Search results for ""author holly"

The language of flowers is as old as language itself. In the earliest poetry familiar plants were used to represent simple emotions, ideas, or states of mind: love, hope, despair, fidelity, solitude, beauty, mortality. Over time these associations entwined with myth and legend, with religious symbolism, folk and herbal lore. By the early 19th century the 'Language of Flora' had become increasingly refined, especially in England and America, where sentimental flower books listing flower meanings and illustrating them with verse were perennial bestsellers. The Everyman Language of Flowers without sacrificing the charm of its Victorian predecessors aims to provide extended, updated and rather more robust floral anthology for the 21st century, presenting poetry from ancient Greece to contemporary Britain and America, and spanning the world from Cuba to Korea, Russia to Zimbabwe. Here are Rumi and Rilke on the rose; Herrick and Louise Glück on the lily; Chaucer, Emily Dickinson and Jon Silkin on the daisy; Mary Robinson and Ted Hughes on the snowdrop; Lorenzo de Medici, John Clare and Alice Oswald on the violet; Hugo and Roethke on carnations; Ovid and Goethe on poppies; Blake and Eugenio Montale on the sunflower; Christina Rossetti on heartsease and forget-me-nots; Emily Brontë on harebells and heather, Seamus Heaney on lupins, Pasternak on night-scented stock... Eastern cultures, rich in flower associations, are well represented: there are Tang poems celebrating chrysanthemums and peonies, Zen poems about orchids and lotus flowers, poems about jasmine and marigolds from India, roses, tulips and narcissi from Persia, the Ottoman empire and the Arabic world. Flowers are arranged by season, with roses and lilies in a section of their own. In a final section poets comment directly or indirectly on the language of flowers itself. The book concludes with a selected glossary drawn from several celebrated Victorian collections.

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In Irving's great work, The Sketch Book, fictional historian Diedrich Knickerbocker introduces us to Rip van Winkle, the Dutch colonist who slept through the Revolutionary War; Ichabod Crane, the superstitious, social-climbing schoolmaster; and the pumpkin-topped Headless Horseman, ancestor to countless horror film antiheroes. In addition to 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' and 'Rip Van Winkle', The Sketch Book touches on cultural and historical concerns that remain compelling, thanks to Irving's modern outlook and impressive foresight.This new edition, with an introduction from Elizabeth L. Bradley, demonstrates how inextricably Irving's writings are woven into the fabric of American culture - high and low.

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’You never knew what you were going to be confronted with when you went on Later…’ Nick Cave ‘Later… is a voyage of discovery for us as well as the viewers’ Dave Grohl Dave Grohl and Alicia Keys loved it, Björk treasured it, Ed Sheeran’s life was changed by it, Kano felt at home while Nick Cave was horrified but inspired, and they all kept coming back. This first-hand account of the BBC’s Later… with Jools Holland takes you behind the scenes of one of the world’s great musical meeting places. Legends including Sir Paul McCartney, Mary J. Blige and David Bowie found a regular welcome, alongside the next generation of superstars including Adele, Ed Sheeran and Amy Winehouse. Part of what has made the show so special is the format – all those bands, singers, stars and newbies brought together to listen as well as to perform in Jools’ circle of dreams. But there’s always been plenty of mayhem alongside the magic of convening a room full of musicians hosted by one of their own. Written by the show’s co-creator and 26-year showrunner, music journalist Mark Cooper, this is the story of how Later… grew into a musical and TV institution. It was Mark who had to explain to Jay-Z why he couldn’t just do his numbers and split, who told Seasick Steve why he had to play ‘Dog House Boogie’ on the Hootenanny and persuaded Johnny Cash that he simply had to come in, even when The Man in Black wasn’t feeling well. From Stormzy to Björk, from Smokey Robinson to Norah Jones, from Britpop to trip hop, here is the word on how Later… began, evolved and has endured, accompanied by exclusive interviews with some of the show’s regular stars as well as the unique pictorial record of Andre Csillag who photographed the show for over 20 years. A must-read for music fans everywhere, Later… with Jools Hollandpulls back the curtain on classic performances to reveal that the show is just as magical, if even more chaotic, than you imagined.

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As real women increasingly entered the professions from the 1970s onward, their cinematic counterparts followed suit. Women lawyers, in particular, were the protagonists of many Hollywood films of the Reagan-Bush era, serving as a kind of shorthand reference any time a script needed a powerful career woman. Yet a close viewing of these films reveals contradictions and anxieties that belie the films' apparent acceptance of women's professional roles. In film after film, the woman lawyer herself effectively ends up "on trial" for violating norms of femininity and patriarchal authority. In this book, Cynthia Lucia offers a sustained analysis of women lawyer films as a genre and as a site where other genres including film noir, maternal melodrama, thrillers, action romance, and romantic comedy intersect. She traces Hollywood representations of female lawyers through close readings of films from the 1949 Adam's Rib through films of the 1980s and 1990s, including Jagged Edge, The Accused, and The Client, among others. She also examines several key male lawyer films and two independent films, Lizzie Borden's Love Crimes and Susan Streitfeld's Female Perversions. Lucia convincingly demonstrates that making movies about women lawyers and the law provides unusually fertile ground for exploring patriarchy in crisis. This, she argues, is the cultural stimulus that prompts filmmakers to create stories about powerful women that simultaneously question and undermine women's right to wield authority.

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Set within the broader context of post-war Austria and the re-education initiatives set up by the Allied forces, particularly the US, this book investigates the art and architecture scene in Vienna to ask how this can inform our broader understanding of architectural Postmodernism. The book focuses on the outputs of the Austrian artist and architect, Hans Hollein, and on his appropriation as a Postmodernist figure. In Vienna, the circles of radical art and architecture were not distinct, and Hollein’s claim that ‘Everything is Architecture’ was symptomatic of this intermixing of creative practices. Austria's proximity to the so-called ‘Iron Curtain’ and its post-war history of four-power occupation gave a heightened sense of menace that emerged strongly in Viennese art in the Cold War era. Seen as a collective entity, Hans Hollein’s works across architecture, art, writing, exhibition design and publishing clearly require a more diverse, complex and culturally nuanced account of architectural Postmodernism than that offered by critics at the time. Across the five chapters, Hollein's outputs are viewed not as individual projects, but as symptomatic of Austria's attempts to come to terms with its Nazi past and to establish a post-war identity.

