Non-fiction Books

The story takes place in a space age era, where women are separated from men by more than just walls: women enjoy the comforts of technology within their highly secured city, while men live like cavemen on the city's outskirts, and worship the women as goddesses. At first I was struck by the very feminist portrayal to this story, however, the story changes when Birana and Arvil meet. Their love is considered forbidden by both societies, one of which would want nothing to do with men, the other putting them in danger once men realize that she is not really a goddess, and this leaves her highly vulnerable. The intelligence, strength and courage of the male protagonist tells the reader that the book is not as feminist as it seems. The characters are so vivid, and their love so grand, that I could not seem to put the book down from page one. I read it years ago, and I still remember it. I highly recommend it, so be sure to grab a copy from your local library. However, fair warning: the erotic scenes, though beautifully written, may not be appropriate for children.

Pamela Sargent's The Shore of Women works out in persuasively anthropological detail--almost Geertzian "thick description," if you will--a post-apocalyptic world in which women rule with space-age technologies from walled citadels, exiling male children into literal stone age societies of isolated bands clad in animal skins, where lives are nasty, brutish, and short. The violence of Sargent's largely paleolithic male society is mitigated only by its loving devotion to "The Goddess" and her cult, visits to the shrines in which prayer and worshipful communion with the deity transpires, and the occasional "callings" to the enclaves--simultaneously the preeminent male rite of passage and the sole (blind and thoroughly mediated) interaction with the ruling society that enables both worlds to procreate and persist. Within city walls, the master society is strictly bifurcated into elite and masses, in which the custodians of established order replace themselves, presiding over the bought indifference of commoners.

Sargent is a beautifully expressive writer who works out the logic of her story to persuasive conclusions and, along the way, has smart, thoroughly rendered observations to make on societies of women and of men, the humanistic origins of religion, small group interactions under duress, the transformation of nomadic bands into sedentary cultures, the possible retreat of civilization from its points of greatest advancement, a variety of contemporary feminist political ideas, and more. At times, The Shore of Women brought to mind a host of antecedents, including A Canticle for Leibowitz, Lord of the Flies, The Golden Bough, Greek and Roman mythology, captivity stories from 17th and 18th century prisoners of American woodland Indians, the writings of Margaret Meade and other classic anthropologists, and other possible references, but without seeming directly dependent on any. Its principal characters, the inquisitive newly "called" man Arvil and the cast-out woman Birana, are beautifully developed and pass through punctuated sequences of change and unfolding awareness. A third point of view is provided by Laissa, who as the daughter of one of the "Mothers of the City" progresses on her own surprising journey of discovery...

"The Shore of Women" is a richly textured work of feminist science fiction by Pamela Sargent which deserves long overdue recognition as a classic, highly literate example of the genre. It compares favorably to the classical dystopian novel "A Canticle for Leibowitz", as yet another mesmerizing tale set long after a nuclear holocaust. In Sargent's richly imagined future, men are leading primitive lives as hunters and gathers, while women reside in a technically advanced culture comprised of cities equipped with forcefields, death rays and aircraft. Sargent has melded the epic journey with romance, crafting a most unusual futuristic romance novel devoted to her main protagonists, Arvil - whose notions of what it means to be human is radically altered when he meets and falls in love with - Birana, who has been cast out of one of the cities of women. I truly treasure the author's compelling exploration of their relationship from strangers to devout lovers ever respectful of the other's desires and needs. Sargent's compelling work of fiction may be familiar to those familiar with Ursula Le Guin's beguiling exploration of gender in her Hainish series of novels and short stories, but much to her credit, Sargent has created her own fascinating futuristic world to explore the natures of love and of relationships between man and woman. I am delighted that this book is finally back in print courtesy of BenBella Books; this edition includes an excellent foreword by science fiction writer Catherine Asaro.

This book was wonderful in the way that even years after I finished it, it still makes me think and question the ways of mankind.

Well Done!

Pamela Sargent is a prolific writer who unfortunately does not have a vocal support group. Her novels and novellas are not of the type "This is Cronon from the planet Abuzz, stop your atomic testing of be destroyed" They are instead, intelligen far-reaching reveries on the future. In several of her stories she has extrapolated a Mulism planet but this book goes beyond that to a time we can barely fathom.

What happens when a woman in a strictly segregated society commits the ultimate sin - falling in love with a man? The descriptions of the two varying societies and their need for each other is told with a sense of disquiet. And when the lovers finally "find each other" the language approaches a confession. This is a book that can be read again and again on several levels.

