The Strangest Family


Book Description

An intensely moving account of George III's doomed attempt to create a happy, harmonious family, written with astonishing emotional force by a stunning new history writer. George III came to the throne in 1760 as a man with a mission. He was determined to break with the extraordinarily dysfunctional home lives of his Hanoverian predecessors. He was sure that as a faithful husband and a loving father, he would be not just a happier man but a better ruler as well. During the early part of his reign it seemed as if, against all the odds, his great family project was succeeding. His wife, Queen Charlotte, shared his sense of moral purpose, and together they raised their fifteen children in a climate of loving attention. But as the children grew older, and their wishes and desires developed away from those of their father, it became harder to maintain the illusion of domestic harmony. 'The Strangest Family' is an epic, sprawling family drama, filled with intensely realised characters who leap off the page as we are led deep inside the private lives of the Hanoverians. Written with astonishing emotional force by a stunning new voice in history writing, it is both a window on another world and a universal story that will resonate powerfully with modern readers.




A Royal Experiment


Book Description

"Originally published as The strangest family in the U.K. in 2014 by William Collins"--Title page verso.




Family Farming


Book Description

Americans decry the decline of family farming but stand by helplessly as industrial agribusiness takes over. The prevailing sentiment is that family farms should survive for important social, ethical, and economic reasons. But will they? This timely book exposes the biases in American farm policies that irrationally encourage expansion, biases evident in federal commodity programs, income tax provisions, and subsidized credit services. Family Farming also exposes internal conflicts, particularly the conflict between the private interests of individual farmers and the public interest in family farming as a whole. It challenges the assumption that bigger is better, critiques the technological basis of modern agriculture, and calls for farming practices that are ethical, economical, and ecologically sound. The alternative policies discussed in this book could yet save the family farm, and the ways and means of saving it are argued here with special urgency. ø This Bison Books edition includes a new introduction by the author providing a more national perspective, underscoring the repetitive cycles of American agriculture over the decade, and assessing the major policy issues that have dominated agriculture in recent years.




It Runs in the Family


Book Description

Expanding on the stories in her popular column for the website Waging Nonviolence, Berrigan has crafted a welcome antidote to the various parenting fads currently on offer from French moms and tiger moms and mean moms. She offers a unique perspective on parenting that derives from hard work, deep reflection, and lots of trial and error.




The WEIRDest People in the World


Book Description

A New York Times Notable Book of 2020 A Bloomberg Best Non-Fiction Book of 2020 A Behavioral Scientist Notable Book of 2020 A Human Behavior & Evolution Society Must-Read Popular Evolution Book of 2020 A bold, epic account of how the co-evolution of psychology and culture created the peculiar Western mind that has profoundly shaped the modern world. Perhaps you are WEIRD: raised in a society that is Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. If so, you’re rather psychologically peculiar. Unlike much of the world today, and most people who have ever lived, WEIRD people are highly individualistic, self-obsessed, control-oriented, nonconformist, and analytical. They focus on themselves—their attributes, accomplishments, and aspirations—over their relationships and social roles. How did WEIRD populations become so psychologically distinct? What role did these psychological differences play in the industrial revolution and the global expansion of Europe during the last few centuries? In The WEIRDest People in the World, Joseph Henrich draws on cutting-edge research in anthropology, psychology, economics, and evolutionary biology to explore these questions and more. He illuminates the origins and evolution of family structures, marriage, and religion, and the profound impact these cultural transformations had on human psychology. Mapping these shifts through ancient history and late antiquity, Henrich reveals that the most fundamental institutions of kinship and marriage changed dramatically under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church. It was these changes that gave rise to the WEIRD psychology that would coevolve with impersonal markets, occupational specialization, and free competition—laying the foundation for the modern world. Provocative and engaging in both its broad scope and its surprising details, The WEIRDest People in the World explores how culture, institutions, and psychology shape one another, and explains what this means for both our most personal sense of who we are as individuals and also the large-scale social, political, and economic forces that drive human history. Includes black-and-white illustrations.




The Secret of Nightingale Wood


Book Description

A beautifully tangled story of friendship, fairy tales, and family secrets. For those who loved Pax and The War That Saved My Life. A Kirkus Best Middle Grade Book of 2017 An Amazon Best Book of 2017 A 2018 Bank Street College Best Book of the Year A Telegraph Top 50 Book of the Year Everyone is too busy to pay attention to Henrietta and the things she sees -- or thinks she sees -- in the shadows of their new home, Hope House. Mama is ill. Father has taken a job abroad. Nanny Jane is busy taking care of her younger sister. All alone, with only stories for company, Henry discovers that Hope House is full of strange secrets: a forgotten attic, ghostly figures, mysterious firelight that flickers in the trees beyond the garden. One night she ventures into the darkness of Nightingale Wood. What she finds there will change her whole world...