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'I like that you call brussel sprouts w*nkers' - DIANE MORGAN/PHILOMENA CUNK'Your book was our bible all summer' - PEARL LOWE'As a gardening beginner/twit I'm a huge fan' - KEELEY HAWESThis is the gardening book reimagined for a new generation. A book for people who want to learn how to grow things, but haven't got a clue where to start.With the average person now spending an enormous 8 hours and 41 minutes in front of a screen every day, gardening is an easy way to escape for half an hour. Whether on a rented balcony or a sunny kitchen windowsill, it turns out growing something with your own two hands can make you feel better. Which is where HOW TO GROW comes in. Irreverent and inspiring, this book will equip you with all the know-how and confidence you need to take your first steps into a lifelong gardening love affair - trowel in one hand, drink in the other.From growing your first wonky courgette to completely transforming a shady patio garden, in HOW TO GROW, self-taught gardener Hollie Newton divulges all the secrets she's discovered over the past few years as she's journeyed from gardening novice to vegetable-grower-extraordinaire - all from her pint-sized London garden. With chapters on easy-to-grow veg, fruit, herbs, salad and flowers (along with plenty of tried-and-tested guidance to keeping those plants alive, and delicious recipes to make the most of your haul), you'll also learn everything from the basics of planning your garden to stylish design ideas.Focusing on small and urban spaces and including beautiful photography throughout, this is practical advice for a whole new generation of gardeners.

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The magical and brilliantly funny adventures of everyone’s favourite flat boy – Flat Stanley. With wonderful new illustrations by the award-winning author/illustrator Rob Biddulph. Magical things always happen to Stanley Lambchop … Stanley can’t believe it when he finds a genie inside a teapot. He can have anything he wants! But everyone else wants a turn – and the wishes are causing chaos! Can he put things right before he runs out of wishes? Jeff Brown’s world-famous character Flat Stanley continues to charm half a century after he first found his way into print. Jeff Brown was a story editor and assistant film producer in Hollywood. He worked on the at The New Yorker and the Saturday Evening Post, and his stories appeared in these magazines and many others. Jeff created the classic character Flat Stanley, whose adventures have been beloved by children around the world for more than 50 years. He died in Manhattan in 2003. Rob Biddulph is a bestselling and award-winning children’s book author and illustrator. He won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for Blown Away and was nominated for the Kate Greenaway medal for GRRRRR! His other books include Odd Dog Out (Aug 2016) and Sunk! (March 2017).

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The celebrated author of Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon receives much-deserved additional consideration in L.M. Montgomery and Gender. Nineteen contributors take a variety of critical and theoretical positions, from historical analyses of the White Feather campaign and discussions of adoption to medical discourses of death and disease, explorations of Montgomery’s use of humour, and the author’s rewriting of masculinist traditions.The essays span Montgomery’s writing, exploring her famous Anne and Emily books as well as her short fiction, her comic journal composed with her friend Nora Lefurgey, and less-studied novels such as Magic for Marigold and The Blue Castle. Dividing the chapters into five sections – on masculinities and femininities, domestic space, humour, intertexts, and being in time – L.M. Montgomery and Gender addresses the degree to which Montgomery’s work engages and exposes, reflects and challenges the gender roles around her, underscoring how her writing has shaped future representations of gender.Of interest to historians, feminists, gender scholars, scholars of literature, and Montgomery enthusiasts, this wide-ranging collection builds on the depth of current scholarship in its approach to the complexity of gender in the works of one of Canada’s best-loved authors.

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“A romantic hero’s journey with a happy ending that will leave you smiling and swooning… I loved it!” —Adam Silvera, #1 New York Times bestselling author of They Both Die at the End In this hilarious and heartfelt debut novel, an aspiring screenwriter learns sometimes love has its own script. Harry wants nothing more than to write Hollywood screenplays. He knows the first step toward achieving that goal is winning a screenwriting competition that will seal his admission into the college of his dreams, so he’s determined to spend his summer free of distractions—also known as boys—and finish his script. After last year, Harry is certain love only exists in the movies anyway. But then the cause of his first heartbreak, Grant, returns with a secret that could change everything—not to mention, there’s a new boy in town, Logan, who is so charming and sweet, he’s making Harry question everything he knows about romance. As he tries to keep his emotions in check and stick to his perfect plan for the future, Harry's about to learn that life doesn't always follow a script. “Fresh, funny, and full of heart... The perfect summer romance!” —Morgan Matson, New York Times bestselling author of Take Me Home Tonight

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Loren Ghiglione recounts the fascinating life and tragic suicide of Don Hollenbeck, the controversial newscaster who became a primary target of McCarthyism's smear tactics. Drawing on unsealed FBI records, private family correspondence, and interviews with Walter Cronkite, Mike Wallace, Charles Collingwood, Douglas Edwards, and more than one hundred other journalists, Ghiglione writes a balanced biography that cuts close to the bone of this complicated newsman and chronicles the stark consequences of the anti-Communist frenzy that seized America in the late 1940s and 1950s. Hollenbeck began his career at the Lincoln, Nebraska Journal (marrying the boss's daughter) before becoming an editor at William Randolph Hearst's rip-roaring Omaha Bee-News. He participated in the emerging field of photojournalism at the Associated Press; assisted in creating the innovative, ad-free PM newspaper in New York City; reported from the European theater for NBC radio during World War II; and anchored television newscasts at CBS during the era of Edward R. Murrow. Hollenbeck's pioneering, prize-winning radio program, CBS Views the Press (1947-1950), was a declaration of independence from a print medium that had dominated American newsmaking for close to 250 years. The program candidly criticized the prestigious New York Times, the Daily News (then the paper with the largest circulation in America), and Hearst's flagship Journal-American and popular morning tabloid Daily Mirror. For this honest work, Hollenbeck was attacked by conservative anti-Communists, especially Hearst columnist Jack O'Brian, and in 1954, plagued by depression, alcoholism, three failed marriages, and two network firings (and worried about a third), Hollenbeck took his own life. In his investigation of this amazing American character, Ghiglione reveals the workings of an industry that continues to fall victim to censorship and political manipulation. Separating myth from fact, CBS's Don Hollenbeck is the definitive portrait of a polarizing figure who became a symbol of America's tortured conscience.

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Sacred Art - A Hollow Bone for Spirit: Where Art Meets Shamanism tells the story of sacred art across cultures, continents and historical periods and makes a plea for sacred art to once again take its rightful place in our perception. Making sacred art means stepping outside the realm of ego-led consciousness to become a hollow bone for spirit so art becomes a mystery school process. When we connect to Divine forces greater than ourselves, creative blocks do not exist and healing occurs naturally. The greatest piece of art we will ever make is our own life!

