Walpole Books

Thomas Singer will soon be twelve years old. For years, his parents have promised him he could go hunting with the men when he was twelve. His birthday present is to be a brand-new shotgun and an orange safety vest. Thomas's birthday happens to fall on the first day of hunting season.

But Thomas's initiation into manhood is much different that he anticipates. One day, while out walking in the woods he loves, he witnesses a poacher shoot a deer. He remains hidden, only to see an old woman lumber into the clearing, gather the deer in her arms, then murmur to it and stroke it. The fully-recovered deer bounds away. Thomas and the old woman also flee the enraged hunter.

Thomas learns that the woman's name is Emma, and they spend nearly every day together after that. At his insistence, she begins teaching him how to be aware of all living things. Thomas is naturally sensitive and learns quickly. He discovers that he can communicate with, and heal, animals.

Torn between his desire to go hunting with his father or honoring his new-found knowledge, Thomas makes his anquished decision on the morning of his birthday.

The Healer of Harrow Point is Peter Walpole's first novel, and it's engrossing from the first page to the last. It's a "coming-of-age young adult novel that addresses larger issues of spirituality and the connection of all life." Readers of all ages will find it compelling and impossible to forget.

Peter Walpole uses the imagery of a boy on the verge of manhood to mirror for us all the times of transition in our lives. Emma is Thomas' spiritual guru through his journey. Ultimately, the lessons he learns about himself transcend the simple physical healing that Emma strives to teach him. The book is beautifully written and captures the fire within all of us. Although it is targeted for "young adults" I think it will speak more directly to those of us who have already passed through various stages of our lives. This is a book to read with your teenage children to use as a springboard into a number of discussions about growing up and relationships.

This was an enjoyable book that reminded me of similar ones weread for high school English classes. I can imagine a teacher usingthis book to start classroom discussions on decision making as well ason the interactions between people and nature. The book started off a little slowly for me, but after the opening scenes were set, the pace quickened. The story was believable enough, yet still not too hokey as to make it seem forced. Reading this book was time well spent.

The combination of fantasy with real life contemplation of the value of life made this a really fun read. I particularly respected the non-judgmental way in which Mr. Walpole deals with the hunters in this tale and hunting in general. The very real consequences of the loss of a life are dealt with in a creative and thoughful way. I read the whole book in one sitting!

I am a 6th grade student and thoroughly enjoyed this book. Once engaged in this book the action is terrific. I stayed up past 10:30 p.m. to finish this magicial, heart-warming, book.I would recommend this book to anyone with a love for animals, or anyone that likes a believable fantasy.

Many vintage photos of John's Island during agricultural times. Some photos of the converson to expensive homes. The comments are from a long time resident and her family's perspective on change.Some historical facts are presented about the author's family and the past residents of John's Island. The photos are the strong point and illustrate the changes better than the prose.
I would reccomend this book to anyone interested in S.C. lowcountry history and the changes now takeing place.

All the books in this series are excellent, preserving as they do moments in our history. I am especially pleased to see Johns Island represented since my mother's family were some of its own pioneers (my great-aunt and great-uncle are passengers in the boat on the cover). Many of the photos, though from another time, still have a certain familiarity to those who grew up there. In 1893, my great-grandfather also built a beautiful home on the island, facing across the marsh towards Wadmalaw. Although it mimicked the grander Charleston single houses, it was unusual in that it had 4 bay windows. Was that why he named his plantation Frisco, as a nod to the great bay city? Or was it really named to honor his lovely young bride Frances as family tradition suggests?

I ordered the LGCR because they were saying good things about it on
the literary blogs (Maud Newton, Elegant Variation, etc.) and I
thought the cover was cool, but I didn't really know what to expect.
I've picked up literary journals before, but they've always bored me.
This one's different. It's got really great-looking artwork and the
stories are unusual and dark and interesting. I'm pretty picky when
it comes to short stories, but the ones they chose impressed me a lot.
I'm glad I bought it.