This is a great story of the magic that Christmas brings each year.

A dear teacher friend recommended this book and said she couldn't read it to her class without crying! I thought I would be able to read it to my grandson without tearing up, but alas...he had to finish the last few pages! (Much to his delight!) It is such a gentle, tender story. Even when you KNOW what the outcome will be, you can't help but FEEL the emotions the writer conveys so well! Outstanding illustrations put this book in a rare class!

This was a beautiful story written and illustrated. It allows one to discover how people can reach into the hearts of so many with a simple act of kindness. It also reassures children that one does not have to have a lot to change the lives of another. And that dreams do come true.

Karen

I like Chris Soentpiet's book called Silver Packages. The pictures he drew were OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! The book was outstanding! I like the part when the boy is holding his first one in front of the Christmas tree.

If you want to read a great book then read Silver Packages because it will just touch your heart. It all started when no one had anything so every Christmas a man came and threw silver packages out the back of the train. Chris Soentpiet's illustrations are colorful and interesting.

This book reveals a great talent that was taken from us. The richness of the sentences, their imagery and use of language reveal a great depth of talent. Who knows what Mozart might have done if he'd lived another 36 years? A slim volume worth every penny.

This is an excellent novella. It's a thin book, but not a quick read. You should read carefully and savor the beautiful passages and the exquisite details. This book carries a great literary observation of both the beautiful and the ugly, each written with equal accuracy.

It's essentially about a Polish father whose mental health is rapidly deteriorating. But, of course, the story is not that simple.

I'll quote one part I think properly exemplifies his writing: "Sometimes at night, the Demiurge would appear at the bedroom window, bathed in the dark purple glare of Bengal fire, but it only looked for a moment benevolently on my sleeping father whose melodious snoring seemed to wander far into the unknown regions of the world of sleep."

Bruno Schulz seems to go relatively unrecognized amongst US mainstream literati, but he should never be overlooked. He was one of the great contributors to European literature.

Certainly worth the Amazon price of about $9.00.

This is the only of Schultz's pieces I've read, but I look forward to reading more.

The Street of Crocodiles is the story of a year of Schulz' childhood, an obviously fictional year, but a time that was mundane yet fantastic, commonplace and bizarre. Through his child's eyes, events, sensations, ideas and thoughts are conveyed with brilliant, dazzling imagery, vivid, almost too-bright pictures are painted with words in a way that is both surreal, magical and ordinary.

The novel is split into thirteen chapters, each of which focuses on a different part of the Polish city of Drogobych, or on an aspect of Schulz' home life. 'Birds', for instance, is the story of his father's obsession with the winged creatures, beginning with the importation of rare bird's eggs from Africa, Holland, Hamburg, and ending with a vast aviary in the attic, with arranged marriages between different species of birds and, finally, with his father joining the birds, perching and squawking and flapping his wings. Or, 'The Street of Crocodiles', the false namesake of the book - which was actually titled 'Cinammon Shops' in Poland - a decadent, dirty arrangement of streets and buildings where anything and anyone is a commodity for purchase and use. However, The depravity, the immorality, the cheapness of the Street of Crocodiles is so great that they fail even at being depraved, revealed to instead be a mockery of a corrupt suburb, a sham crudity, a false crime. The other stories are similarly bizarre, by turns brilliantly insightful - The Birds chapter, while suitably odd, could also quite easily be read as a man's attempt to occupy himself upon a forced retirement, and failing because he doesn't know of any other life but work - or delightfully, guiltily weird and interesting.

As an author, Schulz had an amazing gift for painting pictures with words. In addition to each little story having a main, plot-driven theme, they all have a secondary, emotional theme. An early chapter, describing Schulz' wandering through an abandoned part of his home which opens up into a field of flowers - yes, you read that correctly - is brilliantly depicted: the golden field of stubble shouted in the sun like a tawny cloud of locusts; in the thick rain of fire the crickets screamed; seed pods exploded softly like grasshoppers. Or there is, in a later experiment of Schulz' father gone awry, this homage to animals: Animals! the object of insatiable interest, examples of the riddle of life, created, as it were, to reveal the human being to man himself, displaying his richness and complexity in a thousand kaleidoscopic possibilities, each of them brought to some curious end, to some characteristic exuberance. The narrator's useage of adjectives, verbs and nouns - or more specifically, the selection of these words - changes as the focus of the chapter changes. While awaiting a dirty train in The Street of Crocodiles, the vocabulary changes from a mild array of purely cataloguing words to 'snake', 'squat', 'coal dust' 'heaving breathing' 'strange sad seriousness'. The 'Gale' chapter, about, unsurprisingly, a fierce gale, is an elemental delight, the words ravaging us just as the weather ravages the characters. It allows Schulz quite possibly his most brilliant line: They blinked in the light, their eyes, still full of night, spilled darkness at each flutter of the eyelids.