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In follow-up studies, dozens of reviews, and even a book of essays evaluating his conclusions, Gerald N. Rosenberg's critics - not to mention his supporters - have spent nearly two decades debating the arguments he first put forward in "The Hollow Hope". With this substantially expanded second edition of his landmark work, Rosenberg himself steps back into the fray, responding to criticism and adding chapters on the same-sex marriage battle that ask anew whether courts can spur political and social reform.Finding that the answer is still a resounding no, Rosenberg reaffirms his powerful contention that it's nearly impossible to generate significant reforms through litigation. The reason? American courts are ineffective and relatively weak - far from the uniquely powerful sources for change they're often portrayed to be. Rosenberg supports this claim by documenting the direct and secondary effects of key court decisions - particularly Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. He reveals, for example, that Congress, the White House, and a determined civil rights movement did far more than Brown to advance desegregation, while pro-choice activists invested too much in Roe at the expense of political mobilization. Further illuminating these cases, as well as the ongoing fight for same-sex marriage rights, Rosenberg also marshals impressive evidence to overturn the common assumption that even unsuccessful litigation can advance a cause by raising its profile.Directly addressing its critics in a new conclusion, "The Hollow Hope" promises to reignite for a new generation the national debate it sparked seventeen years ago.

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From the Collins Crime Club archive, the third Inspector French novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’. THREE CORPSES FOR INSPECTOR FRENCH A chance invitation from friends saves Ruth Averill’s life on the night her uncle’s old house in Starvel Hollow is consumed by fire, killing him and incinerating the fortune he kept in cash. Dismissed at the inquest as a tragic accident, the case is closed – until Scotland Yard is alerted to the circulation of bank-notes supposedly destroyed in the inferno. Inspector Joseph French suspects that dark deeds were done in the Hollow that night and begins to uncover a brutal crime involving arson, murder and body snatching . . .

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William Shakespeare understood power: what it is, how it works, how it is gained, and how it is lost. In The Hollow Crown, Eliot A. Cohen reveals how the battling princes of Henry IV and scheming senators of Julius Caesar can teach us to better understand power and politics today. The White House, after all, is a court-with intrigue and conflict rivalling those on the Globe's stage-as is an army, a business, or a university. And each court is full of driven characters, in all their ambition, cruelty, and humanity. Henry V's inspiring speeches reframe John F. Kennedy's appeal, Richard III's wantonness illuminates Vladimir Putin's brutality, and The Tempest's grace offers a window into the presidency of George Washington. An original and incisive perspective, The Hollow Crown shows how Shakespeare's works transform our understanding of the leaders who, for good or ill, make and rule our world.

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WHAT MAKES A CULT MUSICIAN? Whether pioneering in their craft, fiercely and undeniably unique or critically divisive, cult musicians come in all shapes and guises. Some gain instant fame, others instant notoriety, and more still remain anonymous until a chance change in fashion sees their work propelled into the limelight.Cult Musicians introduces 50 musicians deserving of a cult status. The book charts a plethora of genres and boundary-breakers – from afrobeat and art pop to glam rock and proto punk; Bjork and PJ Harvey to Aphex Twin and Wiley. Discover little knowns with small, devout followings and superstars gracing the covers of magazines – each musician is special in their individuality and their ability to inspire, antagonise and delight. Cult Musicians is an essential addition to any music lover's library, as well as an entertaining introduction to our weird and wonderful world of music. Also in the series: Cult Artists, Cult Filmmakers + Cult WritersThe musicians: Alex Chilton, Alice Coltrane, Aphex Twin, Arthur Lee, Arthur Russell, Betty Davis, Bjork, Bobbie Gentry, Brian Eno, Brigitte Fontaine, Captain Beefheart, Delia Derbyshire, Edith Piaf, Fela Kuti, Frank Zappa, Gil Scott-Heron, Iggy Pop, J Dilla, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Kat Bjelland, Kool Keith, Laurie Anderson, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Lili Boulanger, Lydia Lunch, Manu Chao, Marianne Faithfull, Mark E. Smith, Mark Hollis, Moondog, Nick Cave, Nick Drake, Nico, Patti Smith, Peaches, PJ Harvey, Robert Wyatt, Roky Erickson, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sandy Denny, Scott Walker, Serge Gainsbourg, Sixto Rodriguez, Sun Ra, Syd Barrett, The Slits, Tom Waits, Wiley, Yoko Ono.

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In this book the author describes the way her garden evolved and how, without meaning to do so, she let it take over her life. She suggests moving away from planning, regimentation and gardening with the mentality of a stamp-collector. Frequently funny and always stimulating, she writes of the alchemy of gardens, of the 19th-century plant-collectors and plant illustrators and of the gardening philosophers, all fertilizing great thoughts along with their hollyhocks. She won the 1988 Sinclair Consumer Press Garden Writer of the Year Award.

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR"Susan Wiggs paints the details of human relationships with the finesse of a master." - Jodi Picoult, #1 bestselling author of Small Great Things Michelle Turner thought she lost everything at seventeen. Her father, a Hollywood legend, had finally summoned her to his Montana ranch. But when he learned of her affair with Sam McPhee, a hired hand, he had Sam fired and destroyed his family. Michelle, pregnant and alone, fled to Seattle.Now a successful advertising exec, Michelle is safe-safe from love, safe from hurt. But her son is lost to her, a troubled teen on the verge of self-destruction, a boy who blames her for the absence of his father and grandfather. And then her father calls to tell her he is dying. He has only one chance to live-if she will donate a kidney to save him. For her sick father, she must bridge the gulf that distance and time have widened. For her son, she must find the miracle that will pull him away from the abyss that threatens his future. And for Sam, the man who left her years ago, she must face all the secrets of the past and find a way to heal the scars and love again.

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No industry has been as influential at shaping the popular notion of what it means to be a witch quite as much as Hollywood. This book traces the fascinating history of witchcraft and witches in American film and television. From Joan the Woman and The Wizard of Oz to Carrie and Charmed, author and film scholar Heather Greene explores how these films helped influence the public image of the witch and profoundly influenced how women negotiate their power in a patriarchal society. Lights, Camera, Witchcraft uncovers fascinating insights into the intersection of entertainment, critical theory, gender studies, and spirituality.

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‘Impossible to summarise and delightfully absorbing, Hadley’s book is comfortably the most unexpected history book of the year’ Sunday Times A luminous journey through a thousand years of folklore and English history. Once upon a time in a Hertfordshire field, an ancient yew tree hid a dragon hunted by a giant named Piers Shonks. Today, the dragon and its slayer are the survivors of an 800-year battle between rural legend and national record, storytellers and sceptics. In this brilliant and lyrical history, Christopher Hadley journeys from churches to tombs to manuscript margins, to explore history, memory and legend, and the magical spaces where all three meet.

