The Doctor Wears Three Faces


Book Description

As a family, the Bards were always special. In the really bad times of the Great American Depression of the late ‘twenties and early ‘thirties and in the not-quite-so-bad-times of the New Deal which followed, they hung together closely like a bunch of bananas: unfailingly bright, optimistic and funny, totally supportive of each other and endlessly hospitable to others of all ages, races and creeds less fortunate than themselves. The rock of the family was Sydney, the widowed mother. But undoubtedly the mover, the fixer and Unequalled Organiser-of-Others had to be Mary, the fizzing firecracker. And then she married a doctor. She became a Doctor’s Wife without catching one glimpse of the Job Description. Even if she had, she would have married Jim anyway. She had always welcomed a challenge. Which was just as well, for otherwise we would have been robbed of this very enjoyable book in which a ‘mover’ and a ‘do-er’ of a Doctor’s Wife gets to grips with possibly one of the most conservative professions on Earth. It could have been a recipe for disaster. Instead it produced this book—a sure-fire prescription for high entertainment.







Reclamation Era


Book Description




Looking for Betty MacDonald


Book Description

Betty Bard MacDonald (1907–1958), the best-selling author of The Egg and I and the classic Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle children’s books, burst onto the literary scene shortly after the end of World War II. Readers embraced her memoir of her years as a young bride operating a chicken ranch on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, and The Egg and I sold its first million copies in less than a year. The public was drawn to MacDonald’s vivacity, her offbeat humor, and her irreverent take on life. In 1947, the book was made into a movie starring Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert, and spawned a series of films featuring MacDonald's Ma and Pa Kettle characters. MacDonald followed up the success of The Egg and I with the creation of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, a magical woman who cures children of their bad habits, and with three additional memoirs: The Plague and I (chronicling her time in a tuberculosis sanitarium just outside Seattle), Anybody Can Do Anything (recounting her madcap attempts to find work during the Great Depression), and Onions in the Stew (about her life raising two teenage daughters on Vashon Island). Author Paula Becker was granted full access to Betty MacDonald’s archives, including materials never before seen by any researcher. Looking for Betty MacDonald, a biography of this endearing Northwest storyteller, reveals the story behind the memoirs and the difference between the real Betty MacDonald and her literary persona. Watch the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lr6iVK4zWk




Shared Walls


Book Description

The 1900 edition of Polk's Seattle City Directory listed four apartment buildings. By 1939, that number had grown to almost 1,400. This study explores the circumstances that prompted the explosive growth of this previously unknown form of housing in Seattle and takes an in-depth look at a large number of different apartment buildings, from the small and simple to the large and grand. Illustrated with numerous contemporary and vintage photographs and sketches, this volume preserves an intimate record of these under-studied and under-appreciated buildings and will inspire an appreciation for their history and architectural variety, and for their preservation as an integral part of Seattle's urban landscape.













Medically Speaking


Book Description

Medically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations on Dentistry, Medicine, and Nursing contains over 1,500 quotes pertinent and especially illuminating to these disciplines. Here you will find quotations from the most famous to the unknown. Some are profound, some are witty, some are wise but none are frivolous. The extensive author and subject indexes







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