It is interesting, when reading The Street of Crocodiles, to see just how much Schulz anticipated both the magic realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and the fantastic whimsy of Italo Calvino. Their style, techniques and ideas are found here, in juvenile form, intermingled with a skill that takes the breath away. Schulz' pen was unfortunately darkened much too soon, thanks to a case of petty internal politics between SS soldiers, which resulted in the Polish Jew's death, and it is our great loss.

I first heard about this book through the pages of the 5-star novel "The History of Love." What is most unusual about it is the author's lack of intention to actually publish his writing. This book is a manifestation of personal letters he had addressed to a geographically distant friend. It is by no means an easy read. The language is powerful and supremely complex and requires absolute focus and sometimes the need to reread a paragraph a few times to truly appreciate the intense magnitude of brain power that this author possesses. This is a book of highly exaggerated proportions. Schulz takes "magical realism" to another level.

Convoluted ideas that twist into abstract thoughts walk through dark alleyways and emerge triumphant. This is how I would describe Schulz's writing. This is not the sort of book you can breeze through but rather, like a dense and flavorful truffle. You will want to savor every word, let it sink in and roll it around in your grey matter before you can appreciate its true meaning and beauty. There is real depth and symbolism in Schulz's writing. That said, it is certainly not for everyone. If you're looking for a lighthearted bedtime read, skip this book. On the other hand, if you're looking for mental stimulation and a book that truly promises an escape from reality, you won't be disappointed by this street of crocodiles.

I am not sure I got this book in a real way. I had heard of and read of Bruno Schultz as a writer of the Shoah(The Holocaust) but the events of the Shoah are not a direct part of this story. The Shoah connection is given in the fact that Schultz was murdered by the Nazis.
The book itself I found disconcerting, bizaare, and difficult. It is filled with descriptions , word- pictures which seem at the one hand beautiful, and on the other somewhat unreal. I suppose what bothered me above all is the narrator's tone and relation to the events which are happening.
As the major action of the work relates to the physical and mental deterioration of the narrator's father I was taken aback by the lack of human sympathy displayed . In fact the whole disconnectedness of the human beings in the book to each other is another thing which makes the work so troublesome.
There is a world in this book, a mind in this book which is not like anything I myself have experienced even in reading.
But however beautiful some of the images given by this mind it seemed to me so fundamentally alien that I could not really grasp it.

This book is Excellent for reading anywhere and anytime, reading this book you will learn (more or less) how think a pharmaceutical company to improve or create new medicine, you will also see how react the people that doesn't like this kind of companies that sincerely we all need them and they have to work with animals whether we like it or not.
We also see how doctors work, some for the cure of the people and some for the cure of their own bank account.
The life of Celia and Andrew was terrific, I want to live that way with my wife and I am not talking about the money, I am talking about the way that each one support the other one. Here is the only part that doesn't belong to the story, the affair of Celia, I don't know why it was written, is mentioned only once and is written in 15 or 20 lines, again, that part of the book doesn't belong to the story.

If there is one thing I like when I read a book by Athur Hailey, is that he's able to write about the world of medicine so greatly as the detective world or any other kind of story, mixing the writing of authors like Robin Cook, Mary Higgins Clark and Sidney Sheldon in a very good way: his own. So why didn't you rate this book 5 stars instead of 4? The answer is: Mr. Hailey's books are wonderful, but he wrote one or two dull lines. So... As for the case of STRONG MEDICINE, the author wrote a book that has a wonderful character and he develops them with an hability that I don't usually see. He gives an insight on the remedy world and makes you understand it completely well, what makes you be aware of how careful he was as for researching. In a few words, Arthur Hailey is one of the best authors out there, one of those that sometimes you hate for not writing as much as you want to read, which to me usually means a ton of his books. And Arthur have written only just a few, unfortunately. So, what you can do, is read read and read his books and also enjoy him. You'll discover one of the best writers you've ever read. Believe me.