After reading Issue 1, I had high expectations for number 2. It didn't let me down. In fact, I liked this issue even more than the first. Issue 2 contains a colorful selection of "fish in a bucket" (as printed on the cover). The stories share a subdued disquietude that left me unhinged, but not without a bemused smile. They are smart and meaty with lots to chew on, like Murder Journal, about an imaginative "existential hero." I recommend this Issue, along with Issue 1 for those seeking a solid variety of stories that reflect absurdities and inner-conflicts we are all familiar with, but don't always acknowledge.

Dr. Walpole's book is an excellent discussion of English written grammar, and a guide to better, more grammatical writing. Reference texts can definitely be helpful, but in this book it is like the author is sitting with you and talking about grammar and clear writing, reminding you of things you might have forgotten, teaching you new things, all in a very approachable, friendly manner. I recommend Understanding Written Grammar highly for any one, student, professional, young or old, who wants to improve their writing skills.

You can almost hear Jane Walpole talking with you as you read this book. Her conversational and occasionally humorous tone does not talk down to us, but instead invites us to read more. She explains why grammar rules are necessary, and shows us that we already know more than we might think. The book explains without being technical, avoiding the overuse of picky vocabulary. There are FYIs sprinkled throughout that contain little extras such as anecdotes and puzzles (which, unfortuneately, are never answered in the book). I really enjoyed reading this book, which is an incredibly weird thing to say about a grammar book.

Is the current prison system in desperate need of reform? "When the Prisoners Ran Walpole: A True Story in the Movement For Prison Abolition" is a look at the concept of prisons and how a group of prisoners in 1973 managed to set forth change successfully, by keeping the peace within their ranks as their guards went on strike. An optimistic yet critical to both sides of the debate, "When the Prisoners Ran Walpole: A True Story in the Movement For Prison Abolition" is highly recommended for community library social issues collections and for any prison administrator.

America: less than 1/6 of the world's population - more than 25% of the world's prison population.

The 1971 Attica massacre shocked the world into awareness of the pervasive violence perpetrated by state authorities in our prisons. In Massachusetts, voters pledged to prevent such slaughter from ever happening there, and the governor agreed. The reform initiative that resulted led to the prisoners at Walpole's Massachusetts Correctional Institute winning control of its day-to-day operations.
The prisoners, working with 1530 civilian volunteers, won control of the operation of a maximum-security prison. The book, authored by a prison abolitionist, reveals what can happen when there is public will for change and trust that the incarcerated can achieve it. In the months before they took over running the maximum-security facility in 1973, prisoners and outside advocates created programs that sent more prisoners home for good, reducing recidivism 23 percent and decreasing Walpole's population by 15 percent.
When guards protested the changes they saw as choking their livelihoods, finally refusing to run the prison, the prisoners stepped ably into the void--and all-out peace ensued. They shrank the prison murder rate from the highest in the country to zero. Even more significantly, they worked hard to bury racial antagonism and longstanding feuds so even "lifers" with no hope of going home could find ways to live together, learn, and grow--to regain, finally, the humanity that the system intended to squash.
Critical to the work of prison abolitionists and transitional reformists alike, this groundbreaking history offers a real-life example of a prison solution many see only as theoretical. It not only reminds us why people seek to make prisons obsolete, but also recalls a time when we were much closer to these abolitionist goals.

The history of Walpole, at its grittiest, shows that we do not need a police state to 'help' us live our lives, and that, in the final analysis, we'd be better of without the so-called 'security' measures provided by the state and the entities of enforcement which under the pretense of 'justice' enforce the inequities resulting from the disregard of human value which must be overcome if we are ever, ever to live peacefully in this world. A history and an argument which could not be more timely and appropo. Rather than trusting in the almighty dollar, or the strength of institutions, recognition of our fellow humanity seems like the best place to begin.

This has to be one of the best books I have read on the Hunter and is specific to a unique mark of the aircraft. The book not only gives an insight into the life and times of a Fighter-Reconnaissance pilot but also into the lives of the most essential element, the ground-crew who kept them in the air. ('If aircraft were difficult to fly, the Engineers would be flying them'). It is a fascinating history of this absolutely classic aircraft and one that will probably not gather too much dust on the bookshelf; being referred to and re-read many times over. I have read it three times already and found something new each time. This is a highly recommended book from an eloquent and uniquely knowledgable author.

