Reginald Mason is wealthy, refined, and, by all accounts, a gentleman. However, he is not a gentleman by title, a factor that pains him and his father within the Regency society that upholds station over all else. That is, until an opportunity for social advancement arises, namely, Lady Annabelle Ashton. Daughter of the Earl of Havercroft, a neighbor and enemy of the Mason family, Annabelle finds herself disgraced by a scandal, one that has left her brandished as damaged goods. Besmirched by shame, the earl is only too happy to marry Annabelle off to anyone willing to have her. Reginald Mason is wealthy, refined, and, by all accounts, a gentleman. However, he is not a gentleman by title, a factor that pains him and his father within the Regency society that upholds station over all else. That is, until an opportunity for social advancement arises, namely, Lady Annabelle Ashton. Daughter of the Earl of Havercroft, a neighbor and enemy of the Mason family, Annabelle finds herself disgraced by a scandal, one that has left her brandished as damaged goods. Besmirched by shame, the earl is only too happy to marry Annabelle off to anyone willing to have her.
'A beautifully written historical novel with characters who linger long after the last page is turned.' - Hazel Gaynor, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Came Home. It's 1828, and Ireland is in turmoil as Irish tenants protest against their upper-class English landlords. Nineteen-year-old Bridget Muldowney is thrilled to return to the estate in Carlow she'll inherit when she comes of age. But since she left for Dublin seven years earlier, the tomboy has become a refined young lady, engaged to be married to a dashing English gentleman. Cormac McGovern, now a stable hand on the estate, has missed his childhood friend. He and Bridget had once been thick as thieves, running wild around the countryside together. When Bridget and Cormac meet again their friendship begins to rekindle, but it's different now that they are adults. Bridget's overbearing mother, determined to enforce the employer-servant boundaries, conspires with Bridget's fiancé to keep the pair apart. With the odds stacked against them, can Bridget and Cormac's childhood attachment blossom into something more?
The United States has the most family-hostile public policy in the developed world. Despite what is often reported, new mothers don’t “opt out” of work. They are pushed out by discriminating and inflexible workplaces. Today’s workplaces continue to idealize the worker who has someone other than parents caring for their children. Conventional wisdom attributes women’s decision to leave work to their maternal traits and desires. In this thought-provoking book, Joan Williams shows why that view is misguided and how workplace practice disadvantages men—both those who seek to avoid the breadwinner role and those who embrace it—as well as women. Faced with masculine norms that define the workplace, women must play the tomboy or the femme. Both paths result in a gender bias that is exacerbated when the two groups end up pitted against each other. And although work-family issues long have been seen strictly through a gender lens, we ignore class at our peril. The dysfunctional relationship between the professional-managerial class and the white working class must be addressed before real reform can take root. Contesting the idea that women need to negotiate better within the family, and redefining the notion of success in the workplace, Williams reinvigorates the work-family debate and offers the first steps to making life manageable for all American families.
Trapped in a loveless marriage far from home, Bridget does what she can to fill her lonely days. She throws herself into charitable work, but her cherished daughter, Emily, is her only true source of happiness. Meanwhile, Cormac's own life unravels and he finds himself doing unspeakable things just to survive. Neither of them dream they will ever meet again, but fate brings them back together in the most unexpected of ways. Can Bridget rediscover her love for the man Cormac has become? And how will Cormac react when he learns Bridget's secret? A Class Entwined is the second book in Susie Murphy's A Matter of Class series.
To date, scholars in higher education have examined the ways in which students' experiences in the classroom and the human capital they attain impact social class inequalities. In this book, Jenny Stuber argues that the experiential core of college life-the social and extra-curricular worlds of higher education-operates as a setting in which social class inequalities manifest and get reproduced. As college students form friendships and get involved in activities like Greek life, study abroad, and student government, they acquire the social and cultural resources that give them access to valuable social and occupational opportunities beyond the college gates. Yet students' social class backgrounds also impact how they experience the experiential core of college life, structuring their abilities to navigate their campus's social and extra-curricular worlds. Stuber shows that upper-middle-class students typically arrive on campus with sophisticated maps and navigational devices to guide their journeys-while working-class students are typically less well equipped for the journey. She demonstrates, as well, that students' social interactions, friendships, and extra-curricular involvements also shape-and are shaped by-their social class worldviews-the ideas they have about their own and others' class identities and their beliefs about where they and others fit within the class system. By focusing on student' social class worldviews, this book provides insight into how identities and consciousness are shaped within educational settings. Ultimately, this examination of what happens inside the college gates shows how which higher education serves as an avenue for social reproduction, while also providing opportunities for the contestation of class inequalities.
How the attorney-client relationship favors the privileged in criminal court—and denies justice to the poor and to working-class people of color The number of Americans arrested, brought to court, and incarcerated has skyrocketed in recent decades. Criminal defendants come from all races and economic walks of life, but they experience punishment in vastly different ways. Privilege and Punishment examines how racial and class inequalities are embedded in the attorney-client relationship, providing a devastating portrait of inequality and injustice within and beyond the criminal courts. Matthew Clair conducted extensive fieldwork in the Boston court system, attending criminal hearings and interviewing defendants, lawyers, judges, police officers, and probation officers. In this eye-opening book, he uncovers how privilege and inequality play out in criminal court interactions. When disadvantaged defendants try to learn their legal rights and advocate for themselves, lawyers and judges often silence, coerce, and punish them. Privileged defendants, who are more likely to trust their defense attorneys, delegate authority to their lawyers, defer to judges, and are rewarded for their compliance. Clair shows how attempts to exercise legal rights often backfire on the poor and on working-class people of color, and how effective legal representation alone is no guarantee of justice. Superbly written and powerfully argued, Privilege and Punishment draws needed attention to the injustices that are perpetuated by the attorney-client relationship in today’s criminal courts, and describes the reforms needed to correct them.