Arthur Hailey was a great man. He provided insights into so many industries. Perhaps he got the best commercial works out of Airport and Hotel, but his commentary on other works was his greatest legacy.

Don't get me wrong - Hotel and Airport were great works. The looked into the problems of those industries. He books contained great merit; the adaptations to screen showed a big disater movie (Airport... and then Airplane).

Strong Medicine was his look into the ethical drug world, with all it's triumphs and problems. Medical breaktrhoughs in drugs are not without their costs. Can some drugs lead to harmful side-effects? Yes. Can some drugs be helpful to men and science? Yes. Can the FDA both cause good drugs to be delayed, and catch harmful drugs before they hit? Yes.

Arthur Hailey is a master of industry reseach. He understood no industry was without it's drawbacks and costs, and well as it's advancement to mankind. Strong Medicine shows both sides at their very best. Drug companies want the best ethical drugs they can make - but they are also not immune from making mistakes about their strong medicne.

Arthur Hailey is one author whose judgement I'd trust implicitly. He "captured" my trust when I was 13 years old when I first read "Final Diagnosis". "Strong medicine" is another great story in the same great Hailey tradition - attention to detail, an investigative journalism kind of style and best of all, real, believable characters.

Arthur Hailey is one of the best, Strong medicine is one of his best books and Celia Jordan, a remarkable character. Mr. Hailey, more power to you. Hope to read lots more from you in the years to come. Thank you for creating Celia Jordan (Strong Medicine), Dr.Pearson (Final Diagnosis), Margot and Alex (Money Changers), Jamie Howden (In High places).

Looking forward to more from you,

This book changed my life. When I was 16, a friend called me on the phone in sheer excitement. "I just read a book about a woman who reminds me of you! " Needless to say, I rushed out to buy the book, stormed through its captivating pages, and was puzzled. The heroine is a modern career woman with principles and intelligence. I was a teenager. Why was she like me? Yet, over the years, I have found that the heroine has given me courage and guidance in times of challenges and has even led me to propose to my husband! Though not a recently written book, the heroine is a wonderful, encouraging, and inspiring role model for the women of today who want it all - a career, family, and self-realization. It is absolutely captivating and one that you will go back to read a second time and a third if not more.

I am in the process of answering a questionnaire asking, if I could recommend one book to someone to read, what book would it be?

I came on this site to check the spelling of the full name of this book.

I love this book.

A collection of interwoven tales told from the perspective of the different residents of Ferozsha Baag, an apartment building in Bombay. All the stories are good; some are outstanding. In particular, the story of the son who emigrates to Canada to become a writer has a uniquely autobiographical feel to it. =)

I read A Fine Balance about a year ago and loved it. I just finished Swimming Lessons and I'm going out to buy Family Matters right now. He writes so beautifully and descriptively that you feel that you lived alongside the characters in his books.He's my favorite author right now.

"Swimming Lessons", a short story collection, may be Mistry's earliest published work. He of course wrote the awesome "A Fine Balance", a panoramic look at life in India circa 1975. "Lessons" is set in about the same time period and chronicles the life experiences of middle-class Indians from a particular apartment complex. Major characters in one story show up as minor characters in other stories, giving the book a novelistic feel. Emigration, experienced directly by Mistry in his early 20's as he moved to Canada, is a major theme of the book. The story "Squatters", contains a "story inside the story" that affect your thinking about the trials of emigration (as it relates to bodily functions) for a long time. Those who know Mistry will enjoy this look at his early writing. Newcomers to Mistry might enjoy the short story form as an intro before tackling the epic "A Fine Balance."

And I thought that "A Fine Balance" was Rohinton's best! Yet again, I find myself speechless in my admiration for his astute command of language. His precise and inventive prose never quits until he has portrayed an image in sentences. Images that I grew up with myself but never quite would have thought of expressing in the grippingly sensitive way he can.

Swimming Lessons is a collection of such reminiscences from the author's childhood in a Parsi neighborhood in suburban middle-class Bombay. The setting itself may be confined to a particular community, but his compassionate brush carves such a wide sweep of the minutest of human emotions that the sheer force of this book is not in its plot or setting, but in its recognition of the universal bounty of life.

