Within this dramatic and profound collection of stories, New York Times bestselling author Michael Gurian explores the cultural and spiritual gulf between Muslims and Westerners. From Ankara to Seattle, the West Bank to Manhattan, these provocative stories continually surprise with scenes of shocking brutality and improbable enlightenment.In A Desperate Pride, a Palestinian woman falls in love with Raf Horowitz, an American Jew who arrives in Israel with reckless idealism. In The Reincarnation of Donaldo Fuertes, an elderly writer recruits a young African American Muslim to accompany him on a pilgrimage to his homeland. And in the title story, a young hospice nurse finds her life course completely changed as she fulfills her duties to a Somali woman scarred by her upbringing.With the grace and craftsmanship of a veteran storyteller, Gurian's collection is an emotional powerhouse filled with animosity and love, heartache and understanding, disillusionment and hope. Lyrical and absorbing, these stories reveal the humanity of a culture so often in conflict with our own.

The late Victorians had an insatiable appetite for the macabre and sensational: stories of murder and suspense, ghosts, the supernatural and the inexplicable were the stuff of life to them. The two writers in this volume well represent the last decade of the nineteenth century, and are of interest in themselves as well as for their contribution to the chilling of the Victorian spine. Mrs. Alfred Baldwin attempted as a child to contact her dead sister through a seance, and took to writing when stricken by a mysterious illness six weeks after marriage. She was also the mother of the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin. Lettice Galbraith is herself no less mysterious than the stories she wrote. She appeared on the literary scene in 1893, published a novel and two collections of stories in that year, a further story ("The Blue Room") in 1897, and then nothing more. Readers of 'The Empty Picture Frame', 'The Case of Sir Nigel Otterburne', 'The Trainer's Ghost' and 'The Seance Room' will recognise the Victorian spirit at its finest.

Have you ever wondered how a blind person pours a cup of coffee? Or how they and their guide dog know when it's safe to cross a busy road? When Lois Strachan lost her sight at the age of 21 years she had to learn the answers to these and countless other questions of how to live as a blind person in a sighted world. In this delightfully quirky and entertaining book Lois shares some of the secrets she discovered about how to live an "ordinary" life in an extraordinary way despite her blindness. "An entertaining, informative and educational read that gives you an insight into the life of an inspirational woman who lives life to the fullest. Well worth reading." Gail Glover - Executive Director, South African Guide-Dogs Association for the Blind "A must-read for anyone, with or without a disability." Hanif Kruger -Resource Centre Manager, South African National Council for the Blind "Lois's stories provide insights on how to positively deal with the challenges in life to emerge victorious." Bob "Idea Man Hooey - author of "Why didn't I THINK of that?" "In her fascinating account of the life of a blind person, Lois Strachan lifts the lid on aspects of life that most of us take for granted. We should all learn a lot from Lois's different way of seeing." George Mahood - Author of Free Country & Every Day is a Holiday

""Someone really should make a movie of this story. It's better than most of the scripts I see."" Jacqui Gray, actress ""I loved Know Your Place and was especially enthralled by the nerve-jangling crescendo. Can't wait for the sequel!"" Helen Alexander ""A fast-paced tale of paranoia and vengeance in modern London. A promising first novel."" Andy Sibley ""This is a captivating book, taut with suspense and unfolding drama. Impossible to put down."" Sally WhitearIt was a humdrum kind of life ... polishing City boys' shoes by day, and counting the meagre pennies by nigh.

From the surreal to the mundane, twenty-four stories that “show Murukami at his dynamic, organic best” (Los Angeles Times Book Review). "A warning to new readers of Haruki Murakami: You will become addicted.... His newest collection is as enigmatic and sublime as ever." —San Francisco Chronicle Here are animated crows, a criminal monkey, and an ice man, as well as the dreams that shape us and the things we might wish for. From the surreal to the mundane, these stories exhibit Murakami’s ability to transform the full range of human experience in ways that are instructive, surprising, and entertaining.

Following a disjointed, vision-like structure, The Blind Owl is the nightmarish exploration of the psyche of a madman. The narrator is an ailing, solitary misanthrope who suffers from hallucinations, and his dreamlike tale is layered, circular, driven by its own demented logic, and punctuated with macabre and surreal episodes such as the discovery of a mutilated corpse, and a bizarre competition in which two men are locked in a dungeon-like room with a cobra. Initially banned in the author's native Iran, the novel first appeared in Tehran in 1941 and became a bestseller. Full of powerful symbolism and terrifying imagery, this dark novella is Hedayat's masterpiece.

When an innocent, quirky woman meets the Greed serpent Medusa, what will happen? As the history books have told, one glance at her victim will turn them to stone. Medusa catches the blind woman's gaze, but she does not turn into a statue as any other human would. You'll come to see the strange spark between the blind woman and Medusa come to life as you flip each page.