From an award-winning Australian novelist comes a wonderfully inspiring story about the ill-fated love affair between a white female jazz saxophonist and a black American GI, set against the backdrop of 1940s Sydney. From an award-winning novelist comes a wonderfully inspiring story about the ill-fated love affair between a white female jazz saxophonist and a black American GI, set against the backdrop of 1940s Sydney. Sydney, 1942. Pearl is eighteen, beautiful, and impetuous. She plays saxophone in an all-girl jazz band at the Trocadero and occasionally sits in on underground gigs with her twin brother, Martin, who also plays the sax. One evening, black GI and jazz legend James Washington blows into her life, and love begins to unfold against the blacked-out nights and rumor-filled days of a city in the grip of war. When James is shipped out to fight in New Guinea, Pearl hatches a breathtaking plan to reunite with him. And then all hell breaks loose. Internationally acclaimed author Mandy Sayer writes with astonishing insight and tenderness in this audaciously original novel—a romance with a haunting jazz soundtrack and a war story like no other.
Reviews and Comments: "Somewhere between infatuation and devotion, lost within the folds of insatiable desire and sinfully delicious passion, we find the cross-roads of Love, Lust & Lunacy...In a Lunchbox. Erotically tantalizing and majestically romantic, Richard Logan has managed to showcase and compile the running gamut of human emotion that sweeps relationships." -Erin Young Inspired, in part, by "Love?lust?Lunacy?: Oh how my heart loves a restless soul. One made for wandering - never quite whole. Like I could fill them up with pieces of me, as they travel on new worlds to see. Oh how I love the ways of a vagabond - never quite content with what's done. Always searching for more, to find a truth. Never quite sure what they have's of use. Oh how I love a restless soul. One that aches, for something magical. Ordinary days can't quench the thirst. For what's unknown always spurs the search. Is it the lure of your changing course - Like the wayward ways of the sea? A mystic passion that shackles, and sets you free. Oh how I love a restless soul. Forever changing fleeting, seeking more. Someone found in being lost. Like the inquisition of a dream. Not to be defined by resolute notions of reality. Oh how I love the untamed heart, the question that begs of a restless soul.
After a long, and deeply philosophical, conversation with Robert LaSardo, I eagerly awaited this book that you are about to read. I was not disappointed. Left deep in thought, I sat in a long contemplative silence. While I always enjoyed Mr. LaSardo as an actor, I discovered I like him even better as who he is, behind the face he shows the public. Often, if you are in the public eye, you develop a persona (ego) and become someone that society, fans and publicists want you to be. You can sometimes lose aspects of yourself. The truly courageous ones overcome this through strength of character and merge the two halves of themselves to be whole. In the end, people will either love you for who you are, imperfections and all, or they will pull back, fading away because you spoiled the 'image' they had of you. It is sad that the creative person loses a part of themselves so that they can be known and make a good living. Yet, it is the love of art, writing and acting - the real, inner person we are is what made us do it in the first place - that can often become extinguished by the machine of ratings, demands of talent agents, advisers or by the shine of fame and glamour. Throughout his career, Robert LaSardo has found his niche in Hollywood, playing the devious criminal. Often evil personified in his roles, he has played the villain we love, on the award-winning series Nip/Tuck and on both CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI: Miami. We also see his more recent performances in Ghost Whisperer and his own independent film Never Down, he continues to win the hearts of his audience. In Life Sentence: a true story about love, lunacy and fame, you will encounter the man behind the villain he plays, and come to understand the depth of his heart, his will and desire to accomplish despite the hardships that will make you cry. This book will make you feel the triumph of his success, as you are drawn into his life. ~ From the introduction.
Oliver Reed may not have been Britain's biggest film star - for a period in the early 70s he came within a hairsbreadth of replacing Sean Connery as James Bond - but he is an august member of that small band of people, like George Best and Eric Morecambe, who transcended their chosen medium, became too big for it even, and grew into cultural icons. For the first time Reed's close family has agreed to collaborate on a project about the man himself. The result is a fascinating new insight into a man seen by many as merely a brawling, boozing hellraiser. And yet he was so much more than this. For behind that image, which all too often he played up to in public, was a vastly complex individual, a man of deep passions and loyalty but also deep-rooted vulnerability and insecurities. Why was a proud, patriotic, intelligent, successful and erudite man so obsessed about proving himself to others, time and time again? Although the Reed myth is of Homeric proportions, he remains a national treasure and somewhat peculiar icon. Praise for other books by Robert Sellers: Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, and Oliver Reed: 'So wonderfully captures the wanton belligerence of both binging and stardom you almost feel the guys themselves are telling the tales.' GQ. Vic Armstrong: The True Adventures of the World's Greatest Stuntman: 'This is the best and most original behind-the-scenes book I have read in years, gripping and revealing.' Roger Lewis, Daily Mail. Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down: '...a rollicking good read... Sellers has done well to capture a vivid snapshot of this exciting time.' Lynn Barber, Sunday Times.
