For fifty years, Anna Schlemmer has refused to talk about herlife in Germany during World War II. Her daughter, Trudy, was onlythree when she and her mother were liberated by an American soldierand went to live with him in Minnesota. Trudy's sole evidence ofthe past is an old photograph: a family portrait showing Anna,Trudy, and a Nazi officer, the Obersturmfuhrer of Buchenwald. Driven by the guilt of her heritage, Trudy, now a professor ofGerman history, begins investigating the past and finally unearthsthe dramatic and heartbreaking truth of her mother's life. Combining a passionate, doomed love story, a vivid evocation oflife during the war, and a poignant mother/daughter drama, ThoseWho Save Us is a profound exploration of what we endure tosurvive and the legacy of shame.
Opening in Calcutta in the 1960s, Amitav Ghosh's radiantsecond novel follows two families -- one English, one Bengali -- astheir lives intertwine in tragic and comic ways. The narrator,Indian born and English educated, traces events back and forth intime, from the outbreak of World War II to the late twentiethcentury, through years of Bengali partition and violence, observingthe ways in which political events invade private lives.
When Julia Child told Dorie Greenspan, “You write recipes justthe way I do,” she paid her the ultimate compliment. Julia’s praisewas echoed by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, whichreferred to Dorie’s “wonderfully encouraging voice” and “the senseof a real person who is there to help should you stumble.” Now in a big, personal, and personable book, Dorie captures allthe excitement of French home cooking, sharing disarmingly simpledishes she has gathered over years of living in France. Around My French Table includes many superb renditions of thegreat classics: a glorious cheese-domed onion soup, a spoon-tenderbeef daube, and the “top-secret” chocolate mousse recipe that everygood Parisian cook knows—but won’t reveal. Hundreds of other recipes are remarkably easy: a cheese and olivequick bread, a three-star chef’s Basque potato tortilla made with asurprise ingredient (potato chips), and an utterly satisfying roastchicken for “lazy people.”
The Fortress of Solitude is the story of Dylan Ebdus growingup white and motherless in downtown Brooklyn in the 1970s. It's aneighborhood where the entertainments include muggings along withgames of stoopball. In that world, Dylan has one friend, a blackteenager, also motherless, named Mingus Rude. As Lethem follows theknitting and unraveling of their friendship, he creates anoverwhelmingly rich and emotionally gripping canvas of race andclass, superheros, gentrification, funk, hip-hop, graffiti tagging,loyalty, and memory. The Fortress of Solitude" "is the first greaturban coming of age novel to appear in years.
After WWII, notorious Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann livedcomfortably in Buenos Aires under an alias. Nazi hunters like SimonWiesenthal sought Eichmann fruitlessly until 1956, when Eichmann'sson bragged about his father's war exploits to his girlfriend'sfather, a half-Jew who had been blinded by the Gestapo and whoalerted a Jewish attorney general of Hesse in Germany known for hisprosecution of Nazis. Bascomb (The Perfect Mile) details Eichmann'swartime atrocities and postwar escapes, and how, in 1960, theIsraelis decided to have secret service operatives (one of whom,Isser Harel, recounted these events in 1975's The House onGaribaldi Street)—mostly Holocaust survivors—secretly kidnapEichmann and fly him to Israel on El Al, disguised as an airlineemployee. Tried in Israel in 1961, Eichmann was executed in 1962.These were early days for Israel's now-legendary intelligenceagencies, Mossad and Shin Bet, and it's fascinating how theyaccomplished their goal without the technical and monetary supportthat
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice A Rocky MountainNews Best Book of the Year Finalist for the Story Prize At onceexpertly crafted and undeniably moving, these ten stories deftlyexplore our immutable connection with nature. The centerpiece ofthe collection is the arresting title story, in which a woman alonein her mountain cabin confronts a terminal illness. In the equallyremarkable "Her First Elk," the same character recalls her mostmemorable and significant hunting experience. Set in locationsranging from Montana to Texas to Mississippi, the remaining storiesfurther illuminate the consequences of our attitudes toward theenvironment and each other. This masterly collection lays bare theessentials of life with unparalleled passion and grace..
Borrowing on your credit cards? Saving instead of investing?Caring for others financially and ignoring your own needs? Thethings you learned as a girl may be preventing you from becomingfinancially independent and following your own dreams. Nowbestselling author Lois Frankel tackles the outdated concepts thatkeep you from having the wealth you deserve, and she offerstried-and-true coaching tips to help you take control of your moneyand your life. Discover all the "nice girl" behaviors-and how toovercome them today!
In the year 999, when Ben Attar, a Moroccan Jewish merchant,takes a second wife, he commits an act whose unforeseenconsequences will forever alter his family, his relationships, hisbusiness-his life. In an attempt to forestall conflict and advancehis business interests at the same time, Ben Attar undertakes hisannual journey to Europe with both his first wife and his new wife.The trip is the beginning of a profound human drama whose moralconflicts of fidelity and desire resonate with those of our time.Yehoshua renders the medieval world of Jewish and Christian cultureand trade with astonishing depth and sensuous detail. Through thetrials of a medieval merchant, the renowned author explores thedeepest questions about the nature of morality, character, codes ofhuman conduct, and matters of the heart.