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In her performances, videos, and installations, Sharon Hayes (b. 1970) explores the nexus between politics, history, speech, and desire. Her works modify or appropriate the language and tools of political dissent, creating unexpected affinities between important historical events and the present. Highlighted in this volume is the video installation Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) Screeds #13, 16, 20 & 29 (2003)—a work in which Hayes memorized the famous taped speeches by Patty Hearst and her kidnappers, the leftist radical group the Symbionese Liberation Army, and then reads them to an audience who corrects her mistakes. It is in these slippages between memory and history that the meaning of Hayes's work resides. This book also includes a group of new site-specific works that addresses the Whitney's role in the historic development of process-based, performative art and its engagement with politics that took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s.This book serves as document of Hayes’s thinking process, featuring original contributions from Hayes and some two-dozen other writers, artists, and activists, which provide insight into the motivations and development of her projects. The catalogue includes images carefully selected by the artist—photographs, vinyl LP covers, fliers, images of Hayes’s own work—and a short text response by each of the contributors. Contributors include: Dennis Adams, Lauren Berlant, Saramina Berman, Claire Bishop, Juli Carson, Kabir Carter, Christhian Diaz, Saeed Taji Farouky, Malik Gaines, Andrea Geyer, Leah Gilliam, Michela Griffo, Sharon Hayes, Holly Hughes, Chrissie Iles, Iman Issa, Hans Kuzmich, Cristobal Lehyt, Ralph Lemon, Brooke O’Harra, Jenni Olson, Dean Spade, Lynne Tillman, What, How & For Whom/WHW, Craig Willse.Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American ArtExhibition Schedule:Whitney Museum of American Art(06/21/12–09/09/12)

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'The rock memoir of the decade' Daily MailIn his first and only official autobiography, music icon Elton John reveals the truth about his extraordinary life, which is also the subject of the smash-hit film Rocketman. The result is Me - the joyously funny, honest and moving story of the most enduringly successful singer/songwriter of all time.______________Read by actor and star of Rocketman, Taron Egerton, with an introduction and epilogue read by Elton John. Christened Reginald Dwight, he was a shy boy with Buddy Holly glasses who grew up in the London suburb of Pinner and dreamed of becoming a pop star. By the age of twenty-three, he was performing his first gig in America, facing an astonished audience in his bright yellow dungarees, a star-spangled T-shirt and boots with wings. Elton John had arrived and the music world would never be the same again.His life has been full of drama, from the early rejection of his work with songwriting partner Bernie Taupin to spinning out of control as a chart-topping superstar; from half-heartedly trying to drown himself in his LA swimming pool to disco-dancing with the Queen; from friendships with John Lennon, Freddie Mercury and George Michael to setting up his AIDS Foundation. All the while, Elton was hiding a drug addiction that would grip him for over a decade.In Me Elton also writes powerfully about getting clean and changing his life, about finding love with David Furnish and becoming a father. In a voice that is warm, humble and open, this is Elton on his music and his relationships, his passions and his mistakes. This is a story that will stay with you, by a living legend.______________'Self-deprecating, funny . . . You cannot help but enjoy his company throughout, temper tantrums and all' The Times'Chatty, gossipy, amusing and at times brutally candid' Telegraph

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The history of Enigma is of interest to many researchers and authors on an international scale. The capture and unraveling of the most hidden secret of the army of the Third Reich that was decisive for the fate of one of the greatest armed conflicts in the history of the world appeals to everyone from the avid historian to Hollywood.. So far, other authors' attention has focused on the technical and cryptological issues of Enigma functioning, the fate of the Bletchley Park facility, or Alan Turing's story. Most of attention was devoted to the events during the Second World War and it is the time frame of this conflict that usually begins and ends the story of Enigma. The First Enigma Codebreaker raises an issue that has never been discussed in greater detail in both international and Polish literature, the story of Marian Rejewski. This biography answers the questions: in what conditions was the "Enigma conqueror" brought up, in what circumstances did he managed to decode the machine, what happened to him during the Second World War and why he never ended up in Bletchley Park, what price he had to pay for his discovery in the communist Poland and what he did to make the world know the true history of Enigma. This is the story of a man who made a revolution in cryptology, about the rivalry between man and machine, about powerful history affecting individual lives, and about the life of Marian Rejewski whose story is still waiting to be presented to the public.

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Challenging widely held assumptions about postwar gay male culture and politics, Homosexuality in Cold War America examines how gay men in the 1950s resisted pressures to remain in the closet. Robert J. Corber argues that a form of gay male identity emerged in the 1950s that simultaneously drew on and transcended left-wing opposition to the Cold War cultural and political consensus. Combining readings of novels, plays, and films of the period with historical research into the national security state, the growth of the suburbs, and postwar consumer culture, Corber examines how gay men resisted the "organization man" model of masculinity that rose to dominance in the wake of World War II. By exploring the representation of gay men in film noir, Corber suggests that even as this Hollywood genre reinforced homophobic stereotypes, it legitimized the gay male "gaze." He emphasizes how film noir’s introduction of homosexual characters countered the national "project" to render gay men invisible, and marked a deep subversion of the Cold War mentality. Corber then considers the work of gay male writers Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal, and James Baldwin, demonstrating how these authors declined to represent homosexuality as a discrete subculture and instead promoted a model of political solidarity rooted in the shared experience of oppression. Homosexuality in Cold War America reveals that the ideological critique of the dominant culture made by gay male authors of the 1950s laid the foundation for the gay liberation movement of the following decade.

