The Smudgelings... Professors Reginald Tyler and Henry Cleavis and their various literary friends... little did they know as they gathered on Sunday evenings by the fire to drink sherry and read out chapters from their ongoing fantasy novels that they were wearing thin the fabric of space and time. All around them in the magical, northern university town of Darkholmes there were Holes opening up to other dimensions... Here we are in the 1930s, in the leafy lanes and lofty towers of an ancient town... where there are witches, demons and gargoyles mixed u with dons and their frustrated wives and handsome boyfriends. And, most mysteriously of all, there is Brenda, the rather strange housemaid to the Tyler household, who is here incognito, for reasons all of her own...
NATIONAL BESTSELLER “Engrossing...studded with wisdom about long-held bonds.” —People, Book of the Week “Enthralling, masterfully written...rich with social and psychological insights.” —The New York Times Book Review “A magnificent storytelling feat.” —The Boston Globe The “utterly engrossing, sweeping” (Time) story of a lifelong friendship between two very different “superbly depicted” (The Wall Street Journal) women with shared histories, divisive loyalties, hidden sorrows, and eighty years of summers on a pristine point of land on the coast of Maine, set across the arc of the 20th century. Celebrated children’s book author Agnes Lee is determined to secure her legacy—to complete what she knows will be the final volume of her pseudonymously written Franklin Square novels; and even more consuming, to permanently protect the peninsula of majestic coast in Maine known as Fellowship Point. To donate the land to a trust, Agnes must convince shareholders to dissolve a generations-old partnership. And one of those shareholders is her best friend, Polly. Polly Wister has led a different kind of life than Agnes: that of a well-off married woman with children, defined by her devotion to her husband, a philosophy professor with an inflated sense of stature. She strives to create beauty and harmony in her home, in her friendships, and in her family. Polly soon finds her loyalties torn between the wishes of her best friend and the wishes of her three sons—but what is it that Polly wants herself? Agnes’s designs are further muddied when an enterprising young book editor named Maud Silver sets out to convince Agnes to write her memoirs. Agnes’s resistance cannot prevent long-buried memories and secrets from coming to light with far-reaching repercussions for all. “An ambitious and satisfying tale” (The Washington Post), Fellowship Point reads like a 19th-century epic, but it is entirely contemporary in its “reflections on aging, writing, stewardship, legacies, independence, and responsibility. At its heart, Fellowship Point is about caring for the places and people we love...This magnificent novel affirms that change and growth are possible at any age” (The Christian Science Monitor).
Oxford’s fabled streets echo with the names of such key figures in English history as Edmund Halley, John Wycliffe, and John and Charles Wesley. Of more recent times are those of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the other members of the renowned literary circle to which they belonged, the Inklings. What would it be like to walk this medieval city’s narrow lanes in the company of such giants of Christian literature, to visit Magdalen College, where Lewis and Tolkien read aloud their works-in-progress to their friends, or the Eagle and Child pub, the Inklings’ favorite gathering place? The lavish photography of this book will introduce you to the fascinating world of the Inklings, matching their words to the places where these friends discussed—and argued over—theology, philosophy, ancient Norse myth, and Old Icelandic, while writing stories that were to become classics of the faith. The Inklings of Oxford will deepen your knowledge of and appreciation for this unique set of personalities. The book also features a helpful map section for taking walking tours of Oxford University and its environs.
"Traces of Ink. Experiences of Philology and Replication is a collection of original papers exploring the textual and material aspects of inks and ink-making in a number of premodern cultures (Babylonia, the Graeco-Roman world, the Syriac milieu and the Arabo-Islamic tradition). The volume proposes a fresh and interdisciplinary approach to the study of technical traditions, in which new results can be achieved thanks to the close collaboration between philologists and scientists. Replication represents a crucial meeting point between these two parties: a properly edited text informs the experts in the laboratory who, in turn, may shed light on many aspects of the text by recreating the material reality behind it. Contributors are: Miriam Blanco Cesteros, Michele Cammarosano, Claudia Colini, Vincenzo Damiani, Sara Fani, Matteo Martelli, Ira Rabin, Lucia Raggetti, and Katja Weirauch"--
From imposters and hidden compartments to secret handshakes and coded letter, here is a thoroughly entertaining account of the role of spycraft during the American Revolution.
When Cooper discovers a lump in five-year-old Zoe's midsection as she sits on his lap at a Chicago Cubs game, life changes. Surgery, sleepless nights, treatments, a drumbeat of worry. Even as the family moves to New York and Zoe starts kindergarten, they must navigate a new normal regularly interrupted by anxious visits to the hospital. Forced to balance his desires to be a protective parent even as he encourages his girls to take risks, Cooper writes about what it took for him and his wife to preserve a sense of normalcy and joy in their daughters' lives, while being transformed by the fear and hope we feel for those we love.
Eclectic and experimental in style this poetry collection and its stylistic range reflects the diversity of research in the field of medicine. The topics examined range from health economics and specific diseases to biological mechanisms and technology platforms used in research. Some also provide a lens to the feelings and pressures of patients and doctors, whilst others delve into the workings of the mind. Several have layers and patterns for the reader to discover as an allusion to the process of research itself. It starts with the key to successful research—collaboration and fellowship and ends on a reflection of humanity and the humbling of mankind gained through service to others. As such the collection epitomizes the path that transforms passion into perfection and enshrines the drive of the Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong to gain and apply knowledge and understanding for the benefit of all.
A sumptuous slipcased edition of Tolkien's classic epic tale of adventure, fully illustrated in color by the author himself. This deluxe volume is quarterbound in leather and includes many special features unique to this edition. Since it was first published in 1954, The Lord of the Rings has been a book people have treasured. Steeped in unrivalled magic and otherworldliness, its sweeping fantasy and epic adventure has touched the hearts of young and old alike. Over 100 million copies of its many editions have been sold around the world, and occasional collectors' editions become prized and valuable items of publishing. This one-volume deluxe slipcased edition contains the complete text, fully corrected and reset, which is printed in red and black, and features thirty color illustrations, maps, and sketches drawn by Tolkien himself as he composed this epic work. These include the pages from the Book of Mazarbul, marvelous facsimiles created by Tolkien to accompany the famous "Bridge of Khazad-dum" chapter. Also appearing are two poster-size, fold-out maps revealing all the detail of Middle-earth. This very special deluxe edition is quarterbound in cloth and red leather, with raised ribs on the spine and stamped in two foils. The pages are edged in gold and contained within are special features unique to this edition.
In poems of compassion and social justice, Mihaela Moscaliuc probes borders and memory to work through, and further complicate, understandings of belonging—from places (including her native Romania) and histories, to ways of knowing, loving, and grieving. If the wounded populate these poems, so too do goats, black swans, centipedes, dismembered dolls, and wandering wombs. The ekphrastic sequence on Rousseau’s The Sleeping Gypsy honors stories of Roma people while addressing issues of (mis)representation and epistemic violence. As in previous collections, cemeteries become sites of power, holding the living accountable. The homeless women of Iaşi So many shouting at no one, disputing accusations, nodding maniacally, flogging trees with headscarves— their pantomimes re-populate sidewalks with ousted ghosts. They pose no threat but we detour cautiously, afraid their siren voices might awaken the penal colony in our ribcage.
