have the tissues handy--you'll need them.) On his way back from the wars to his home in England, Max Evers reads in the newspaper that his financial agent has been the victim of an embezzler and all is lost! When he sees his townhouse surrounded by clamoring bailiffs, that sad fact is made all too clear to him, so he turns away from all he'd been anticipating this Christmas season, taking great pains not to be found by anyone from his past life. Especially he turns from his fiancée who's been waiting patiently for him for five long years. However, all is made delightfully right again, however, on the most wondrous night of the year--Christmas Eve!

I've said in previous reviews that there are two downsides to anthologies: one being that the stories are frequently too short for good character and plot development, and the other that poor authors are mixed in with the better ones. This anthology suffers from both of these problems, and as a result is really not good enough to be considered a keeper.

The first story is Barbara Metzger's Little Miracles, an unusual tale centred around a poor and run-down parish church and the few remaining church mice, who try hard to hint successive vicars in the direction of St Cecilia's riches. Evan, the current vicar, is in love with Alice, daughter of the local squire. But his stipend is a pittance and the vicarage has a hole in its roof; how could he ever ask her to marry him? It's a sweet story with amusing moments, but too short for real character development.

Allison Lane's The Marriage Stakes is typical of this author; the characters are all far too informal with each other, and minor characters are one-dimensional caricatures. She uses a plot device which appears in many other novels, where the hero holds a house party in order to choose a bride. The heroine, Sophie, who has been offered shelter after her carriage met with an accident, somehow manages to spy on the various eligible young ladies and report back to Westlake. None of this is at all convincing, and there are a number of scenes which are simply embarrassing to read.

The Gift of the Spoons, by Nancy Butler, is an unusual story and I'm not entirely convinced that it works. It helps if you believe in magic and healing and psychic powers, which I don't. Christopher Herne's son is dying, and as a last resort he is tracking down a woman he's been told about, who has healing powers - Pippa Spoon. Unfortunately, the woman he finds is the original Pippa's daughter. Still, he persuades her to come home with him to treat his son. Lots of strange goings-on and fits of temper from Christopher, and the fact that he never calls his son by his name, make this a difficult novella to like. The resolution is also too quick, and the diagnosis pretty much incredible.

On to Diane Farr's Reckless Miss Ripley; shades of Georgette Heyer's Friday's Child here, but done very well in Ms Farr's usual style. Fred Bates is hurrying home to spend Christmas with his family. He's feeling very sorry for himself, and guilty, because the family's new state of poverty is all his fault. Taking shelter from the snow at an inn, he encounters a young lady travelling alone; it transpires that she's trying to get to Bath to stop her friend Harry from marrying someone else. Claudia persuades Fred to drive her to Bath, and a delightful story ensues.

Finally, we have Edith Layton's The Christmas Thief. Max Evers has lost all his money and can't even afford to buy his niece a Christmas present. Unable to come up with any other solution, he decides that he will steal something for her. But committing a crime turns out to be not as simple as he'd envisaged. This novella was a disappointment: there are too many unconvincing events and leaps of logic and I simply can't see how certain things would have happened. The element of romance is also far too brief: the heroine gets perhaps half a dozen pages in a 60-page story.

Overall, just about so-so.

Four of the stories in this anthology were entertaining and helped me pass several pleasant hours on a winter evening. The fifth one, by Diane Farr, was simply outstanding! I was practically giggling in delight the whole time I was reading, especially from the moment I figured out that this was Fred Bates's story--the Fred Bates whose honor Trevor Whitlatch was defending in Ms. Farr's second novel, Fair Game. In this novella, we discover why Trevor was so eager and willing to help his friend out. Fred Bates is one of the most likeable characters I've ever come across, and the heroine in this story, Claudia, runs a close second. Their story is interesting and engaging. At the inevitable happy ending, you're giddy with joy right along with them. If you are a Diane Farr fan, you must find this book! Her story alone made this book a keeper.