I'm the last of my kind.At least that's what the legends say.Descended from Fenrir himself and born under a bad moon with anger in my eyes. I'm not like the others, but they accept me anyway, and with friends like these ...We're a small pack of misfits that like to have a good time and stay mostly to ourselves. If you knew the rumors that the Upsiders believed about us, you'd want to stay away too.Lately, though, my heart has been craving something different. While I enjoy the company of my brothers, I've been feeling the need for fulfillment of some kind. I just haven't figured out what it is yet.Not until I saw her.She's different too, but not in the way one would think.This isn't going to be easy, but catching a soulmate never is.
A true story of one of the world's strangest plants and humanity's oddest obsessions: the orchid, brought to book by the author, traveller and self-confessed orchid obsessive.
DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "When Shadows Die. A Sequel to "Love's Bitterest Cup"" by Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.
Before she went missing, Susan Clements was hiking with her daughter on one of the most popular trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, less than a mile from Clingmans Dome. When Nancy East’s search and rescue team joined the effort to find her, she learned Susan was a mother to three children who adored her. What Nancy didn’t know then was how much the search for Susan would impact and influence her own life’s path afterward. Two years later, Nancy and her good friend, Chris Ford, set out to improve the speed record of hiking all 801 miles of trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park while raising funds for hiker safety and preparedness. While chasing the record, the duo faced tropical storm rains, swollen, unbridged creek crossings, injuries, night hiking, and wildlife encounters. Their arduous journey also became intertwined in one of the most rare human-bear tragedies in the park’s history. Maintaining a positive mental attitude was their superpower through it all. The enormous feat of endurance was one of the most grueling endeavors that Nancy, a mother and everyday athlete, had ever faced. However, the hardest things she had endured were in her past. The strength she gained from those experiences was now moving her forward, one difficult step at a time. Chasing the Smokies Moon is a story of grief, hope, empowerment, and love, and the thread that binds them all. ADVANCE PRAISE FOR CHASING THE SMOKIES MOON "If you think that setting trail records is about speed and hubris, Nancy East will prove you wrong. It is not her success, but her vulnerability that will encourage you to keep moving forward when the next step feels impossible. It is not her impressive miles, but rather her insightful reflections that allow you to recognize feelings of gratitude and connectedness in the midst of pain and loss. And it is not her attributes as a hiker, but her roles as a mother, spouse, and friend that make this book a valuable resource for anyone who is trying to navigate through relationships - and adventure." --Jennifer Pharr Davis, author of The Pursuit of Endurance: Harnessing the Record-Breaking Power of Strength and Resilience “I have always thought of Nancy East as somewhat of a real life superhero -- this harrowing and transparent account of her FKT attempt and SAR fundraising effort has certainly solidified that sentiment!” --Steven Reinhold, Backpacker Magazine, Brand Ambassador “Chasing the Smokies Moon is a deep dive into the depths of a Fastest Known Time record attempt. East relays with humor, profundity, and humility the highs and lows of an intense journey through the Great Smoky Mountains and human connection." --Heather Anderson, author of Mud, Rocks, Blazes: Letting Go on the Appalachian Trail “This story is more than just a recounting of an incredible feat of endurance and perseverance, it is an insightful and revealing look into the mind and soul of multi faceted adventurous woman.” --Kevin Fitzgerald, former Deputy Superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Against a backdrop of contemporary social and sexual concerns, and potent fears surrounding the moral and physical 'degeneration' of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century society,'The Cruel Madness of Love' explores a critical period in the developing relationship between syphilis and insanity. General paralysis of the insane (GPI), the most commonly diagnosed of the neurosyphilitic disorders, has been devastating both in terms of its severity and incidence. Using the rich laboratory and asylum records of lowland Scotland as a case study, Gayle Davis examines the evolution of GPI as a disease category from a variety of perspectives: social, medical, and pathological. Through exploring case notes and the impact of new diagnostic techniques and therapies, such as the Wassermann Test and Malarial Therapy, the reader gains a unique insight into both patients and practitioners. Significant insights are gained into the socio–sexual background and medical experience of patients, as well as the clinical ideas and judgmental behaviour of the practitioners confronting this disease.'The Cruel Madness of Love' will be of interest to anyone wishing to explore the historical relationship between sexuality, morality and disease.