THE ANIMAL DIALOGUES tells of Craig Childs' own chillingexperiences among the grizzlies of the Arctic, sharks off the coastof British Columbia and in the turquoise waters of Central America,jaguars in the bush of northern Mexico, mountain lions, elk,Bighorn Sheep, and others. More than chilling, however, thesestories are lyrical, enchanting, and reach beyond what one commonlyassumes an "animal story" is or should be. THE ANIMAL DIALOGUES isa book about another world that exists alongside our own, an entirerealm of languages and interactions that humans rarely get thechance to witness.
Dorie Greenspan has written recipes for the most eminent chefsin the world: Pierre Herme, Daniel Boulud, and arguably thegreatest of them all, Julia Child, who once told Dorie, "You writerecipes just the way I do." Her recipe writing has won widespreadpraise for its literate curiosity and "patient but exuberantstyle." (One hard-boiled critic called it "a joy forever.") InBaking: From My Home to Yours, her masterwork, Dorie applies thelessons from three decades of experience to her first and reallove: home baking. The 300 recipes will seduce a new generation ofbakers, whether their favorite kitchen tools are a bowl and a whiskor a stand mixer and a baker's torch. Even the most homey of therecipes are very special. Dorie's favorite raisin swirl bread. Bigspicy muffins from her stint as a baker in a famous New York Cityrestaurant. French chocolate brownies (a Parisian pastry chefbegged for the recipe). A dramatic black and white cake for a "wow"occasion. Pierre Herme's extraordinary lemon tart.The generoushelpi
From America's most inventive novelist, Jonathan Lethem, comesthis compelling and compulsive riff on the classic detective novel.Lionel Essrog is Brooklyn's very own self-appointed HumanFreakshow, an orphan whose Tourettic impulses drive him to bark,count, and rip apart our language in startling and original ways.Together with three veterans of the St. Vincent's Home for Boys, heworks for small-time mobster Frank Minna's limo service cumdetective agency. Life without Frank Minna, the charismatic King ofBrooklyn, would be unimaginable, so who cares if the tasks he setsthem are, well, not exactly legal. But when Frank is fatallystabbed, one of Lionel's colleagues lands in jail, the other twovie for his position, and the victim's widow skips town. Lionel'sworld is suddenly topsy-turvy, and this outcast who has troubleeven conversing attempts to untangle the threads of the case whiletrying to keep the words straight in his head. Motherless Brooklynis a brilliantly original homage to the classic detective novel b
The Spartans is a compelling narrative that explores theculture and civilization of the most famous "warrior people": theSpartans of ancient Greece, by the world's leading expert in thefield. Sparta has often been described as the original Utopia--aremarkably evolved society whose warrior heroes were forbidden anyother trade, profession, or business. As a people, the Spartanswere the living exemplars of such core values as duty, discipline,the nobility of arms in a cause worth dying for, sacrificing theindividual for the greater good of the community (illustrated bytheir role in the battle of Thermopylae), and the triumph of willover seemingly insuperable obstacles--qualities that today arefrequently believed to signify the ultimate heroism. Paul Cartledgeis the distinguished scholar and historian who has long been seenas the leading international authority on ancient Sparta. He tracesthe evolution of Spartan society--the culture and the people, aswell as the tremendous influence they had on their worl
During the long farewell of her mothers dying, Patricia Hamplrevisits her midwestern girlhood.Daughter of a debonair Czechfather, whose floral work gave him entre to St. Paul society, and adistrustful Irishwoman with an uncanny ability to tell a tale,Hamplremained, primarily and passionately, a daughter well intoadulthood. She traces the arc of faithfulness and struggle thatcomes with that rolefrom the postwar years past the turbulentsixties. At the heart of The Florists Daughter is the humblepassion of people who struggled out of the Depression into a betterchance, not only for themselves but for the common good.Widelyrecognized as one of our most masterly memoirists, Patricia Hamplhas written an extraordinary memoir that is her most intimate, yetmost universal, work to date.This transporting work will resonatewith readers of Francine du Plessix Grays Them: A Memoir of Parentsand JeannetteWalls The Glass Castle.
Jill Taylor was a 37-year-old Harvard-trained brain scientistwhen a blood vessel exploded in her brain. Through the eyes of acurious scientist, she watched her mind deteriorate whereby shecould not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life.Because of her understanding of the brain, her respect for thecells in her body, and an amazing mother, Jill completelyrecovered. In My Stroke of Insight, she shares her recommendationsfor recovery and the insight she gained into the unique functionsof the two halves of her brain. When she lost the skills of herleft brain, her consciousness shifted away from normal realitywhere she felt "at one with the universe." Taylor helps others notonly rebuild their brains from trauma, but helps those of us withnormal brains better understand how we can consciously influencethe neural circuitry underlying what we think, how we feel and howwe react to life's circumstances.
A new erotic paranormal series, starring dragon shapeshifters,kicks off with a very sexy debut... Prince Dylan MacLeod is one of the last pure-blood dragon shape-shifters-and ruler of a dying race, the Dragonstar clan. It fallsto him to protect his people and their ancient magic. But he hasone important duty: to provide an heir... Like all dragons, Dylan, who has a dark, rampant sexual appetite,can only procreate with his destined mate-for whom he's searchedfor the last five hundred years. But his quest is delayed when adisease sweeps through the Dragonstars, and Dylan must venture tothe human world to find a cure. He tracks down bio-chemist PhoebeQuillum, never imagining the beautiful scientist would be the matehe's been seeking. But even with the fate of the clan on theirshoulders, Phoebe and Dylan are overcome by their sexualdesire. Their passion turns to something truer, but when Phoebe iskidnapped by Dylan's oldest enemy, he must risk everything for hislove and his clan...