Our quirky residents of 'Firozsha Baag' have every reason to be disconcerted and baffled with their difficult lives. The walls of their building complex are coming apart. Washroom flushes don't work. One family has the refrigerator that's shared by the entire colony, and another has the common telephone. Their lives are marred by simple everyday things, innocent infatuations, unconfessed fantasies, fatal jealousies, neighborhood bullies, petty thefts, memory lapses, shared newspapers, cultural/generational clashes, etc etc.

Yet, beneath this veneer of this seeming hardships glimmers a subtle undercurrent of hope and happiness, of a bond that does not need expressing in the common social forms.

The high praise that Mistry has garnered is not exaggerated. The man has a disarming sense of humor and a lingering sense of what makes literature great. I laughed, I cried, I sat back and pondered. I was especially stirred by the moving story "Of White Hairs and Cricket", and the cover story, which is saved for the last, "Swimming Pools."

Couldn't recommend this brilliant compilation highly enough. It hardly reads like a debut.

The Melendy family has moved from New York City. It's summertime and their father is in Washington on important business. The loveable housekeeper Cuffy must leave to care for her cousin who has suffered a fall. Since Willy (also employed by the Melendy family) is in residence, Cuffy decides to leave the children on their own.

As in the previous two books in the Melendy series, there are adventures enough to last a lifetime. Some are fun and others are darker, sadder and more dangerous.

The children meet Mark Herron. He's a lonely orphan who has a nasty guardian in Oren Meeker. Then there's the wonderful story of Mr. Titus and the 12-pound catfish, an illegal whiskey still, a house fire that results in death, the despicable DeLaceys, the resolve of the children to make sure the canning of the victory garden is done and the house is spotless by the time Cuffy returns home, and a surprise involving Mark and the Melendys. There are obstacles to overcome and everyone pitches in to see that the story has a happy ending.

Then There Were Five is nostalgia at its best. The time is World War II and life is difficult, but the Melendys love each other, care for their neighbors and work hard keeping up their home while Father and Cuffy are gone-and manage to have adventures at the same time. I'll read this novel again and again.

Armchair Interviews says: The entire Melendy series is a must read. Start with The Saturdays. You'll want to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.

I read the Melendy books at around the age the rest of you did--but that was 55 years ago. At the age of 65, I'm about to order the Quartet to read them again. I just saw on someone's blog a photograph of a beautiful light-green moth chrysalis with golden flecks that looks like a jade earring. I'd never seen such a chrysalis, either "live" or in a photo, but I recognized it instantly as the one Mona discovers by the brook (forget which book now). I was swept by a wave of nostalgia and came right to Amazon to order the books, and that warm feeling was only intensified as I read the reviews mentioning readers' favorite bits, almost all of which I remember. I can hardly wait to read again the wonderful description of Fafner the dragon at the Met, and the chaotic scenes of Randy and Mona in the throes of preserving summer produce, complete with exploding jars of tomatoes.

I can't imagine why I haven't gotten hold of these utterly magical books that were such a blessing in my childhood to reread long since, but better late than never.

"Then There Were Five" in the third book in the Melendy Quartet, and picks up immediately where "The Four-Story Mistake" left off. We meet the Melendy children again on a hot June afternoon, when they are building a dam across the brook on their property to make it deep enough to swim in. It's a team effort and everybody is pulling their weight. It's typical of this family; they play and share alike.

But unlike the first two Melendy books, which were more or less a series of unrelated adventures, "Then There Were Five has a plot running all through it. World War II is on everybody's mind. Father is away in Washington for most of the book, working at a government job "so secret I have to guard against talking to myself". The four Melendy children are left in the care of Cuffy, their housekeeper, and Willy Sloper, their handyman. The war has everyone involved. Cuffy is growing a Victory Garden. Oliver is adding to the family diet by fishing every day in the brook (Rush has chub coming out of his ears), and Rush and Randy start on an ambitious scrap drive. And its on their scrap drive in the countryside that they meet a person who will become a part of their lives forever.

Chased off one farm by an evil drunk named Oren Meeker, Rush and Randy meet his young cousin Mark Herron, thirteen years old, orphaned at an early age and living with Oren because he has no other family. Oren is cruel and abusive; we learn that on the infrequent occasions Mark has been allowed to attend school, he has shown up with black eyes and an empty lunchbox. But he's managed to survive despite his depressing home; he's bright, friendly, hardworking and resourceful. Randy and Rush take to him right off the bat. If only there were some way they could help him.