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‘An engaging portrait of an indomitable woman at the heart of Golden Age Hollywood’ Gill Paul, bestselling author of The Manhattan Girls ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I was hooked from the first page… it had what I was looking for in the Golden Age of Hollywood’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Really reminded me of City of Girls, the lifestyle, the glamour but also the tenderness… Wonderful!’ NetGalley reviewer For fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and City of Girls. ‘You’re young and beautiful. The world is your oyster – it’s up to you to find your pearl’ When Maybelle Crabtree, a God-fearing farm girl from Kentucky, has a chance encounter with a charismatic stranger, her life changes forever. With an invitation to join the infamous Alla Nazimova and her Sewing Circle, Maybelle’s eyes are opened to a life of decadence and glamour. Able to freely discover her own sexuality, Maybelle embraces all that Hollywood has to offer in the hedonist roaring twenties. But both Maybelle and Alla have secrets that threaten to bring their gilded lives crashing down. Hearts will be broken, careers destroyed and friendships shattered because what happens behind closed doors, doesn’t stay hidden forever… TW: This book contains scenes of a sexual nature, violence, domestic abuse and abortion. Readers have been swept away by Well Behaved Women: ‘An enticing parallel portrait, of women endeavouring to be heard in a glittering but masculine era’ Mandy Robotham, international bestselling author ‘An extraordinary story’ Georgia Kaufmann, author of The Dressmaker of Paris ‘Emotional and poignant… beautifully written and so evocative. A truly fantastic read!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Excellent… I was totally involved in the story, the characters and their lives’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Eye-opening… a trip back in time’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A thoroughly engaging read with fascinating queer women against the backdrop of the Hollywood age. Bravo!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I was not fully prepared to completely fall in love with this book’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Beautifully crafted, richly detailed with captivating characters’ ’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Whatever happened to British protest? For a nation that brought the world Chartism, the Suffragettes, the Tolpuddle Martyrs, and so many other grassroots social movements, Britain rarely celebrates its long, great tradition of people power. In this timely and evocative collection, twenty authors have assembled to re-imagine key moments of British protest, from the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 to the anti-Iraq War demo of 2003. Written in close consultation with historians, sociologists and eyewitnesses - who also contribute afterwords - these stories follow fictional characters caught up in real-life struggles, offering a streetlevel perspective on the noble art of resistance. In the age of fake news and post-truth politics this book fights fiction with (well researched, historically accurate) fiction.

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A dynamic social history of shadow capitalism spanning the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries Observers see free markets, the relentless pursuit of profit, and the unremitting drive to commodify everything as capitalism's defining characteristics. These most visible economic features, however, obscure a range of other less evident, often unmeasured activities that occur on the margins and in the concealed corners of the formal economy. The range of practices in this large and diverse hidden realm encompasses traders in recycled materials and the architects of junk bonds and shadow banking. It includes the black and semi-licit markets that allow wealthy elites to avoid taxes and the unmeasured domestic and emotional labor of homemakers and home care workers. By some estimates, the unmeasured economic activity that occurs within the household, informal market, and underground economy amounts to a substantial portion of all economic activity in the world, as much as 30 percent in some countries. Capitalism's Hidden Worlds sheds new light on this shadowy economic landscape by reexamining how we think about the market. In particular, it scrutinizes the missed connections between the official, visible realm of exchange and the uncounted and invisible sectors that border it. While some hidden markets emerged in opposition to the formal economy, much of the obscured economy described in this volume operates as the other side of the legitimate, state-sanctioned marketplace. A variety of historical actors—from fortune tellers and forgers to tax lawyers and black market consumers—have constructed this unseen world in tandem with the observable public world of transactions. Others, such as feminist development economists and government regulators, have worked to bring the darkened corners of the economy to light. The essays in Capitalism's Hidden Worlds explore how the capitalist marketplace sustains itself, how it acquires legitimacy and even prestige, and how the marginalized and the dispossessed find ways to make ends meet. Contributors: Bruce Baker, Eileen Boris, Eli Cook, Hannah Frydman, James Hollis, Owen Hyman, Anna Kushkova, Christopher McKenna, Kenneth Mouré, Philip Scranton, Bryan Turo.

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Perfect for fans of Josie Silver and Katie Fforde, this is a joyful summer read about finding yourself and starting over with the help of great friends. 'It gets five big, shiny stars from me. If you want community, friendship and love, this is the perfect read' Sue Moorcroft'Uplifting, romantic and fun, guaranteed to leave you smiling!' Holly Martin'A blooming lovely story! A delightful cast of characters and a good dose of friendship, love and challenges along the way. A perfect tonic to real life' Kate Frost ___________A fresh start gives love a second chance to bloom...When florist Jennie lands a job in Primrose Hill, it's the perfect chance for her to follow her dreams in the city. But when a wealthy client gets her fired, Jennie takes a leap of faith, setting up a flower business of her own.Moving into Primrose Tower with new friend Kat, Jennie meets a group of strong women who she must call on when she lands the biggest wedding of her career. But it's hard to stay focussed when James, a charming doctor, keeps distracting her.With a little help from her new friends, can Jennie juggle her difficult ex, saving her career and pulling off the wedding of the year?And will love blossom for Jennie and James, this Summer at Primrose Tower? ___________PRAISE FOR ANNIE ROBERTSON: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'The perfect summer read'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A wonderful escapist tale about friendship, family, love and new beginnings'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A fab read, really enjoyed it'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Laughs and tears galore with a gorgeous, heart-warming ending'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I couldn't stop reading it'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'It was such a wonderful escape'

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‘Wonderfully heart-warming, it made me cry, filled my heart with hope, and cast a magical spell on me’ M.A. Kuzniar, Midnight in Everwood ‘Wonderfully heart-warming, it made me cry, filled my heart with hope, and cast a magical spell on me until I’d turned the very last page’ M.A. Kuzniar, Midnight in Everwood ‘Haunting, magical and sparkling with Christmas spirit, One Christmas Morning is a festive love story with a difference . . . A warm and powerful debut’ Holly Miller, The Sight of You –- They say you know when you meet the one. The moment Eva locked eyes with James over a library bookshelf, she knew she’d found her soulmate. Over ten years, they fell in love, got married and made plans to start a family. Until everything changed one Christmas three years ago, and they’ve been drifting apart ever since. Eva hopes a friend’s Christmas party at an old manor house in Cornwall will give them the chance to reconnect… but the last thing she expects is to wake up on Christmas morning in the body of a different guest. As Eva’s forced to keep reliving Christmas Day from the perspectives of those closest to her, she realises just how much her life has fallen off track. But can Eva break the cycle and save her future with James, before it’s too late? READERS ARE LOVING One Christmas Morning ‘A Christmas novel that will stay with you long after you’ve finished it.’ NetGalley reviewer,⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'My favourite type of book… this one is just spectacular.' NetGalley reviewer,⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Such a moving and emotional book… I honestly cannot recommend this book enough.’ NetGalley reviewer,⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I couldn’t put it down… a fantastic and beautiful story.’ NetGalley reviewer,⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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'Filled with Christmassy vibes and romance . . . a fabulous and uplifting romance perfect to snuggle up with' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐Pour yourself a mug of hot cocoa and settle in with this cosy festive read, perfect for fans of Beth Moran and Sarah Morgan!-----The clock is ticking, and getting their happily ever after might just take a miracle...EIGHT DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDINGHannah is stuck - in South Devon and her dead-end job. But when her estranged father dies, she suddenly finds herself in Tel Aviv. With only her insufferable - yet irritatingly sexy - host for company, can she pick up the pieces of her father's life and make it home in time for her cousin's wedding?FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDINGMore preoccupied with securing her dream job writing for an iconic fashion magazine, Rachel is already a distracted bride. But when an article unlocks a long-held family secret, will her simple Christmas wedding become much more complicated?THE NIGHT BEFORE THE WEDDINGSpontaneously quitting her job was not wedding planner Ella's idea - neither was burning bridges with her terrifying boss. Left with only one client - and no money - how will she pull this wedding together, when everything else is falling apart?-----YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS LOVE EIGHT BRIGHT LIGHTS:'Warm, witty and sparkly' HOLLY SMALE 'A relatable, hilarious, holiday season spectacular' LIZZY DENT'The perfect festive read!' CATHERINE WALSH'Warm and funny' EMILY STONEREADERS ADORE EIGHT BRIGHT LIGHTS:'OMG this book is amazing, I want to cry because it's finished' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'A wonderful read . . . and a whole lotta festive goodness' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'A beautifully written romance that melts your heart' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Beautifully written and a lovely Christmas feel good story' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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From Howard’s End to Brideshead Revisited, this book explores the leitmotif of the English country house in twentieth- and twenty-first-century fiction, with a focus on the works of E. M. Forster, Evelyn Waugh, Iris Murdoch, Alan Hollinghurst, and Sarah Waters. Integrating wider social and cultural contexts with contemporary architectural developments, Tereza Topolovská reveals that the variety of literary depictions of the country house reflects the physical diversification of buildings that can be classified as such, from smaller variants to formerly grand residences on the brink of physical collapse. Within the scope of contemporary fiction, architecture, and poetics of space, the country house—with its uniquely integrating and exceptionally evocative qualities—accentuates different conceptions of dwelling. Consequently, literary portrayals of the country house can be seen as both prefiguring and reflecting the contemporary practice of living.

