The Beast's Heart


Book Description

A sumptuously magical, brand new take on a tale as old as time - read the Beast's side of the story at long last. 'Utterly Enchanting' - Kate Forsyth, author of Bitter Greens and The Wild Girl 'A beautiful retelling . . . poetical, imaginative, inventive' - New York Journal of Books '5 out of 5 stars . . . magical romance at its best' - Sam Hawke, author of City of Lies ********* I am neither monster nor man - yet I am both. I am the Beast. I know why I was cursed; I know the legacy of evil I carry in my tainted blood. So how could she ever love me? My Isabeau. She opened my eyes, my mind and my heart when I was struggling just to be human. And now I might lose her forever. Lose yourself in this gorgeously rich and magical retelling of The Beauty and the Beast that finally lays bare the beast's heart.




The Children's Book


Book Description




My Father's Keeper


Book Description

As a child Julie was close to her father. More friend than parent, he would belt her into their tiny car and they'd punch through yellow lights, scarf down candy bars before supper and had their own way of making fun of Julie's mother in a secret language of eye-rolling. She adored her father for his exuberance, and pitied him when he broke down in suicidal desperation. But as she neared 10, a darker side emerged... This is a powerful and compelling memoir of growing up with a schizophrenic father.




Serafina's Stories


Book Description

This innovative novel combines Spanish folktales with Native American legends to create a captivating Southwestern version of The Arabian Nights. Like Scheherezade, who ensured her survival by telling her royal husband stories, the title character in Rudolfo Anaya’s creative retelling of The Arabian Nights must entertain the recently widowed governor with legends of Nueva Mexicana, or she and her fellow captives will die. With fresh snow covering the high peaks of Sangre de Cristo, a group of native dissidents prepare for revolt. In seventeenth-century Santa Fe, insurrection against a colony of the king of Spain is punishable by death. A Spaniard loyal to the governor names twelve conspirators. One of them is a young woman. Raised in a mission church, fifteen-year-old Serafina speaks excellent Spanish and knows many of her country’s traditional folktales. She and the governor strike a bargain: Each evening, she will tell him a cuento. If he likes it, he will release one prisoner the following day. The twelve tales recounted here mirror the struggle of a divided country. They include the social and political symbolism behind “Beauty and the Beast” and retell “Cinderella” as “Miranda’s Gift.” Interspersed with these timeless cuentos is the story of Serafina herself, and that of a people battling to preserve a vanishing way of life under the long shadow of the Inquisition.




Conquering the Beast


Book Description

It was March 23, 1956, at six thirty-four in the morning, a baby girl was bornall of six pounds. She was perfectsoft pink skin, big blue eyes, and barely enough blond hair to say she had hair. She did not cry but was very content, just needed the basics: milk, a diaper change, and someone to love her and tell her she was special. She was born to loveless parentshe was twenty-five, and she was twenty. Her name is Diane, and she shared life with her four-year-old brother, Scott. What should have been a beautiful day and a beautiful life was not to be. I was sired by a monstera beasta person who only thought of himself, and whatever he thought he needed, he took. He ravaged my mother every nine months, and she had a baby every year or two up to the time she committed herself to an institution. Now it is 2015, and my story will be told. I am fifty-nine years old and have all the scars from being born by chance to these people. I live in the South and have three children. There are five grandchildren. This is my story, and it is written not to terrify the reader but to let you know the dangerous beasts that are out there waiting to destroy pieces of you. My journey now is to heal and focus on myself. I have loved my children too much, and I can no longer fix a husband. Today is my day. The story passed to me about my personality is that a simple piece of bubble gum would make me happy, that faithful and happy disposition has gotten me through many yesterdays. There is a higher plan; I must be patient to hear it revealed. I will understand one day. Please read this book and share it. There are many victims. You will never know them until you talk about sexual abuse. Be kind. Spread the joy.







The Home Place


Book Description

"He wants to sit and visit at the kitchen table, and he can hardly wait to get on the road again." —From Chapter 1 Robert Kroetsch, one of Canada's most important writers, was a fierce regionalist with a porous yet resilient sense of "home." Although his criticism and fiction have received extensive attention, his poetry remains underexplored. This exuberantly polyvocal text, insightfully written by dennis cooley—who knew Kroetsch and worked with him for decades—seeks to correct that imbalance. The Home Place offers a dazzling, playful, and intellectually complex conversation drawing together personal recollections, Kroetsch's archival materials, and the international body of Kroetsch scholarship. For literary scholars and anyone who appreciates Canadian literature, The Home Place will represent the standard critical evaluation of Kroetsch's poetry for years to come.










Rhinoceros or the Beast's Biographer


Book Description

Rhinoceros or the Beast’s Biographer is an alternative history set during the 16th century. The African Kikuyo tribe train the rhinoceros as a beast of war and invade ‘Yurop’. Ode, the son of the Chief Elder, is trained as a Griot, a traditional ‘Afrik’ storyteller. His role is to witness and celebrate the actions of the rhino mounted warriors led by his father. As the teller of stories, Ode is attracted to the drama of war. But he begins to wonder if history is anything more than the transcription of murder? And does his celebration and re-telling of violent events encourage their bloody quest and even support the tacit suggestion that killing is a natural and inevitable human endeavour. Running counter to the violence is the love story between Ode, and Anna, a white Southern Yuropan. Anna, highly intelligent, and confrontational has spent her life trying to be heard in a culture that belittles intelligent women. Through their shared knowledge of the Latin tongue, and their profound loneliness, Ode and Anna, become friends and lovers. The Beast’s Biographer is a story of love, duty, fraternity and bloody conquest.