Parallel to Mark's story there are plenty of amusing sidelights such as Oliver's obsession with creepy-crawly things, Mona's impulsive decision to can everything in the vegetable garden while Cuffy is off visiting a sick cousin, and a family picnic where Oliver manages to fall down a well. But the story of meeting and rescuing Mark is central to the book, and lends the book much of its undertone, which is darker and more mature than the first two Melendy books. Enright shows her young readers that not all families are happy like the Melendy family; some families are unhappy, abusive and cruel. The Melendy children realize how fortunate they are not only to not have a family like Mark's, but also to be able to share what they have.

Although the book spans only one summer, the Melendy children do a lot of growing up in three and a half months. They prove themselves to be resourceful and resilient, remarkably able to look out for themselves and each other with only occasional adult supervision while Father is away in Washington and Cuffy is off attending a family emergency. We realize how lucky Mark is to become part of this vibrant family. We almost wish we could be part of it as well.

Judy Lind

The third Melendy novel has a darker undertone than the preceding two, with the introduction of Mark Herron, a lonely orphan befriended by Rush and Randy, and his guardian-cousin, the fearsome Oren Meeker. There are thrills and heart-clutchers a-plenty--Rush and Mark spying on an illegal whiskey still, a vividly described house fire--but they're nicely leavened by the lighter incidents like the character of Mr. Jasper Titus, rural gourmand, and the resolve of Mona and Randy to undertake the canning of the family's victory-garden produce. And in the end everything comes out right, as it should in a juvenile. This is the book to which Enright was leading up with the previous two, and perhaps the best she wrote. The whole trilogy would make a splendid miniseries on TV (is any executive reading this? I'll even do the script!).

I agree with those who say that this is the best book out of the four. It's definitely the most complex, and has the most character development. Mark, who was an abused child long before that became a catch-phrase, is sketched out wonderfully. Oren's sister, who he mentioned early on, must have been a good influence on him, because he's resilient, kind and intelligent, despite what he has to put up with from Oren. I agree with Rush when he said the Melendys were the lucky ones, to get Mark for a brother!

Although I did think Rush was pretty rude, barging in every day while the girls were canning, and demanding to be fed immediately! Did he think that just because Mona and Randy didn't have a five-course meal ready and waiting, that they were going to let the guys starve? And it's not like they'd been doing nothing! God bless Mr. Titus for helping them out!

My favorite bits were when Rush and Mark spy on Oren and his pals at the still---that was real adult talk, but still appropriate for a kids' book: not easy to bring off---and the auction and fair. I loved when the Delacey brothers showed up and bid on the boar. "The three of them should be very happy together"---good one, Willy!

And I felt so bad for Oliver when he fell down the well! That was a good device, too. For so long, he'd gotten so little attention because he didn't demand any, and look what finally happened. It forced the other kids to realize how much they cared about him, and show it, and they handled it themselves, showing how capable they were. Good for them!

And I also liked when Cuffy was leaving to visit her cousin and had to cram weeks worth of nagging into an hour. "Close the windows whenever it rains! (Duh!) Call me long distance if anything goes wrong! (And that will help, how?) Don't forget to feed the DOGS! (Like they'd let you!)"

I read this book years ago in hardback. I read it over and over. We had a flood and my copy was distroyed, I was heartbroken! Today I was browsing and entered the title on a lark, assuming this was out of print. I am buying several copies to give friends. This book will touch your heart and never leave. I recommend this book to everyone.
The hero, though damaged and thinking himself unworthy of love, is compelling and the whole world created for him is wonderful. I felt like they all became friends.

If this is the book I'm thinking about, it is THE S**T!!!!!!!!!! It's when this girl, i think her dad dies, or maybe that was later in the book... anyway, she goes to this "friend" of her father's... that she had met once when she was about 6-8.. something like that.. she had thought he was super HOTT!!! anyway, she goes to get him to protect her, she doesn't have anyone else to turn to... anyway, she agrees to be his mistress and everything.. i think it was the guy that set that as the terms.. something about using her to get back at her dad.. anyway she agrees and so he takes her back to his island where he lives with his son.. he's a widower... and the weird part of the book is they're in the barn and the son is spying on them... or he was already in ther or something like that, and he ends up seeing them having sex... the dad doesn't know.. the girl just happens to see the little boy ya after the deed is done.. so anyway, after a while she stops hating him after a while and they end up falling in love.. and the crazy part is that later.. after a couple of years later i mean... she runs away without telling anybody she was going!!!!!! well, i won't spoil what happens but needless to say the book was a total MUST READ for me!!!!!! I LOVE THIS BOOOK!!!!! IT ROCKS.... HARD!!!!!!!!