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An invaluable information source about cast iron holloware of the pre-Griswold and Wagner era for collectors, museum curators, reenactors, and hearth cooking aficionados. It is the first book to document cast iron pots, skillets, spiders, pans, kettles, teakettles, Dutch ovens, and mortars, plus several items in brass, from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, spanning the years 1645 to 1900. Over 350 photos illustrate identifiable changes in the manufacturing technologies and the vessel forms. Line drawings and detail photos enable the reader to correctly date the objects they find. The engaging text is a product of forty years of collecting and wide-ranging research. Most of the vessels are illustrated in print for the first time. Many of these objects have been seen occasionally in antiques shops or at auctions, but they have never before been identified in the literature. This will be a standard reference book for many years to come.

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One of ‘the heirs to John le Carré’ The Times ‘A tremendous achievement’ WILLIAM BOYD ‘Behold the new Golden Age of Spy Kings’ Sunday Times To betray, you must first belong… In June 1934, Kim Philby met his Soviet handler, the spy Arnold Deutsch. The woman who introduced them was called Edith Tudor-Hart. She changed the course of 20th century history. Then she was written out of it. Drawing on the Secret Intelligence Files on Edith Tudor-Hart, along with the private archive letters of Kim Philby, this finely worked, evocative and beautifully tense novel – by the granddaughter of Kim Philby – tells the story of the woman behind the Third Man. A future classic: ‘A fine achievement’ THE TIMES ‘Completely fascinating. A sophisticated and brilliantly constructed fictional retelling of a crucial relationship in 20th century espionage history. A tremendous achievement’ WILLIAM BOYD ‘Atmospheric and rigorously researched’ Sunday Times ‘Persuasive… involving… impressive’ LITERARY REVIEW ‘A fascinating contribution to the literature of the Cambridge spies by a clever, nimble writer with some genuine skin in the game’ CHARLES CUMMING ‘Complex and powerfully written… a persuasive repurposing of the lives of real-life figures’ i NEWSPAPER ‘A dextrous writer who gives her tale a quickening, thrillerish propulsion’ NEW STATESMAN ‘Mother, lover, revolutionary, spy… Philby’s stunning fourth novel thrusts this former bit-player in the Cambridge Spy scandal to the centre stage where she belongs… Her best book yet’ ERIN KELLY ‘Blending SIS files and imagined letters from her grandfather, Philby shines a spotlight on Edith Tudor-Hart as activist, spy and often desperate single, working mother’ SARAH VAUGHAN ‘Completely absorbing’ MICK HERRON ‘A tense and brilliantly structured story of power and intrigue’ JANE SHEMILT ‘Unforgettable… a fascinating exploration of a key moment in history and a stunning piece of fiction’ HOLLY WATT

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Situated in the heart of London's Holland Park are the remains of Holland House - the site of what was once England's most celebrated political salon. In the first thirty years of the nineteenth century - when the Whig party was almost constantly out of office - the home of the third Lord Holland became the unofficial centre of the Opposition. Devoted to the ideals of the prominent Whig statesman Charles James Fox and enriched by the progressive views of a new generation of writers, critics and politicians, the influence of Holland House permeated the political climate. At a time when revolutions threatened to engulf Europe, the Whig tradition of aristocratic liberalism proved to be one of the chief factors in the peaceful achievement of parliamentary reform. Presided over by the beautiful and clever Lady Holland and combining discussion of politics and the arts, the salon attracted the greatest names of the age - Byron, Talleyrand and Madame de Stael were all frequent visitors. In this book, Linda Kelly brings to life the colourful world of Holland House.

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Born in tragedy and raised in poverty, Krishanjit never aspired to be anything greater than what he was: a humble goatherd, tending his flock on the slopes of his isolated mountain home.But Krish has learned that he's the son of the king of Ashanesland - and the moon god reborn. Now, with the aid of his allies, Krish is determined to fight his murderous father and seize control of Ashanesland. But his allies Dae Hyo, Eric and Olufemi, are dangerously unreliable and hiding secrets of their own. To take Ashanesland, Krish must travel to the forbidden Mirror Town and unlock the secrets of its powerful magic. But the price of his victory may be much greater than the consequences of his defeat... For, deep in the distant Moon Forest lives a girl called Cwen - a disciple of the god known only as the Hunter. She believes that Krish represents all that is evil in the world. And she has made it her life's mission to seek Krish and destroy all who fight by his side.

