These haunting stories beautifully evoke the oppressive lives of modern women in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Anis, a computer programmer, is at the end of her rope, putting up with the bullying criticism of a no-good, unemployed lout of a husband; Azar is a young divorcee, and the only person she can talk to is Reza; but she can see him only late at night when "they" are not around; Sharmin has Down's syndrome and hopelessly loves Azad; he loves Kazhal, beautiful and blessed; but Kazhal is married off and is divorced at twenty and now awaits a hopeless future . . . For these and other characters the weight of traditional attitudes, the harrassment of the religious establishment, and the attitudes of men make for a frustrating, confining, and sometimes unlivable existence.
Echoes of a Savage Land concerns the rugged life of the ordinary folk of the Irish countryside who carved an existence that has changed utterly in the last half-century. Beginning with rituals observed on the Celtic festival of Samhain Joe McGowan tells with love and humour the story of the customs they practised and the stories they told. Linking the ways of Ireland with ancient Greece and the Aztecs of South America and illustrating his points with quotes from Chaucer and Shakespeare as well as Yeats and Manley Hopkins, Mc Gowan has produced a book that is more than the usual chronicle of country life. Echoes of a Savage Land is a magical doorway into lost worlds, a journey through a way of life unchanged for centuries, but now on the edge of extinction: Witch hares and Rhyming rats - Blood sacrifice and Burnt offerings - Corncrakes and Blackbird pie - Poteen stills and Fear Gortach - Cutting the cailleach and Harvest knots - Mummers and Wrenboys - Quern stones and Stirabout - Haunted houses and Satanic card games.
Tracing the lives of his Russian forebears, Serge Schmemann, Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for the New York Times, tells a remarkable story that spans the past two hundred years of Russian history. First, he draws on a family archive rich in pictorial as well as documentary treasure to bring us into the prerevolutionary life of the village of Sergiyevskoye (now called Koltsovo), where the spacious estate of his mother's family was the seat of a manor house as vast and imposing as a grand hotel. In this village, on this estate--ringed with orchards, traversed by endless paths through linden groves, overseen by a towering brick church, and bordered by a sparkling-clear river--we live through the cycle of a year: the springtime mud, summertime card parties, winter nights of music and good talk in a haven safe from the bitter cold and ever-present snow. Family recollections of life a century ago summon up an aura of devotion to tsar and church. The unjust, benevolent, complicated, and ultimately doomed relationship between master and peasants--leading to growing unrest, then to civil war--is subtly captured. Diary entries record the social breakdown step by step: grievances going unresolved, the government foundering, the status quo of rural life overcome by revolutionary fervor. Soon we see the estate brutally collectivized, the church torn apart brick by brick, the manor house burned to the ground. Some of the family are killed in the fighting; others escape into exile; one writes to his kin for the last time from the Gulag. The Soviet era is experienced as a time of privation, suffering, and lost illusions. The Nazi occupation inspires valorous resistance, but at great cost. Eventually all that remains of Sergiyevskoye is an impoverished collective. Without idealizing the tsarist past or wholly damning the regime that followed, Schmemann searches for a lost heritage as he shows how Communism thwarted aspiration and initiative. Above all, however, his book provides for us a deeply felt evocation of the long-ago life of a corner of Russia that is even now movingly beautiful despite the ravages of history and time.
Parapsychologist Cree Black is called in to work with Tommy Keeday, a student at a school for gifted Navajo teens, after he falls victim to an illness with terrifying symptoms, which his family believes are caused by a hostile spirit.
Groups of burial mounds may be among the most tangible and visible remains of Europe's prehistoric past. Yet, not much is known on how "barrow landscapes" came into being . This book deals with that topic, by presenting the results of archaeological research carried out on a group of just two barrows that crown a small hilltop near the Echoput ("echo-well") in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. In 2007, archaeologists of the Ancestral Mounds project of Leiden University carried out an excavation of parts of these mounds and their immediate environment. They discovered that these mounds are rare examples of monumental barrows from the later part of the Iron Age. They were probably built at the same time, and their similarities are so conspicuous that one might speak of "twin barrows". The research team was able to reconstruct the long-term history of this hilltop. We can follow how the hilltop that is now deep in the forests of the natural reserve of the Kroondomein Het Loo, once was an open place in the landscape. With pragmatism not unlike our own, we see how our prehistoric predecessors carefully managed and maintained the open area for a long time, before it was transformed into a funerary site. The excavation yielded many details on how people built the barrows by cutting and arranging heather sods, and how the mounds were used for burial rituals in the Iron Age.