"The Tiger's Woman" is one of the best books I have ever read, and I have read plenty. The characters are very well-developed, and while you admire them, at times they make you angry, for they are by no means perfect. Not only does it have wonderful characters, but it deals with a very serious issue, that of child-molestation, in a very realistic way. The book takes you on an emotional roller-coaster that you regret leaving when the book in finished.

I hope to someday read "The Proud Breed." I have read so much about it, and I would love to read another of de Blasis' novels.

All of Celeste De'Blasis' books that I have read have been amazing. She is not a formula writer and her historical accuracy is wonderful. When I inquired from her publisher about more books, I was told she had since passed from cancer. What a loss to the historical romance genre.

I read this book when it was new and I was in HS. It was my most read, cherished book. Unfortuantly my folks threw out my copy when they moved and now I"m searching for a new one. I also wish that the author would write more stories as I've read every one of her books and they were all awesome. The characters in this story were so believable. YOu begin to live the live the character's lives with them. It's hard to leave them behind at the end. I have read each book and all the characters are clear and concise. They all have elements that keep you you coming back to read again and again.

I have a hardcover of this book - first edition - and where my kids have long since destroyed the dust jacket, the book sits amongst other treasured stories of my youth. I loved this book so much, I 'borrowed' this copy from a friend and never returned it -- another story in and of itself. But the book haunted me, as did the transgression, and when I finally offered to return the book to her some 30 years later, she told me to enjoy the book and give it to my children! Few books today capture a child's love of time travel like this one. Read and enjoy Susan's journey.

I read and re-read this book as a kid. Recently a student of mine ased abotu books on time traveling and I thought of this one and another book, "The Root Cellar" that could be of interest.
I loved Time At The Top, Susan was a great character and I truly loved to read about her comprehension of her situation and her strong decisisons to help the family she comes to know...

I never thought I'd find it again! Lovely plot, great characterization, a heroine you feel strongly for, and an unforgettable ending. By mere chance I found this title on a recommendation list and knew it was the book I'd half-forgotten. Now I get to recommend it to my nieces, nephews and someday my daughter!

I purchased this book to pre-read for my 8 1/2 year old advanced reader. I couldn't put the book down! The book was very well written with several fun twists and turns. Books with age appropriate content that are challenging to read are often hard to find for her age group. I can't wait for her to read this one.

This book was one of my favorites when I was a kid...too many years ago to mention. Oh, all right then...40 years ago. I loved Susan Shaw and was so thrilled with her adventures. It is wonderful that this book is back in print so that more kids can run away to the past with Susan.

Cadi thinks her life is over when her father dies. But, when a kindly gentleman offers to make her like a daughter, she jumps at the chance. Made a part of the family, Cadi feels comfortable sharing the details of her grandmother's mysterious amnesia. It turns out that Cadi is actually an Italian heiress, which puts her life in danger.

This is one of the best romances I've read- you won't be disappointed!

Why is Madeleine Brent out of print???!!! Her books are so much fun to read. I got addicted to her with GOLDEN URCHIN and have loved her ever since. Her first gothic novel TREGARON'S DAUGHTER is highly suspenseful, completely unpredictable and has the stuff of the best film noir if it were made into a movie. Cadi Tregaron's voyages from a small English fishing village to the luxury of the kindly and well to do Morton family in Kent to the romance and mystery of Venice, Italy keep the reader's mind full of lush visuals and presents characters you like and care about. Excellent reading!!!

Luckily for me, this is the first Madeleine Brent book I read and also the first one that he/she wrote.
It got me hooked on his/her writing. Of course after you have read the next few books, you see that there is a definite pattern to his/her work. A heroine who is alone, friendless but with lots of spirit who manages to prevail over great adversity.
Part of the joy of reading a brent are the exotic locales although this book is set primarly in Britain. A unique writer who is head and shoulders above the rest.

