A fascinating, finely wrought work, Inventing Beatrice is a sophisticated and engaging account of a person, her mother, and a bohemian period of Australian history.
One morning, Eddie wakes up and hears her little sister say these words: birthday--mama--present--fluffy--little--squishy. Worried that her sister will find one before she does, Eddie runs off on a hunt. But where should she begin? At the neighborhood shops, maybe? Eddie's search, magical and entirely her own, leads her just where she needs to go.
Set against the construction of the Eiffel Tower, this novel charts the relationship between a young Scottish widow and a French engineer who, despite constraints of class and wealth, fall in love. In February 1887, Caitriona Wallace and Émile Nouguier meet in a hot air balloon, floating high above Paris, France--a moment of pure possibility. But back on firm ground, their vastly different social strata become clear. Cait is a widow who because of her precarious financial situation is forced to chaperone two wealthy Scottish charges. Émile is expected to take on the bourgeois stability of his family's business and choose a suitable wife. As the Eiffel Tower rises, a marvel of steel and air and light, the subject of extreme controversy and a symbol of the future, Cait and Émile must decide what their love is worth. Seamlessly weaving historical detail and vivid invention, Beatrice Colin evokes the revolutionary time in which Cait and Émile live--one of corsets and secret trysts, duels and Bohemian independence, strict tradition and Impressionist experimentation. To Capture What We Cannot Keep, stylish, provocative, and shimmering, raises probing questions about a woman's place in that world, the overarching reach of class distinctions, and the sacrifices love requires of us all.
"This is a book on science for Christians... However, you don't have to be a contemplative trinitarian Christian to find its basic metaphysical argument understandable. Everyone has to face the questions of the One and the Many, the infinite and the finite. My hope is to show religious readers that scientific knowledge of the natural world (which includes people and people's cultures) is important, is part of our religious life, our practice, the way we live the divine life." --From the Introduction
The ideas of the English philosopher Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) have shaped evolutionary theory, philosophy of science, sociology & politics. This work aims to dispel the plethora of misinformation surrounding Spencer, throwing light on the broader cultural history of the 19th century.
Each volume presents brief accounts of five women and their inventions, including Sybilla Masters, Madam C. J. Walker, Mary Anderson, and Nancy Perkins.