The Earl of Beaconswood wanted his beloved step-granddaughter to be married and settled happily before he died, but when he realized it was not going to happen, he amended his will. He left his home to Julia on condition she accepted an offer from one of her five step-cousins within a month. They all court her and offer her marriage—all, that is, except Daniel, the new earl, who has always disapproved of Julia's wild ways just as she had always despised his stuffiness. Will he offer before the month is over? More to the point, will she accept if he does?
This is a fictionalized presentation of selected biographical events in the life of Bernard E. Baumbach (1892-1981) and the centerpiece of the story is that of family: his family on "Dutch Hill" in the Cornplanter Township in PA; his wife Julia Becker's family in Pasadena, CA; and Julia's and his family of five children in Anaheim, CA.
Freddie Sullivan, having failed to persuade his cousin Julia to marry him, goes to Bath in desperate search of a rich wife so that he can pay off his debts. Clara Danforth, plain and wheelchair-bound, seems the ideal choice, and Freddie sets about wooing her with his good looks, flattery, and considerable charm. Clara is not deceived for a moment, but she encourages him anyway as for once she wants to possess something beautiful in her life. The path to love between these two after they marry is a rocky one. Freddie struggles to overcome his gambling addiction and his shame over the deception he perpetrated against Clara, and she struggles to overcome her physical handicaps and low self-esteem. Can Freddie ever be forgiven? Can he ever forgive himself? Can Clara ever trust his fragile love?
Opera Production II was first published in 1974. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. For the world of opera this is an indispensable basic reference work which provides essential information about more than 350 operas. Producers, singers, directors, students, orchestras, and audiences will find useful, concise information in this handbook, a sequel to the author's earlier book Opera Production I: A Handbook, which contains similar information about more than 500 other operas. While the first volume concentrates on more familiar operas, this book is devoted principally to lesser known works, both old and new, including many as yet unperformed contemporary operas. The details given about each opera are those needed to assess the production requirements for a given work: the number and importance of settings; size of orchestra, chorus, and ballet; number of singers, their relative importance and individual requirements; vocal and acting demands of performers, including vocal ranges in most cases; plot synopsis; and brief historical material to anchor the reader in the necessary knowledge of the period and source of the libretto. The information is compressed into capsule form so that anyone using the book can tell at a glance the suitability of a work to the particular facilities, talents, or tastes of an opera company or its public. In addition to the reference material, there is a chapter "Production Problems in Handel's Opera" by Randolph Mickelson, a helpful feature since nine of Handel's operas are included and they are apt to pose special production problems.
Aphra Behn, Susannah Centlivre, Hannah Cowley, and Elizabeth Inchbald were the only four female playwrights in England with multiple comic successes from 1670-1800. Behn's interest in the body, Centlivre's fascination with written contracts, Cowley's nationalism, and Inchbald's discussion of divorce emerge in the comic events that are animated by the psychological mechanisms of humor. Attending to the dialogue between these comic events and the plays' more predictable comic endings illuminates the philosophical, political, and legal arguments about women and marriage that fascinated both female playwrights and the theatergoing public.
The Prescott Pioneers Series is set in the Arizona Territory in the mid-1860s. The series follows the lives of the Andersons, Colters, and Larsons as they make the journey west to a wild new territory. Will the cost be worth it? What heartaches are in store? Will their dreams be everything they hoped? A Dream Unfolding (Book 1) Hannah Anderson and her husband head to the West in the hopes of starting over. The journey is difficult and costs more than either expected. Will Colter is forced to leave the ranch he has called home for nearly thirty years. The cattle drive west challenges him and his men—threatening their very lives. A Heart Renewed (Book 2) Julia Colter rebels against her old brother’s poor choices of suitors. When her rebellion against her brother puts her life at risk, she turns to her friend for help. Adam Larson longs to train horses and plans to head west to the Arizona Territory to see his dreams fulfilled. When Julia shows up on his doorstep in the middle of the night, he agrees to help her flee. The decision changes both of their lives forever. A Life Restored (Book 3) Social butterfly, Caroline Larson, longs for adventure. Stranded in the Arizona desert, far from her final destination, she must rely on a stranger who gets under her skin. Thomas Anderson has always struggled with making good decisions. Dealing with the ghosts of his past threatens to overshadow his future—until he meets a woman needing his help. Sparks fly as she grates on his nerves. A Hope Revealed (Book 4) Life turned out differently than Mary Colter expected. With her abusive husband either missing or dead, and the ranch gone, she is left to raise her two children on her own. She decides to head west to start over. Warren Cahill is confronted with one problem after another in his new role as foreman of Colter Ranch. Missing cattle and hot-headed cowhands take most of his attention. When Mary arrives at the ranch, tensions rise and he finds himself in the middle of it. Excerpt from Hidden Prospects Includes an excerpt from the sequel to the Prescott Pioneers Series.
Although the private lives of political couples have in our era become front-page news, the true story of this extraordinary and tragic first family has never been fully told. The Lincolns eclipses earlier accounts with riveting new information that makes husband and wife, president and first lady, come alive in all their proud accomplishments and earthy humanity. Award-winning biographer and poet Daniel Mark Epstein gives a fresh close-up view of the couple’s life in Springfield, Illinois (of their twenty-two years of marriage, all but six were spent there), and dramatizes with stunning immediacy how the Lincolns’ ascent to the White House brought both dazzling power and the slow, secret unraveling of the couple’s unique bond. The first full-length portrait of the marriage of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln in more than fifty years, The Lincolns is written with enormous sweep and striking imagery. Daniel Mark Epstein makes two immortal American figures seem as real and human as the rest of us.