You are transported through the words of the author to the early times of the Catholic Church, of Christianity for that matter. This should be a must-read for those wanting to walk in the footsteps of some of the earliest Christians. Artwork will take your breath away. Great way to get the message of these heroes across.

Throughout the two decades from 1964 to 1984, Fontana published a remarkable skein of ghost story collections, piloted by R. Aikman and later by R. Chetwynd-Hayes, no mean supernatural authors themselves. Some of the paperbacks in this series, which winds its way up to the "20th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories" are now collectors' items and worth over a hundred dollars apiece.

For this fourth book in the series, Robert Aickman selected eleven supernatural tales, including Alexander Pushkin's "The Queen of Spades" which was also made into an opera--an unusual fate for a ghost story!

These are the tales in the 4th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories:

"The Accident" by Ann Bridge--Many great ghost stories are set in the Alps and this is one of them. A pair of climbers, brother and sister, come across a set of tracks that begin in an open snowfield, near the place where two other climbers had fallen to their deaths a month earlier. Then the sister begins to receive postcards from one of the dead climbers.

"Not on the Passenger List" by Barry Pain--A young widow takes passage on a ship to England, where she is to remarry. Her late husband appears in her cabin and tries to persuade her to drown herself.

"The Sphinx without a Secret" by Oscar Wilde--Aikman cheated by including this story, which has no ghost. A mysterious young woman is confronted by her fiancé, who breaks off their engagement.

"When I was Dead" by Vincent O'Sullivan--A young man witnesses his own funeral.

"The Queen of Spades" by Alexander Pushkin--An 87-year-old Countess dies before revealing her supposed secret for winning at cards. Her ghost appears to the man who frightened her to death, revealing the cards he needed to play in order to win a fortune. Would you trust the ghost of the woman you frightened to death?

"Pargiton and Harby" by Desmond MacCarthy-- Harby meets his old friend, Pargiton who seems to be making amends for an ill-spent life. Pargiton begs Harby to visit him, because he seems to bring out the best in the reformed evil-doer. Harby comes, but so does something else.

"The Snow" by Hugh Walpole--The two Mrs. Ryders, one of them dead, battle over their meek, inoffensive husband.

"Carlton's Father" by Eric Ambrose--I would classify this story as science fiction, since it involves a time warp, disguised as a room in Carlton's house, where no-one ages.

"A School Story" by M.R. James--Two men reminisce over the ghost stories that were told about their public schools. One of them concerns a master with a homicidal past.

"The Wolves of Cernogratz" by Saki--Wolves howl around the castle when one of the Cernogratz family dies.

"Mad Monkton" by William Wilkie Collins--Generations of the reclusive Monkton family suffered from hereditary insanity. Alfred, last of the Monkton line falls in love with the beautiful young Ada, but before he can propose to her, he must travel to Italy to recover the body of his Uncle Stephen, the black sheep of the Monkton family, who was killed in a duel. Everyone thinks Alfred is crazy for trying to recover the body, but an old family prophecy and the ghost of Uncle Stephen urge him onward.

This is a great 'old' child's dictionary. Was wonderful in it's hay day as well. The pictorials are amusing and fun for the kids to look at to see how different then and also how similar things are now.

It's like a trip back in time and you can have loads of things to talk about with them.

This book is better than "A Rake's Progress" in the gardening realm. I still haven't read "A Hoe's Progress" and will let you all know if that one surpasses the others. A veritable compost heap of handy info on gardening, from a man better known for running various aspects of the government of England. Here, he opens the backyard shed, and lets us peer in and see what's in there. Such things as snail deterrent, bags of loam, and even an old croquet set are lurking beyond the rotted slats. As if this weren't enough, our author also describes some nifty gardens he knows about, and at certain points tells us about sharing stews and sourjams with bucolic countryfolk he encounters along the horse paths. Don't miss this one!