Since the Gold Rush, California prospectors have siphoned off the waters of isolated Tufa Lake, exposing the fragile, otherworldly mineral formations of the lake basin. Now a local environmental group seeks to block the latest incursion by developers—a massive mining operation funded by TransPacific, a US-Hong Kong interest that seems to be behind a series of break-ins, disappearances, and shady land deals. Into this stark, lunar landscape treads San Francisco PI Sharon McCone, searching for a local eccentric now missing after a suspicious land deal. When the bullet-ridden corpse of an investor surfaces in the lake’s silvery waters, McCone finds herself on a twisted trail that leads to San Francisco and then back to where it all began—the eerie desert mesas where a murderer prepares to kill again.
In this enthralling and atmospheric thriller, one young family’s dream of a better life is about to become a nightmare. Ben and Caroline Tierney and their two young boys are hoping to start over. Ben has hit a dead end with his new novel, Caroline has lost her banking job, and eight-year-old Charlie is being bullied at his Manhattan school. When Ben inherits land in the village of Swannhaven, in a remote corner of upstate New York, the Tierneys believe it’s just the break they need, and they leave behind all they know to restore a sprawling estate. But as Ben uncovers Swannhaven’s chilling secrets and Charlie ventures deeper into the surrounding forest, strange things begin to happen. The Tierneys realize that their new home isn’t the fresh start they needed . . . and that the village’s haunting saga is far from over. House of Echoes is a novel that shows how sometimes the ties that bind us are the only things that can keep us whole. Praise for House of Echoes “Warning: Brendan Duffy’s debut novel is not for scaredy-cats. If you live for heart-racing chills, this thriller—about a young family that packs up their life in Manhattan for a spot in upstate New York (that turns out to be haunted, of course)—is already calling out your name.”—Refinery29 “Already drawing comparisons to Stephen King’s The Shining, Brendan Duffy’s debut novel offers chills without sacrificing character development. But be warned: you might want to leave the lights on for this one.”—Paste “Shades of The Shining are spattered through Brendan Duffy’s debut novel—a large isolated house, a young family, nutty and somewhat supernatural goings-on—but House of Echoes grounds itself in different ways for an enjoyable read.”—USA Today “An exquisite novel . . . expertly plotted, beautifully written . . . It’s complex, deft and, once you dive in, you want to stay in this often-scary world. . . . This is a book that deserves to be savored.”—The Star-Ledger “Duffy’s debut is a riveting blend of horror and family drama. The remote location, creepy townspeople and the village’s savage history produce a harrowing tale that keeps readers quickly turning the pages. As this complex family struggles with mental illness and their child’s isolation, their redemption comes in the revelation that they can survive anything together.”—RT Book Reviews (4 1/2 stars) “House of Echoes is one of those stories where you know something bad is going to happen, but you hope it won’t. It’s one you’ll remember long after reading the last page.”—New York Journal of Books
As a young boy, Buddy Levy accompanied his father into the pre-dawn twilight to hunt birds—particularly the chukar partridge. That youthful experience marked the beginning of Levy's reverence for the chukar and his indefatigable passion for hunting it. Here, Levy presents a lyrical and honest look at the world of hunting this "gorgeous, complicated, strong-flying" bird. He explores the complex (and controversial) layers of hunting through powerful descriptions of the hunt itself, the natural history of the bird, the grueling physicality of upland pursuit, the companionship of a worthy bird dog, and thoughtful reflections on the enduring allure of sport hunting.
Joanne Walker has survived an encounter with the Master at great personal cost, but now her father is missing--stolen from the timeline. She must finally return to North Carolina to find him--and to meet Aidan, the son she left behind long ago.