THIS RAPIDLY-CHANGING PLOT KEPT MY INTEREST THROUGHOUT--WHICH IS MIRACULOUS, SINCE I BECOME EASILY BORED WITH SO-SO PLOTS AND USUALLY FIND MYSELF YAWNING A GIVING UP ON A BOOK BEFORE I FINISH IT!! BUT THIS ONE KEPT ME UP LATE, READING "JUST ONE MORE PAGE"( WHICH USUALLY TURNED INTO A CHAPTER) I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE SEEKING A SUSPENSEFUL, ADVENTUROUS BOOK LADEN WITH MOMENTS OF HEART-STOPPING INTRIGUE, SPRINKLED BY "I-WONDER-WHO-THAT-WAS"? MYSTERY AND A TINGE OF ROMANCE.THE HERIONE WAS LOVABLE AND ADMIRABLE WITH HER FAST WIT AND HER ABILITY TO HANDLE TOUGH SITUATIONS--THE CHARACTERIZATION WAS MASTERFUL AND MS. BRENT'S DESCRIPTIVE STYLE WAS MOST APPEALING. AS ALWAYS, HER BOOKS GIVE A HISTORICAL BACKGROUND THAT WAS MOST INFORMATIVE AND INTERESTING- JUST A VERY GOOD READ.

This book is a masterpiece. Cadi Tregaron is a true heroine and Madeline Brent is brilliant by creating such a terrfic story that leaves the reader thinking even after finishing the book. The book is a romantic suspense and it is more suspenful than romantic, which is a plus, but the romance that is strung throughtout the book will make your heart flutter and almost make you want to cry. It is not gushy, but rather the ideal way to have or find love. I loved it, I never wanted it to end and I'm sure most people will agree with me that it is a very difficult book to put down.

I read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories (short stories and novels) in a relatively short period of time (good for comparisons), and this was by FAR my favorite of them all. _Nothing_ is as it seems to be, not in the presenting murder mystery, nor in the background story. Both of them are fascinating stories in themselves; combined, it's truly amazing.

The last of the four Sherlock Holmes novels, and one of the two best. It contains more detection in its first section than The Hound of the Baskervilles, with Holmes (off-stage for much of The Hound) actively investigating the murder at Birlstone, and drawing his ever-fascinating deductions from raincoats and dumb-bells; indeed it is the only pure detective story among the four, with the reader given every opportunity to solve the crime. Although the solution is justly famous, it is but a variation on "The Norwood Builder," at much greater length. The second half of the tale concerns the doings of the Pinkerton agent Birdy Edwardes in the eponymous Valley, terrorised by the Freemasons, a gripping and powerful account which is perhaps of greater interest than the detection.

The story is a report on the actual events surrounding the arrest, conviction, and hanging of the Molly McGuyers in Schuylkill and Carbon Countys, Pennsylvania at the end of the 19th century. In the story the Mollys are like the gansters. In the Pa. coal region they are folk heros who fought and died for workers wrights. See the movie, "Molly McGuyers" staring Sean Conrey, it's an exact match.

The actual Pinkerton, McGowan, Died of old age in California.

'The Valley of Fear'. A real page turner but what makes it most memorable for me is not that Holmes is at his best, but Conan Doyle is. After reading this book I recommend you to read this book because it was a suspense story. The whole story moves around Mcginty who was a big criminal in the valley of vermisa also called the valley of fear. There was only one person who could face to that criminal and his name was Jack McMurdo. He behaved as a gangster and he had taken many risks in his life and he was not afraid to take more risks. Don't miss 'The Valley of Fear'. It's terrifying, exciting, and best of all, real.

I liked this book a lot and it's right up there behind The Sign of Four as the second best Sherlock Holmes novel. Though it's well known that Conan Doyle was growing tired of the character by this point.

The story is of a brutal murder in a mansion house in the English countryside. There's not much sense-making evidence to work on so Holmes and Watson go down to investigate along with Scotland Yard and the local police. Sure enough, Holmes solves the case rather quickly and all is revealed. But it's here that Conan Doyle uses the same split narrative he used in A Study in Scarlet. The story jumps far back in time and details the long, sinister plot leading up to the murder in the mansion. It's a good story and quite addictive. But I'm afraid I saw the plot twist coming (though it's an imaginative surprise) and only because there were no small revalations at any point, therefor I knew I big 'un was coming and deduced the logical conclusion.

And is it just me or is there a major anachronism in the story? Holmes speaks of Moriarty as if he is still alive. But didn't he chuck him of the Reichenbach falls and watch him fall to his death? Unless this story is set before then. And who is this mysterious Porlock? It was never cleared up. Perhaps in a future story eh?