EDITORS' CHOICE, HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY 'This series keeps getting better...Once I started reading this book, it was so hard to stop...Such evocative writing.' Elizabeth Bell, author of the Lazare Family Saga His past could destroy their future... Having escaped capture in London, Bridget and Cormac flee to Ireland with their daughter, Emily. Their homecoming is bittersweet as they embark upon the daunting task of searching for Cormac's family who have been missing for over seven years. Their journey takes them back to the familiar surroundings of the Oakleigh Estate in Carlow but their childhood home has become a different place to the one they remember. As they confront the consequences of Bridget's embittered mother's actions, they must also come to terms with an agonising choice between family and duty. And when Cormac's murky past catches up with him, endangering the ones he loves, will the threat be great enough to crush the hopeful future he and Bridget have envisioned together? A Class Forsaken is the third book in Susie Murphy's historical fiction series A Matter of Class. The story continues in the fourth book, A Class Coveted. Praise for A Class Forsaken: 'Fast-paced and full of obstacles and adventure. Highly recommended for fans of historical romance and Irish history.' Editors' Choice, Historical Novel Society (February 2021 issue Historical Novels Review) 'Not only are Murphy's characters well developed, interesting, and genuine, but their love story is epic...These books have been wonderful reads and capture the essence of sweeping saga.' The Lit Bitch, book reviewer 'Susie writes this third instalment to the series with such love for her characters. Her work is so beautifully written, her attention to detail superb...You will love it if you enjoy historical fiction.' Book Reviews for U, book reviewer 'I loved how rich in detail the scenes were...I just flew through the pages...With adventure and drama and romance, this is a series I'll continue to recommend left, right and centre.' Between My Lines, book reviewer 'Susie Murphy's writing is powerful, romantic and absolutely page turning. Once again I was pulled into the story by the powerful storytelling and the carefully crafted and fully rounded characters.' Lisa Reads Books, book reviewer 'Murphy must own a time machine, or else she couldn't possibly do such a good job of sucking a modern-day reader completely back into 1800s Ireland. The story of Bridget and Cormac comes vividly to life in this sweeping tale of romance.' Ashley O'Melia, author and freelance writer 'Susie Murphy is an exceptional writer, with a keen ability for creating memorable characters and sweeping settings...Settle in for your new favorite book series.' Pursuing Stacie, book reviewer What readers are saying: ★★★★★ 'This is a fantastic saga! I am completely hooked!' ★★★★★ 'Wonderful continuation of an epic love story.' ★★★★★ 'I enjoyed every minute of it.' ★★★★★ 'Characters that truly stay with you.' ★★★★★ 'Fabulous book, as gripping as the first two!' ★★★★★ 'If you love romance and historical regency then this series is for you.' ★★★★★ 'I just couldn't put it down.' ★★★★★ 'The continued storyline is a page turner.' ★★★★★ 'Highly recommended for any lover of Irish history and romance novels.' ★★★★★ 'I can't wait for the next book in the series!'
It is not only the past that lies in ruins in Patna, it is also the present. But that is not the only truth about the city that Amitava Kumar explores in this vivid, entertaining account of his hometown. We accompany him through many Patnas, the myriad cities locked within the city—the shabby reality of the present-day capital of Bihar; Pataliputra, the storied city of emperors; the dreamlike embodiment of the city in the minds and hearts of those who have escaped contemporary Patna's confines. Full of fascinating observations and impressions, A Matter of Rats reveals a challenging and enduring city that exerts a lasting pull on all those who drift into its orbit. Kumar's ruminations on one of the world's oldest cities, the capital of India's poorest province, are also a meditation on how to write about place. His memory is partial. All he has going for him is his attentiveness. He carefully observes everything that surrounds him in Patna: rats and poets, artists and politicians, a girl's picture in a historian's study, and a sheet of paper on his mother's desk. The result is this unique book, as cutting as it is honest.
One of "our most insightful social observers"* cracks the great political mystery of our time: how conservatism, once a marker of class privilege, became the creed of millions of ordinary Americans With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank turns his eye on what he calls the "thirty-year backlash"—the populist revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment. The high point of that backlash is the Republican Party's success in building the most unnatural of alliances: between blue-collar Midwesterners and Wall Street business interests, workers and bosses, populists and right-wingers. In asking "what 's the matter with Kansas?"—how a place famous for its radicalism became one of the most conservative states in the union—Frank, a native Kansan and onetime Republican, seeks to answer some broader American riddles: Why do so many of us vote against our economic interests? Where's the outrage at corporate manipulators? And whatever happened to middle-American progressivism? The questions are urgent as well as provocative. Frank answers them by examining pop conservatism—the bestsellers, the radio talk shows, the vicious political combat—and showing how our long culture wars have left us with an electorate far more concerned with their leaders' "values" and down-home qualities than with their stands on hard questions of policy. A brilliant analysis—and funny to boot—What's the Matter with Kansas? presents a critical assessment of who we are, while telling a remarkable story of how a group of frat boys, lawyers, and CEOs came to convince a nation that they spoke on behalf of the People. *Los Angeles Times
What accounts for our tastes? Why and how do they change over time? Stanley Lieberson analyzes children's first names to develop an original theory of fashion. He disputes the commonly-held notion that tastes in names (and other fashions) simply reflect societal shifts.