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LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING'Davies's absorbing study serves up just enough sensationalism - and eccentricity - along with its serious inquiry' SUNDAY TIMES'[A] revealing account of the jail's 164-year history' DAILY TELEGRAPH, 5* review'Insightful and thought-provoking and makes for a ripping good read' JEREMY CORBYN'A much-needed and balanced history' OBSERVER'Davies explores how society has dealt with disobedient women - from suffragettes to refugees to women seeking abortions - for decades, and how they've failed to silence those who won't go down without a fight' STYLISTSociety has never known what to do with its rebellious women. Those who defied expectations about feminine behaviour have long been considered dangerous and unnatural, and ever since the Victorian era they have been removed from public view, locked up and often forgotten about. Many of these women ended up at HM Prison Holloway, the self-proclaimed 'terror to evil-doers' which, until its closure in 2016, was western Europe's largest women's prison. First built in 1852 as a House of Correction, Holloway's women have come from all corners of the UK - whether a patriot from Scotland, a suffragette from Huddersfield, or a spy from the Isle of Wight - and from all walks of life - socialites and prostitutes, sporting stars and nightclub queens, refugees and freedom fighters. They were imprisoned for treason and murder, for begging, performing abortions and stealing clothing coupons, for masquerading as men, running brothels and attempting suicide. In Bad Girls, Caitlin Davies tells their stories and shows how women have been treated in our justice system over more than a century, what crimes - real or imagined - they committed, who found them guilty and why. It is a story of victimization and resistance; of oppression and bravery. From the women who escaped the hangman's noose - and those who didn't - to those who escaped Holloway altogether, Bad Girls is a fascinating look at how disobedient and defiant women changed not only the prison service, but the course of history.

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'A gorgeous, grisly modern fairy tale.' - THE GUARDIAN'Dark and delicious. House of Hollow hums with malice and mystery. I devoured it whole.'- KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE** SHORTLISTED FOR THE YA BOOK PRIZE 2022 **The Hollow sisters - Vivi, Grey and Iris - are as seductively glamorous as they are mysterious. They have black eyes and hair as white as milk. The Hollow sisters don't have friends - they don't need them. They move through the corridors like sharks, the other little fish parting around them, whispering behind their backs.And everyone knows who the Hollow sisters are. Because one day the three Hollow sisters simply disappeared. And when they came back, one month later, with no memory of where they had been, it was as if nothing had changed. Almost nothing. Apart from, for example, the little scar that had appeared in the hollow of their throats ... and a whispering sense that something is not quite right about them, despite (or maybe because of) the terrible passion to be with them that they can exert on anybody at will...A thrilling, twisting, novel that is as seductive and glamorous as the Hollow sisters themselves....

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Bestselling author and marketing strategist Ryan Holiday reveals to creatives of all stripes-authors, entrepreneurs, musicians, filmmakers, fine artists-how a classic work is made and marketed. Classic. Evergreen. Cult. Backlist. We can all identify with products that seem to last forever and just keep selling. But how can we create things that can and should last, especially in an environment where short-term gain and flash-in-the-pan success are so often the benchmark, where Hollywood movies are written off after a weekend or Silicon Valley start-ups are considered to have failed if they don't go viral? Enter Ryan Holiday and his concept of the Perennial Seller, products that exist in every creative industry, timeless, dependable resources and unsung money-makers, increasing in value over time and outlasting and outstretching the competition. Holiday shows us that creating a classic doesn't have to be a fluke or just a matter of luck. In Perennial Seller he takes us back to the first principles of the models and thinking that underpin the creation of something built to last. Featuring interviews with some of the world's greatest entrepreneurs and creatives and grounded in a deep study of the classics from every genre, the book shares a mindset and approach we can all adopt to make and market a classic work. Whether you have a book or a business, a song or the next great screenplay, Holiday reveals the recipe for perennial success.

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‘this was a delight to read…I just can’t recommend it enough. The best romance book I’ve read this year.’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Books and BookendsNell’s going back to school… but now she’s learning lessons of the heartReception class teacher Nell Shackleton has a plan. At least, she had until she arrived at her new home of Humblebee Farm, a dilapidated farmhouse on the Yorkshire moors. But so what if the roof’s full of holes, the back door’s hanging off and there’s a sheep in the front room? Because sometimes a new beginning means starting at the bottom… right?Xander Scott is one of the youngest headteachers Leyholme Primary School has ever had. But managing over-zealous parents and their semi-feral kids proves a tricky task for shy Xander – as does keeping his mind on the job when his feelings for the new Reception teacher become more than strictly professional…At 43, Nell’s new friend Stevie Madeleine has given up on love. After losing her wife, Stevie’s decided that her four-year-old daughter Milly and cocker spaniel Red are the only girls she needs in her life. That is, until larger-than-life dog-walker Deb arrives on the scene. But will the secrets of Stevie’s past stop her new romance dead in its tracks?Meeting Xander and Stevie brings joy back into Nell’s life – but when old secrets start to surface, there may be some hard lessons to learn for them all…A gorgeously uplifting and hilarious romantic comedy that will delight fans of Milly Johnson, Holly Martin and Heidi Swain.Readers are loving The School of Starting Over!:‘touched my heart on so many levels…should be rated a lot higher than five stars. It is truly heartwarming and perfect.’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Little Miss Book Lover 87‘a superb read with a delightful community, fabulous characters and a surprising twist that I definitely didn’t see coming. It is a heartwarming story, a real page turner and a book I highly recommend you read.’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Splashes into Books‘This novel made me laugh, cry and warmed my insides. It really has everything. I loved this heartwarming novel and I highly recommend it.’ Herding Cats ‘It absolutely left me with a smile on my face… Just perfect to lose yourself in for a while and make you feel uplifted. Highly recommended.’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Sibzz Reads‘will have readers roaring with laughter and wiping away a tear or two… A feel-good romantic read… will lift the spirit and warm the heart.’ Bookish Jottings‘I’ve just discovered my new favourite author in Lisa Swift… There were plenty of feel good moments and plenty of laughter involved, I adored the characters… a wonderful summer romance read’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Baby Dolls and Razor Blades‘I adored every perfectly chosen word of this cleverly amusing and well-crafted tale… Reading this tale was pure delight’☆☆☆☆☆ Books and Bindings‘I found myself flying through the pages to see how it would all end – I loved it from cover to cover – it was a heart-warming story and the perfect pick me up and it had me giggling at times too!’ ☆☆☆ ☆☆ Donna’s Book Blog‘a poignant, compelling, heart-warming and cosy romcom that I didn't want to end!’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Dash Fan Book Reviews‘Heartwarming, humorous, immersive and poignant… Vivid characters, heartrending conflict and an authentic Yorkshire village ethos and setting make this addictive reading.’ ☆☆☆☆☆ Jane Hunt Writer

