Author : Paula Fox
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Page : 340 pages
File Size : 25,22 MB
Release : 2001
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780393322859
Luisa de la Cueva and her family leave their home on a small Caribbean island and try to start a new life in the barrios of New York.
Author : Paula Fox
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Page : 340 pages
File Size : 17,9 MB
Release : 2011-06-06
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 0393342093
"A rare and wondrous thing....[Fox] knows how to create a character."—Vogue Luisa de la Cueva was born on the Caribbean island of Malagita, of a plantation owner's son and a native woman, a servant in the kitchen. Her years on Malagita were sweet with the beauty of bamboo, banana, and mango trees with flocks of silver-feathered guinea hens underneath, the magic of a victrola, and the caramel flan that Mama sneaked home from the plantation kitchen. Luisa's father, fearing revolution, takes his family to New York. In the barrio his once-powerful name means nothing, and the family establishes itself in a basement tenement. For Luisa, Malagita becomes a dream. Luisa does not dream of going to college, as her friend Ellen does, or of winning the lottery, as her father does. She takes a job as a servant and, paradoxically, grows more independent. She marries and later raises a son alone. She works as a servant all her life. A Servant's Tale is the story of a life that is simple on the surface but full of depth and richness as we come to know it, a story told with consummate grace and compassion by Paula Fox.
Author : Tom Quinn
Publisher : Hachette UK
Page : 190 pages
File Size : 20,90 MB
Release : 2011-09-15
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 144473587X
Praise for Lives of the Servants: ‘Reading this fascinating book is likely to unleash almost anyone’s Inner Bolshevik...!' Daily Mail ‘...a fascinating portrait of the drudgery and servility of a domestic's life.' The Age ‘...captures the subtleties of the English class system to an extraordinary degree.' Midstate Observer 'If the Brothers Grimm had ended Cinderella where she was being forced to clean the house by her stepsisters, they might have accidentally been writing Rose Plummer's biography. The maid's story makes for harsh, heartbreaking, fascinating reading.’ The Daily Telegraph, NZ Born in 1910, Rose Plummer grew up in an East End slum, where she and fought an unending battle with hunger and squalor. At the age of fifteen, Rose started work as a live-in maid, and despite the poverty of her childhood, nothing could have prepared her for the long hours, the backbreaking work and the harshness of a world in which servants were treated as if they were less than human. But however difficult life became, Rose found something to laugh about, and her remarkable spirit and gift for friendship shines through in her memories of a now-vanished world.
Author : Margaret Atwood
Publisher : McClelland & Stewart
Page : 370 pages
File Size : 46,18 MB
Release : 2011-09-06
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 0771008791
An instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from “the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction” (New York Times). Now an award-winning Hulu series starring Elizabeth Moss. In this multi-award-winning, bestselling novel, Margaret Atwood has created a stunning Orwellian vision of the near future. This is the story of Offred, one of the unfortunate “Handmaids” under the new social order who have only one purpose: to breed. In Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, and forming friendships, Offred’s persistent memories of life in the “time before” and her will to survive are acts of rebellion. Provocative, startling, prophetic, and with Margaret Atwood’s devastating irony, wit, and acute perceptive powers in full force, The Handmaid’s Tale is at once a mordant satire and a dire warning.
Author : Melanie Dickerson
Publisher : Thomas Nelson
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 37,87 MB
Release : 2017-05-09
Category : Young Adult Fiction
ISBN : 0718026764
New York Times bestselling author Melanie Dickerson beautifully re-imagines “The Goose Girl” by the Brothers Grimm into a medieval tale of adventure, loss, and love. “When it comes to happily-ever-afters, Melanie Dickerson is the undisputed queen of fairy-tale romance, and all I can say is—long live the queen!” —JULIE LESSMAN, award-winning author of The Daughters of Boston, Winds of Change, and Heart of San Francisco series She lost everything to the scheme of an evil servant. But she might just gain what she’s always wanted . . . if she makes it in time. The impossible was happening. She, Magdalen of Mallin, was to marry the Duke of Wolfberg. Magdalen had dreamed about receiving a proposal ever since she met the duke two years ago. Such a marriage was the only way she could save her people from starvation. But why would a handsome, wealthy duke want to marry her, a poor baron’s daughter? It seemed too good to be true. On the journey to Wolfberg Castle, Magdalen’s servant forces her to trade places and become her servant, threatening not only Magdalen’s life, but the lives of those she holds dear. Stripped of her identity and title in Wolfberg, where no one knows her, Magdalen is sentenced to tend geese while she watches her former handmaiden gain all Magdalen had ever dreamed of. When a handsome shepherd befriends her, Magdalen begins to suspect he carries secrets of his own. Together, Magdalen and the shepherd uncover a sinister plot against Wolfberg and the duke. But with no resources, will they be able to find the answers, the hiding places, and the forces they need in time to save both Mallin and Wolfberg?
