The Gorgeous Isle is a semi-autobiographical novel that tells the story of Anne Percy, a young woman in love with an alcoholic poet. Percy nurses the afflicted poet back to health and sobriety in the hopes that they can marry after his recovery. However, while Percy cures him physically, the poet learns that he only possesses his creative genius while inebriated, creating a catch-22 for the couple. According to biographer Emily Wortis Leider in California's Daughter: Gertrude Atherton and Her Times, Atherton based this storyline on her own relationship with the English poet Ernest Dowson.
Set on the Caribbean Island of Nevis, ‘The Gorgeous Isle’ by Gertrude Atherton follows the story of Byam Warner, a poet and an alcoholic who is slowly drinking himself to an early grave. Hurt by love once before, when he marries strong-willed and beautiful Anne Percy against her family’s wishes, he finds himself caught between her love, his talent, and his self-destructive habit. Will the pair find contentment and happiness, or was the tumultuous love affair doomed from the start? Gertrude Atherton (1857-1948) was an American novelist, short story writer and early feminist. Born in California, Gertrude attended schools in California and Kentucky and became widely read. She married George H.B. Atherton in 1876, and lived with him and his mother in San Francisco, where they had two children. Atherton struggled with married life, her husband did not support her writing ambitions and Gertrude found life as a wife and mother stifling. When her husband died at sea in 1887, Atherton felt free to pursue her burgeoning career as an author and went on to publish over 50 novels. She is best known for her California series of novels which explored the social history of California and included popular works such as ‘The Californians’ and the controversial ‘Black Oxen’ which was adapted into a silent movie in 1923. Feminist themes and strong female characters are common in her novels. She died in San Francisco in 1948.
Why "fearless"? In the past, knitters have considered Fair Isle knitting, or stranded knitting as it's also known, to be an advanced style that involves the frightening task of taking scissors to your hard-won work. As intimidating as this may seem, the cutting process, or steeking, is actually not something to worry about. In Fearless Fair Isle Knitting, best-selling knitwear designer Kathleen Taylor walks knitters of all levels through the technique. With Taylor's simple patterns and large, easy-to-follow charts, the projects yield delightfully vibrant results. The 30 stunning designs, which represent Taylor's updates on classic Fair Isle motifs, include sweaters, socks, dresses, vests, mittens, hats, and bags. With this book, Fair Isle knitting has become more accessible than ever -- and serious knitters will agree... that's a beautiful thing.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts “is indeed a word artist” (Los Angeles Daily News) as revealed in Island of Flowers, the story of a woman seeking to heal her past only to find an unexpected loving future. To visitors and vacationers, Hawaii is a romantic paradise of palm trees and pristine beaches. To Laine Simmons, it is merely home to her father, a man she has traveled far to see in hopes of repairing their estranged relationship. But Dillon O’Brian, her father’s young business partner, is getting too familiar with Laine’s family matters, accusing her of seeking reparations over reconciliation. Dillon’s arrogance and audacity would be more off putting if Laine didn’t find him more attractive and desirable whenever they meet...
Laura van den Berg's gorgeous new book, The Isle of Youth, explores the lives of women mired in secrecy and deception. From a newlywed caught in an inscrutable marriage, to private eyes working a baffling case in South Florida, to a teenager who assists her magician mother and steals from the audience, the characters in these bewitching stories are at once vulnerable and dangerous, bighearted and ruthless, and they will do what it takes to survive. Each tale is spun with elegant urgency, and the reader grows attached to the marginalized young women in these stories—women grappling with the choices they've made and searching for the clues to unlock their inner worlds. This is the work of a fearless writer whose stories feel both magical and mystical, earning her the title of "sorceress" from her readers. Be prepared to fall under her spell. An NPR Best Book of 2013
Scene: Nevis, B.W.I. 1842 - a certain man has been steadily drinking himself to death. A certain woman loves him well enough to run the risk of marrying him on the chance of bringing about a reformation. They are married; he keeps his word and his health is re-established. But it happens that this man is a poet, who is able to give the world immortal verse provided he continues the use of alcohol. The choice lies between a long life of stagnation and a few brief years of meteoric glory. Has the woman the right to rob the world of great literature for the sake of one man's physical welfare?
An entertaining colonial romance novel. Though not quite as good, the story has kind of the feel of a Jane Austen novel (but set on the Caribbean island of Nevis).
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An Esquire Best Book of the Year • A Paste Best Novel of the Year Recommended by the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, TIME, Vogue, Paste, New York Post, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Seattle Times, Yahoo!, Refinery29, BBC, PopSugar, Boston Herald, New York Social Diary, Library Journal, Bookstr, Kirkus “A seductive and richly atmospheric literary thriller with a sleek Patricia Highsmith surface." —New York Times Book Review "Equal parts Graham Greene, Patricia Highsmith, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Destroyers is at once lyrical and suspenseful, thoughtful and riveting." —Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You “Superb. . . . A read-all-night of a book.” —Alan Furst, author of A Hero of France Arriving on the stunning Greek island of Patmos, Ian Bledsoe is broke, humiliated, and fleeing the fallout from his father’s death. His childhood friend Charlie—rich, exuberant, and basking in the success of his new venture on the island—could be his last hope. At first Patmos appears to be a dream—long, sun-soaked days on Charlie’s yacht and the reappearance of a girlfriend from Ian’s past—and Charlie readily offers Ian the lifeline he so desperately needs. But, like Charlie himself, this beautiful island conceals a darkness beneath, and it isn’t long before the dream begins to fragment. When Charlie suddenly vanishes, Ian finds himself caught up in deception after deception. As he grapples with the turmoil left in his friend’s wake, he is reminded of an imaginary game called Destroyers they invented as children—a game, he now realizes, they may have never stopped playing.
