Eleanor Parker


Book Description

This is the first book on enduring Hollywood star Eleanor Parker, long underrated despite three best actress Academy Award nominations (Caged, 1950; Detective Story, 1951; Interrupted Melody, 1955). Parker was a beauty as well as a versatile actress, and her achievements approach those of more publicized colleagues Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn. With Parker's blessing and her son Paul Clemens' cooperation, Doug McClelland has written one of the most thorough examinations of a film star's career. The book is valuable to librarians, academies, and film enthusiasts for its extensive documentation and analyses of all of Parker's work, for the bibliographies of her coverage in books and periodicals, for the portrait of a glamorous, creative era in filmmaking, and for the insights into the careers of Eleanor Parker's associates, many among the most heavily researched motion picture artists of cinema's "Golden Age." The book contains a forward by noted screenwriter William Ludwig, who won an Academy Award for Parker's Interrupted Melody, and afterword by Marjorie Lawrence, the opera singer whom Parker portrayed in Interrupted Melody, and photos of Eleanor Parker that show her in many of her "thousand faces."




Dragon Lords


Book Description

Why did the Vikings sail to England? Were they indiscriminate raiders, motivated solely by bloodlust and plunder? One narrative, the stereotypical one, might have it so. But locked away in the buried history of the British Isles are other, far richer and more nuanced, stories; and these hidden tales paint a picture very different from the ferocious pillagers of popular repute. Eleanor Parker here unlocks secrets that point to more complex motivations within the marauding army that in the late ninth century voyaged to the shores of eastern England in its sleek, dragon-prowed longships. Exploring legends from forgotten medieval texts, and across the varied Anglo-Saxon regions, she depicts Vikings who came not just to raid but also to settle personal feuds, intervene in English politics and find a place to call home. Native tales reveal the links to famous Vikings like Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons; Cnut; and Havelok the Dane. Each myth shows how the legacy of the newcomers can still be traced in landscape, place-names and local history. This book uncovers the remarkable degree to which England is Viking to its core.




Conquered


Book Description

"Outstanding." - The Sunday Times "Beautifully written." The Times "Superbly adroit." The Spectator "Excellent." BBC History Magazine The Battle of Hastings and its aftermath nearly wiped out the leading families of Anglo-Saxon England – so what happened to the children this conflict left behind? Conquered offers a fresh take on the Norman Conquest by exploring the lives of those children, who found themselves uprooted by the dramatic events of 1066. Among them were the children of Harold Godwineson and his brothers, survivors of a family shattered by violence who were led by their courageous grandmother Gytha to start again elsewhere. Then there were the last remaining heirs of the Anglo-Saxon royal line – Edgar Ætheling, Margaret, and Christina – who sought refuge in Scotland, where Margaret became a beloved queen and saint. Other survivors, such as Waltheof of Northumbria and Fenland hero Hereward, became legendary for rebelling against the Norman conquerors. And then there were some, like Eadmer of Canterbury, who chose to influence history by recording their own memories of the pre-conquest world. From sagas and saints' lives to chronicles and romances, Parker draws on a wide range of medieval sources to tell the stories of these young men and women and highlight the role they played in developing a new Anglo-Norman society. These tales – some reinterpreted and retold over the centuries, others carelessly forgotten over time – are ones of endurance, adaptation and vulnerability, and they all reveal a generation of young people who bravely navigated a changing world and shaped the country England was to become.




The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker


Book Description

'I will never forget the night I drowned...' Seventeen-year-old Eleanor Parker wakes up cold and alone in the river that twists through her quiet village. She remembers a hand on her chest, another on her head, water in her throat, those final gasps for air... Her brother's girlfriend was drowned in the same river the summer before, held under the water by an unknown killer. Determined to unlock the mystery of what really happened that night, Eleanor can't escape the feeling that something terrible links her to the previous summer's murder. But will she discover the shocking truth, before it's too late? A gripping and extraordinary coming of age novel that will keep you guessing until the very end. What readers are saying about The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker 'Intriguing... compelling... I couldn't put it down. Every page drew me in. Loved it.' Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars 'This book was everything a thriller should be and more!... I could not put it down. Every secret slowly comes unravelled to leave you guessing until the very end when it all shockingly comes together.' Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars 'I definitely recommend the book... I didn't want to stop until everything was revealed. I enjoyed the story, characters and writing style... twists and turns that you didn't expect.' Library Thing 'Wilkinson's ability to build suspense and keep the reader hanging on... is exceptional. He blends supernatural, thriller, and mystery with real skill... truly an enjoyable read.' Reading Writing Rhetoric 'From the get-go the writing is beautiful and plot enthralling... I didn't see the ending coming.' Goodreads Reviewer 'Very interesting characters and the way the plot was unfolded had me intrigued from the beginning, until the end!!... You will love this book... refreshing!! Goodreads Reviewer 'A thrilling read... didn't see that ending coming!!' Goodreads Reviewer 'What a thrilling and fantastic read!... I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a novel full of tension and great characters.' Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars 'Hooked me from the beginning.' A Garden Carried in the Pocket 'I enjoyed it immensely. The narrator my favourite aspect of this book as she is amusing and interesting. I would highly recommend giving it a read.' Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars




