While his troupe leader recovers from a fall, 15th century actor Joliffe takes a temporary job in a hospital and investigates a series of mysterious patient deaths that may have been failed attempts on the life a cantankerous, hypochondriac widow.
At the behest of his powerful patron, Joliffe journeys to France to act as a servant to the widowed duchess Jacquetta of Bedford?while actually training in spycraft. But when a member of the duchess?s household is murdered, Joliffe learns just how dangerous secrets can be...
In the spring of 1435, Joliffe and his fellow players are sent to the village of Ashewell not only to stage plays, but to uncover some dark secrets about the town’s three wealthy families: the Ashewells, the Medcotes, and the Gosyns. A rivalry has been brewing among the families, entangling the entire town in a web of seduction, deception, and blackmail. Matters go beyond the breaking point when someone turns to murder to settle their grievances. And if one murder is good, why not another? If all the world is a stage, then it’s up to Joliffe to bring the curtain down on this tragedy—before another man takes his final curtain call...
An analysis of Islamist cultural politics through the ethnography of a thriving, grassroots women's piety movement in the mosques of Cairo, Egypt. Unlike those organized Islamist activities that seek to seize or transform the state, this is a moral reform movement whose orthodox practices are commonly viewed as inconsequential to Egypt's political landscape. The author's exposition of these practices challenges this assumption by showing how the ethical and the political are linked within the context of such movements.
When his band of traveling players are taken in by a patron, Joliffe and company find that murder has taken their place in the spotlight--and it's up to them to catch a killer in the act.
A GOTHIC ROMANCE. MISTY MOORS. ANCIENT SECRETS. FORBIDDEN PASSIONS. Her mother had always been afraid. That's what Damaris remembered. From the time she was a little girl until the day her mother died, she had seen the fear in her eyes. But now she understood. Now she was afraid, too. Young Damaris wanted more than anything to be happy at Thornoak, the ancient manor owned by her aunt and uncle. Adventuring through the wide, open beauty of the Dale in the company of her rambunctious cousins she rediscovered a joy she had thought lost with the death of her parents. And in the deep, storm-tossed eyes of Lauran Ashbrigg she was surprised to find an entirely new emotion. But even under the warm and inviting sun, Damaris is chilled by the undeniable fact that the family which claims to welcome and love her is hiding truths from her: The truth of the Lady Stone. The truth of the Old Ways. The truth of moon and star and witchcraft. The truth of her mother's death. PRAISE FOR MARGARET FRAZER "Exquisitely written, the novel offers a brilliantly realized vision... Suspenseful from start to surprising conclusion, this is another gem from an author who's twice been nominated for an Edgar." -Publisher's Weekly "Love the passionate attention to detail in character, custom, and setting, and the sympathetic creation of believable people and events. Essential." - Library Journal of New York "A lovingly told story, rich with fascinating description. Ms. Frazer provides a real treat for lovers of all things." - Toby Bromberg, Romantic Times "The writing is seamless... Rich period detail, canny characterization, and a lively plot should endear her tales to anyone..." - Minneapolis Star Tribune "Mystery... Suspense... Frazer executes with audacity and ingenuity." - Kirkus Reviews "Weaves a budding romance and a grand, unrequited passion with a bold and dangerous plot... Great fun for all!" - Alfred Hitchcock Magazine "Frazer's books will be among those I read as soon as I see them." - Houston Facts Twice nominated for the Minnesota Book Award. Twice nominated for the Edgar Award. A Romantic Times Top Pick. A Herodotus Award Winner.
Who doesn't want a liberated life? Jesus offers us liberation as we grow in a Christian spiritual life. But first we need to liberate our concept of Christian Spirituality from ideas that relegate it to Church on Sunday, new age self help, devotional or ascetical practices, or fundamentalist aggression. Traditionally, Christian spirituality liberates Jesus' disciples from personal sin and helps them to challenge sin's social consequences so that once liberated, they will work to liberate others. Christian spirituality (living the Gospel) brings good news for the poor, liberty for the captives, recovery of sight for the blind, and freedom for the oppressed. This is what Jesus came to do, and this is what we as his disciples are called to do as we live our Christian callings in the world. Whether we are at home, work, or play we are called to be Christian. Beyond Piety invites readers to grow in their understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Christ. More than a book on Franciscan or Hispanic Spirituality, this book is about the Christian Spirituality all Christians are called to live. It is about our human and Christian identity and the God we believe in. It is about getting to know the Word of God and letting that Word get to know us. It is about worship and religious devotion and moving beyond piety to Christian action. It is about the call to justice and liberation.
Christians have a unique role to play in the future of our schools, and Dr. Riesens refreshingly honest inquiry into the relationship between the spiritual life and the academic enterprise is guaranteed to provoke discussion. Chapters include what makes an education Christian, what the liberal arts have to do with Christianity, and whether Christian education can be too academic. This is a must read for anyone who cares about what it means to educate.
Exploring the nature of pious reforms in such areas as liturgy, saint cults, pilgrimage, confraternities, hymns, and Bible translation during the "long nineteenth century."
The dramatic, untold story of how Norman Vincent Peale and a handful of conservative allies fueled the massive rise of religiosity in the United States during the 1950s Near the height of Cold War hysteria, when the threat of all-out nuclear war felt real and perilous, Presbyterian minister Norman Vincent Peale published The Power of Positive Thinking. Selling millions of copies worldwide, the book offered a gospel of self-assurance in an age of mass anxiety. Despite Peale’s success and his ties to powerful conservatives such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, J. Edgar Hoover, and Joseph McCarthy, the full story of his movement has never been told. Christopher Lane shows how the famed minister’s brand of Christian psychology inflamed the nation’s religious revival by promoting the concept that belief in God was essential to the health and harmony of all Americans. We learn in vivid detail how Peale and his powerful supporters orchestrated major changes in a nation newly defined as living “under God.” This blurring of the lines between religion and medicine would reshape religion as we know it in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.