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'The list of female war reporters is long and distinguished. But the great-grandmother of them all was Clare Hollingworth' Mail on Sunday 'She was a pioneer' Kate Adie OBE'Unputdownable' Alexander McCall Smith'One of the most unforgettable journalists I have ever met' Chris PattenONE OF THE INSPIRATIONS BEHIND THE NEW BBC DRAMA WORLD ON FIRE. Legendary pioneering journalist Clare Hollingworth died in Hong Kong aged 105 in January 2017 after an illustrious career spanning the great events of the 20th century. Clare was famous for getting 'the scoop of the century': the outbreak of the World War 2. From witnessing the first aerial bombings against England in the First World War, through Hitler's Blitzkrieg, Clare's résumé included desert war in North Africa, civil war in Greece, terrorism in Jerusalem, naming Philby as the Third Man, and guerrilla warfare in Vietnam and Borneo. She had an uncanny ability to make headlines throughout her century-long life. And although her style of journalism was very different from the 24-hour breaking rolling news we have today, the need for detailed eye-witness reporting seems even more important today as we face an onslaught of fake news and alternative facts. The story is not just about news and war however: through access to family papers and personal accounts, her great-nephew Patrick Garrett is able to show Clare in three dimensions, explain her life and loves, and show how she dealt with the pressures of life as a correspondent - decades before women were routinely accepted in this role.facebook.com/celebrateclaretwitter.com/celebrateclare

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Decades after playing the titular killer in the 80s horror franchise Night of the Reaper, Howard Browning has been reduced to signing autographs for his dwindling fanbase at genre conventions. When the studio announces a series reboot, the aging thespian is crushed to learn he’s being replaced in the iconic role by heartthrob Trevor Mane, a former sitcom child-star who’s fresh out of rehab. Trevor is determined to stay sober and revamp his image while Howard refuses to let go of the character he created, setting the stage for a cross-generational clash over the soul of a monster. But as Howard fights to reclaim his legacy, the sinister alter ego consumes his unraveling mind, pushing him to the brink of violence.Is the method actor succumbing to madness or has the devilish Reaper taken on a life of its own? In his razor-sharp debut novel, film and television writer Brian McAuley melds wicked suspense with dark humour and heart.'At times deliriously fun and delightfully gory. Its blood-filled heart, however, is its main characters and their personal struggles. Both actors, in their own ways, strain under the unrelenting pressure of others’ expectations. To give the Reaper life, McAuley shares snippets of fictional movie screenplays that show the Reaper is just as deadly and entertaining as Jason or Freddy. This book is a must for fans of the slasher genre, but it also offers a sickle-sharp critique of the expendability of actors fed into the Hollywood machine.' — Library Journal'Curse of the Reaper is the best kind of horror — one that’s equal parts psychological nightmare and bone-crunching bloodshed. McAuley’s novel is a grim amalgam, retelling the inner-struggle of a modern day Jekyll and Hyde and blending it (on high!) with every great 80’s slasher movie ever made. Reaper tackles madness, addiction, the costs of stardom, and the innate servitude of every artist whose soul is chained to the growling, hungry beast within. A wonderful, terrifying, thrilling novel not to be missed.' — Philip Fracassi, author of A Child Alone With Strangers'In Curse of the Reaper, Brian McAuley carves a grinning specter from our cultural addictions to fandom and nostalgia, gleefully ripping through the boundaries between method and madness, pure scares and pitch-perfect schlock. With vividly wounded characters and a true fan’s eye for the horror show, Curse of the Reaper is an unmissable glimpse behind the screen.' — Gordon B. White, author of Rookfield and As Summer’s Mask Slips and Other Disruptions'The purpose of horror is to access the unconscious fears of the reader and exploit them. Brian McAuley does just that in Curse of the Reaper. An homage to the horror films of the 80's, he delivers horror in a way that will have you clutching the edge of your seat while whipping through the book until the very end. And I enjoyed every single page of it.' — Tracy Cross, author of Rootwork'Brian McAuley takes Method acting to maniacal meta-horror heights in his Poe-infused slasher Curse of the Reaper, which reads like a pitch-perfect riff off of Peter Bogdanovich’s Targets, a Los Angeles-cast Cask of Amontillado, and a Jerry Stahl-penned tug-of-war between Boris Karloff and Kane Hodder. Read it.' — Clay McLeod Chapman, author of The Remaking and Ghost Eaters'A love letter to slashers, and a nod to our addictions. To drugs, to fame. To the memories of who we once were.' — Jamie Flanagan, co-writer of Netflix’s Midnight Mass and The Haunting of Bly Manor'McAuley's Curse of the Reaper is a clever and creepy romp through the slasher genre, reveling in how it haunts and delights us, and how the real horror never, really ever ends.' — Kate Maruyama, author of Harrowgate and Family Solstice

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An important contribution to the social, cultural and economic history of seaside resorts and their hinterland in Essex. The nine Essex parishes lying in a coastal district between St Osyth and the Naze headland at Walton encompass a number of distinct landscapes, from sandy cliffs to saltmarshes, recognised as environmentally significant. The landscape has constantly changed in response to changing sea levels, flooding, draining and investment in sea defences. Inland, there was an agriculturally fertile plateau based on London Clay, but with large areas of Kesgrave sands and gravels, loams and brickearths. Parts were once heavily wooded, especially at St Osyth. The district was strongly influenced by the pattern of estate ownership, largely held by St Paul's Cathedral from the mid-10th century.About 1118-19 a bishop of London founded a house of Augustinian canons at St Osyth, which became one of the wealthiest abbeys in Essex. Most other manors and their demesnes in the district were small and their demesne tenants were of little more than local significance. After the Reformation all of the former church lands in the district were granted to the royal servant Thomas Darcy, 1st baron Darcy of Chiche (d. 1558). Darcy built a great mansion, St Osyth Priory, on the site of the former abbey, which became the centre of his new estate. The area's economy was strongly affected by the coast and its many valuable natural resources, including the extraction or manufacture ofsand, gravel, septaria, copperas and salt, and activities such as fishing, tide milling, wrecking and smuggling. However, it remained a largely rural district and its wealth ultimately depended upon the state of farming. Until the eighteenth century it specialised in dairying from both sheep and cattle, but afterwards production shifted towards grain. The coastal area has produced significant evidence of early man and was heavily exploited and settled in prehistory. The medieval settlement pattern largely conformed to a typical Essex model, with a complex pattern of small villages, hamlets and dispersed farms, many located around greens or commons. The largest settlement wasthe nucleated village or small town at St Osyth, located outside the abbey gates, which had a formal market and wool fair in the Middle Ages.In the 19th and 20th centuries the coast witnessed the development of seaside resorts atWalton, Clacton and Frinton. Some overspill affected the surrounding more rural parishes, and from the 1920s new types of resort developed in the form of seaside camps, chalets and caravan parks.

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