A Decent Woman


Book Description

Ponce, Puerto Rico, at the turn of the century: Ana Belen Opaku, an Afro-Cuban born into slavery, is a proud midwife with a tempestuous past. After testifying at an infanticide trial, Ana is forced to reveal a dark secret from her past, but continues to hide an even more sinister one. Pitted against the parish priest, Padre Vicente, and young Doctor Hector Rivera, Ana must battle to preserve her twenty-five year career as the only midwife in La Playa. Serafina is a respectable young widow with two small children, who marries an older, wealthy merchant from a distinguished family. A crime against Serafina during her last pregnancy forever bonds her to Ana in an ill-conceived plan to avoid a scandal and preserve Serafina's honor. Set against the combustive backdrop of a chauvinistic society, where women are treated as possessions, A Decent Woman is the provocative story of these two women as they battle for their dignity and for love against the pain of betrayal and social change.




Dorothy Parker


Book Description

Marion Meade's engrossing and comprehensive biography of one of the twentieth century's most captivating women In this lively, absorbing biography, Marion Meade illuminates both the charm and the dark side of Dorothy Parker, exploring her days of wicked wittiness at the Algonquin Round Table with the likes of Robert Benchley, George Kaufman, and Harold Ross, and in Hollywood with S. J. Perelman, William Faulkner, and Lillian Hellman. At the dazzling center of it all, Meade gives us the flamboyant, self-destructive, and brilliant Dorothy Parker. This edition features a new afterword by Marion Meade.




The Lost Literature of Medieval England


Book Description

Originally published in 1952 The Lost Literature of Medieval England provides an account of lost masterpieces of medieval English literature. The book examines the evidence for their existence and pieces together a fuller understanding of the literary traditions of the period. In more specific detail, the book looks at the concept of Christian epics and religious and didactic literature, as well as the drama and the lyrical poetry of the period.




Jean Arthur


Book Description

She is probably best remembered for her wistful-husky voice which, as Pauline Kael wrote, "was one of the best sounds in the romantic comedies of the 30s and 40s". But Jean Arthur's screen career began in silent films and spanned more than a quarter of a century. She worked with great directors of Hollywood's Golden Age: John Ford, Frank Capra, Cecil B. DeMille, Howard Hawks, George Stevens and Billy Wilder; and she shared star billing with the likes of Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Cary Grant, Alan Ladd, Charles Boyer and John Wayne. Her most enduring films include Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can't Take It With You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The More the Merrier, The Whole Town's Talking, A Foreign Affair and, in her last screen appearance, Shane. She was, in fact, one of the most popular and beloved movie stars of her time. Jean Arthur's popularity sprang from her talent, her charm and her quiet beauty, not from her offscreen exploits. Independent, indifferent to most of Hollywood's rules if not defiant of them, treasuring her privacy above all else, she chose to become an enigma - and so she has remained until now. In this, the first biography of Jean Arthur, John Oller, after years of research among the actress's closest friends, relatives and co-workers, has uncovered the life she tried so hard to shroud: a bruising, rootless childhood that left her with a crushing sense of insecurity, but also a steely determination to stand up for herself and what she believed in; a romance with David O. Selznick that ended unhappily, a childless marriage to film executive Frank Ross that descended into bitterness and recrimination, and rumors of lesbianism that continue to this day; legal battles fought over the roles she was offered as well as in defense of animals and the environment; repeated, aborted attempts to conquer Broadway that yielded but one theatrical triumph - as Peter Pan, a character she loved because, like herself, he refused to deal with the world on its terms. This is an engrossing, humane biography that strikes a fitting balance between the acting career and the personal life of an unforgettable star, and does full justice to both.




How Your Mind Can Keep You Well


Book Description




Dear Mr. You


Book Description

This book "renders the singular arc of a woman's life through letters Mary-Louise Parker composes to the men, real and hypothetical, who have informed the person she is today. Beginning with the grandfather she never knew, the letters range from a missive to the beloved priest from her childhood to remembrances of former lovers to an homage to a firefighter she encountered to a heartfelt communication with the uncle of the infant daughter she adopted"--