Author : Delilah S. Dawson
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 22,76 MB
Release : 2014-08-05
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 1442483784
After her best friend dies in a hurricane, high schooler Dovey discovers something even more devastating--demons in her hometown of Savannah.
Author : Suzanne I Barchers
Publisher : Red Chair Press
Page : 36 pages
File Size : 48,16 MB
Release : 2013-09-01
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 1937529738
The Lord of Luchow was a kind man, but his people are threatened with war. A loyal servant finds a way to protect his master and bring peace to the lands. Themes: bravery, intelligence, devotion.
Author : Tessa Boase
Publisher : Aurum
Page : 436 pages
File Size : 26,53 MB
Release : 2014-05-19
Category : History
ISBN : 1781312680
Working as a housekeeper was one of the most prestigious jobs a nineteenth and early twentieth century woman could want – and also one of the toughest. A far cry from the Downton Abbey fiction, the real life Mrs Hughes was up against capricious mistresses, low pay, no job security and gruelling physical labour. Until now, her story has never been told. The Housekeeper’s Tale reveals the personal sacrifices, bitter disputes and driving ambition that shaped these women’s careers. Delving into secret diaries, unpublished letters and the neglected service archives of our stately homes, Tessa Boase tells the extraordinary stories of five working women who ran some of Britain’s most prominent households. There is Dorothy Doar, Regency housekeeper for the obscenely wealthy 1st Duke and Duchess of Sutherland at Trentham Hall, Staffordshire. There is Sarah Wells, a deaf and elderly Victorian in charge of Uppark, West Sussex. Ellen Penketh is Edwardian cook-housekeeper at the sociable but impecunious Erddig Hall in the Welsh borders. Hannah Mackenzie runs Wrest Park in Bedfordshire – Britain’s first country-house war hospital, bankrolled by playwright J. M. Barrie. And there is Grace Higgens, cook-housekeeper to the Bloomsbury set at Charleston farmhouse in East Sussex for half a century – an era defined by the Second World War. Revelatory, gripping and unexpectedly poignant, The Housekeeper’s Tale champions the invisible women who ran the English country house. Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-GBX-NONEX-NONE
Author : Khaled Hosseini
Publisher : A&C Black
Page : 337 pages
File Size : 48,18 MB
Release : 2011-09-05
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 140882485X
Afghanistan, 1975: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.
Author : Margaret Frazer
Publisher : Dream Machine Productions
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 50,35 MB
Release : 1998-08-01
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 0425164071
A WEB OF LIES, INTRIGUE... AND ROMANCE It is an hour of desperate need for St. Frideswide's. Thrust into financial ruin by the incompetence and corruption of their former prioress, the nuns have become trapped under the thumb of Abbott Gilberd as he pries into every possible corner of the priory's life. In an effort to escape their desperate straits, Dame Frevisse is forced to journey to London in order to seek both a new prioress and financial aid for her beleaguered sisters. Once there, she turns to her wealthy cousin Alice, lady wife of the influential earl of Suffolk. But with a new Parliament warming to its arguments, Frevisse discovers that Alice's need may be even greater than her own. Caught between the powerful Gloucester, the machiavellian Bishop Beaufort, and the darkly handsome Duke of Orleans, Alice is torn by the broken loyalties of those she loves the most. Before she can unravel the twisted turns of romance and deception, Frevisse herself is caught up in the intrigue, carrying secret messages which will determine England's future. But the mystery deepens when one of the other messengers is killed, and Frevisse must solve the murder in order to save not only herself, but Alice's immortal soul. PRAISE FOR THE MAIDEN'S TALE “Frazer’s books will be among those I read as soon as I see them…” – Houston Facts “Frazer successfully captures the essence of 15th century England – the sights, smells, and sounds fill the pages, drawing us in as we become immersed in the language, manners, and customs of a far off time and place.” – Rendezvous “It’s a fine time to introduce yourself to this smart and sensible nun… Weaves a budding romance and a grand, unrequited passion with a bold and dangerous plot… A historical tale that teems with period detail. Great fun for all lovers of history with their mystery!” – Alfred Hitchcock Magazine PRAISE FOR THE SISTER FREVISSE MEDIEVAL MYSTERY SERIES "Dame Frevisse, the pious and perceptive nun gives focus to this sober series... [Frazer] shows a meticulous detail that speaks of trustworthy scholarship and a sympathetic imagination." - New York Times Book Review "Frazer is writing one of the most consistently excellent historical series in print today." - Murder Ink "Frazer uses her extensive knowledge of the period to create an unusual plot ... appealing characters and crisp writing." - Los Angeles Times "Within the graceful prose rhythms that have garnered her two Edgar nominations, Frazer's tale of 15th-century nun Dame Frevisse transports the reader to a medieval England made vivid and a world of emotions as familiar then as now." - Publisher's Weekly
