The Keeper of Stories


Book Description

A charming, uplifting debut novel—full of humor and depth—that has taken readers around the world by surprise. Everyone has a story to tell. But does Janice have the power to unlock her own? She can’t recall what started her collection. Maybe it was in a fragment of conversation overheard as she cleaned a sink? Before long (as she dusted a sitting room or defrosted a fridge) she noticed people were telling her their stories. Perhaps they had always done so, but now it is different, now the stories are reaching out to her and she gathers them to her ... Cleaner Janice knows that it is in people’s stories that you really get to know them. From recently widowed Fiona and her son Adam to opera-singing Geordie, the quiet bus driver Euan, and the pretentious Mrs. “YeahYeahYeah” and her fox terrier, Decius, Janice has a unique insight into the community around her. When Janice starts cleaning for Mrs. B—a shrewd and prickly woman in her nineties—she finally meets someone who wants to hear her story. But Janice is clear: she is the keeper of stories, she doesn’t have a story to tell. At least, not one she can share. Mrs. B is no fool and knows there is more to Janice than meets the eye. What is she hiding? After all, doesn’t everyone have a story to tell?




Some Short Stories


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Index to Short Stories


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Creating a World That Works for All


Book Description

Improve your relationships with others and help make the world a better place with this guide to changing your mindset to embrace inclusivity. Sharif Abdullah writes, “We live in a world that works for only a few.” The problem, he asserts, is exclusivity: the fundamental belief that we are separate from one another. By practicing exclusivity, we have created a soul-starved society. We suffer, both personally and as a society, from complex, interlocking problems so intense that they create a deep sense of emptiness in all of us. In Creating a World That Works for All, Abdullah shows how we can change our world by changing our consciousness. We can actually put an end to these complex problems by embracing inclusivity—the realization that all of our lives are inextricably linked. With a practical blueprint for this positive approach to change, he reveals how to turn from a mentality that disconnects us to one that embraces the goals of restoring balance to the Earth and building community with all others. Abdullah shows how this transformation to inclusivity lies at the heart of all the world’s spiritual traditions. “Creating a World That Works for All is a wonderfully rich collection of insights, analyses, and possibilities. It provides stimulating guidance for those of us who want to live in a world that works for all.” —Margaret J. Wheatley, author of Leadership and the New Science and coauthor of A Simpler Way “A compelling and inspirational book that ignites creativity and a renewed commitment to re-dream and mend a world that works for all. No other book addresses our current situation in such a thorough and practical way.” —Angeles Arrien, PhD, cultural anthropologist and author of The Four-Fold War and Signs of Life