The Family Across the Street


Book Description

‘OMG!!! SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!!!… The most heart-racing book I’ve read in a long time, if not ever!!! It had me hook, line and sinker from the first page and I could not put it down!!!… Clear your day because it is truly unputdownable… What an absolute twist!!!… If you read one book in your life, make sure it is this!!!!’ Bookworm86, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Sometimes, the most perfect families are hiding the most terrible secrets. How well do you know the people next door…? Everybody wants to live on Hogarth Street, the pretty, tree-lined avenue with its white houses. The new family, the Wests, are a perfect fit. Katherine and John seem so in love and their gorgeous five-year-old twins race screeching around their beautiful emerald-green lawn. But soon people start to notice: why don’t they join backyard barbecues? Why do they brush away offers to babysit? Why, when you knock at the door, do they shut you out, rather than inviting you in? Every family has secrets, and on the hottest day of the year, the truth is about to come out. As a tragedy unfolds behind closed doors, the dawn chorus is split by the wail of sirens. And one by one the families who tried so hard to welcome the Wests begin to realise: Hogarth Street will never be the same again. A completely gripping, twist-packed psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Sally Hepworth and Lisa Jewell. Readers love The Family Across the Street: ‘Wow!!! Wow!!! Wow!!! A total page-turner and will keep you guessing with every page. Halfway through I thought I had figured it out and then BAM! The ending floored me.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Omg! Omg!... My son came in and asked me who I was yelling at?! (I was yelling at my e-reader). I think my heart beat out of my chest… The suspense was killing me! LOL my heart is still beating crazy!…OK I have to go now I need a big glass of wine to calm down!’ Ana’s Attic Guest Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Oh my GOSH!!!!!! I read this emotionally charged, compelling book in one sitting. Whoa, my emotions are ALL over the place!!! You thought you knew what was going on and then BAM nothing what you thought was happening! I’ve never been soooooo engrossed in a book from the first pages. Amazing, emotional and just Wow!!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Oh wow, absolutely triple wow. Absolutely amazing.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This is how you do thrillers. OMG, this story was amazing… Edge-of-your-seat-nail-biting read.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I’m writing this review with tears streaming down my face!! What a BRILLIANT book… I was on edge every single second… At one point I realized my body was literally tensed up in anticipation.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Utterly blew my mind.’ Priyanka’s Book Gallery, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I was absolutely hooked!!… Totally engrossed!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Simply brilliant… Almost gave me an aneurysm in my attempt to finish it.’ @rk_reads, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Absolutely amazing!… So so good with so many twists and surprises. I could not put it down and read it in 24 hours!’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The story totally sucked me in and I was hooked! I love it when a book that does that to me… To the point to where I don’t want to adult at all!!! This was that type of book!… Will blow your damn mind!’ @oh.happy.reading, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘After reading this book I realise I use the phrase “page-turner” too much, because THIS was a true PAGE-TURNER. I read it in one sitting.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Wow, I loved this one so much…. A whole box of tissues were gone in just a few hours. It was so intense that I was sitting at the edge of my seat the whole time. I couldn’t put this one down for the life of me. No bathroom breaks at all.’ Blue Moon Blogger, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The first book I have ever read in a day… I just couldn’t put it down. It really is one of those books that you think just a few more pages, just a few more pages, just another chapter.’ The Reviewers, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐




The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender


Book Description

A 2015 William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist Magical realism, lyrical prose, and the pain and passion of human love haunt this hypnotic generational saga. Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava — in all other ways a normal girl — is born with the wings of a bird. In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naive to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the summer solstice celebration. That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo. First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human.




Wandering in Strange Lands


Book Description

One of TIME's 100 Must Read Books of 2020 and one of Good Housekeeping's Best Books of the Year “One of the smartest young writers of her generation.”—Book Riot Featuring a new afterword from the author, Morgan Jerkins' powerful story of her journey to understand her northern and southern roots, the Great Migration, and the displacement of black people across America. Between 1916 and 1970, six million black Americans left their rural homes in the South for jobs in cities in the North, West, and Midwest in a movement known as The Great Migration. But while this event transformed the complexion of America and provided black people with new economic opportunities, it also disconnected them from their roots, their land, and their sense of identity, argues Morgan Jerkins. In this fascinating and deeply personal exploration, she recreates her ancestors’ journeys across America, following the migratory routes they took from Georgia and South Carolina to Louisiana, Oklahoma, and California. Following in their footsteps, Jerkins seeks to understand not only her own past, but the lineage of an entire group of people who have been displaced, disenfranchised, and disrespected throughout our history. Through interviews, photos, and hundreds of pages of transcription, Jerkins braids the loose threads of her family’s oral histories, which she was able to trace back 300 years, with the insights and recollections of black people she met along the way—the tissue of black myths, customs, and blood that connect the bones of American history. Incisive and illuminating, Wandering in Strange Lands is a timely and enthralling look at America’s past and present, one family’s legacy, and a young black woman’s life, filtered through her sharp and curious eyes.




Strange Relations


Book Description

A summer in paradise. That's all Marne wants. That's all she can think of when she asks her parents permission to spend the summer in Hawaii with Aunt Carole and her family. But Marne quickly realizes her visit isn't going to be just about learning to surf and morning runs along the beach, despite the cute surfer boy she keeps bumping into. For one thing, Aunt Carole isn't even Aunt Carole anymore—she's Aunt Chaya, married to a Chasidic rabbi and deeply rooted in her religious community. Nothing could be more foreign to Marne, and fitting into this new culture—and house full of kids—is a challenge. But as she settles into her newfound family's daily routine, she begins to think about spirituality, identity, and finding a place in the world in a way she never has before. This rich novel is a window into a different life and gets to the very heart of faith, identity, and family ties.