'One of the best books for 2023' Cosmopolitan Against a rising tide of fundamentalism in India, a mother and daughter lose the most important man in their lives. Shashi, fifty-something and suddenly widowed, tries to contact her only daughter, Tara, to break the news, but cannot reach her. As Shashi confronts her loss, she finds, amidst grief, unexpected new freedoms. Meanwhile, Tara, a spoiled but brilliant university student, has retreated to Dharamsala to deal with the fall out from an ill-advised relationship. Her self-imposed solitude makes contact near impossible, so by the time she learns of her loss, the funeral is already over. Without the man that bound them, Shashi and Tara struggle to reconcile. But his absence also makes them a target for an emerging religious group determined to put women in their place, and Shashi and Tara individually prepare to defend their independence. If mother and daughter are to come together, they must find a way to understand both their new world, and each other. But can you ever emerge from an eclipse unscathed? 'Lyrical throughout yet so deceptively easygoing... an extraordinary novel' André Aciman 'Powerful, evocative and accomplished – it's hard to believe The Illuminated is a debut' Alice Ryan 'Gives voice to a new generation' BBC Radio 4

Literary Nonfiction. Art. Film. Winner of the 2020 Nautilus Award's Gold Medal for Creativity & Innovation. In this fragmentary and fluent little gem--full of light and stunning, full-color images--writer and time-based artist Marilyn Freeman offers up her own contemplative practice of dowsing for and creating "opportune moments" of insight and healing. With humor and humility, Freeman reveals her innovative approach to making video essays, a process developed over years of art-making, study and personal searching--a process of waking up again and again to the extraordinary possibilities hidden in everyday existence. Freeman introduces a theory of "evocative" practice as an alternative to the conventions of narrative and non-fiction filmmaking--a risky and rigorous engagement with form that invites the audience to participate in the creation of meaning. Her examination of the dialectical relationship of sound and image takes us far deeper than just a critical study of audio/visual media--deep into the human heart with its dark traumas and its shimmering capacity for honest and compassionate reckoning. Transgressing disciplinary boundaries and trading authority for authentic inquiry, Freeman takes us with her on a foray into time-based art that leaps and wanders from movie theaters to museums to Instagram in search of the "illuminated spaces" where we encounter ourselves and each other. This book is an essential resource for artists who question the importance of their work in these dark times, and for anyone seeking wisdom and wonder in our ordinary world.

A look into an enchanting, underexplored genre of illustrated manuscripts that reveals new insights into urban life in the Middle Ages In this innovative study, Nina Rowe examines a curious genre of illustrated book that gained popularity among the newly emergent middle class of late medieval cities. These illuminated World Chronicles, produced in the Bavarian and Austrian regions from around 1330 to 1430, were the popular histories of their day, telling tales from the Bible, ancient mythology, and the lives of emperors in animated, vernacular verse, enhanced by dynamic images. Rowe’s appraisal of these understudied books presents a rich world of storytelling modes, offering unprecedented insight into the non-noble social strata in a transformative epoch. Through a multidisciplinary approach, Rowe also shows how illuminated World Chronicles challenge the commonly held view of the Middle Ages as socially stagnant and homogeneously pious. Beautifully illustrated and backed by abundant and accessible analyses of social, economic, and political conditions, this book highlights the engaging character of secular literature during the late medieval era and the relationship of illustrated books to a socially diverse and vibrant urban sphere.

Mateo returns to the island of his grandparents to say goodbye to Minerva, a beloved family member. Unhappy to be back in a place so full with memories, he struggles to make sense of the abrupt and irreparable loss. When the mysterious appearance of a stray cat complicates matters, a series of incidents turn his life upside down. At the end of his very personal journey, he wonders if Minerva had something to do with the valuable lesson that he learns about growing up and finding that love materializes in different forms and in unexpected places.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. Jonathan Safran Foer's debut—"a funny, moving...deeply felt novel about the dangers of confronting the past and the redemption that comes with laughing at it, even when that seems all but impossible." (Time) With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man—also named Jonathan Safran Foer—sets out to find the woman who might or might not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war, an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior, and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past. As their adventure unfolds, Jonathan imagines the history of his grandfather’s village, conjuring a magical fable of startling symmetries that unite generations across time. As his search moves back in time, the fantastical history moves forward, until reality collides with fiction in a heart-stopping scene of extraordinary power. “Imagine a novel as verbally cunning as A Clockwork Orange, as harrowing as The Painted Bird, as exuberant and twee as Candide, and you have Everything Is Illuminated . . . Read it, and you'll feel altered, chastened—seared in the fire of something new.” — Washington Post “A rambunctious tour de force of inventive and intelligent storytelling . . . Foer can place his reader’s hand on the heart of human experience, the transcendent beauty of human connections. Read, you can feel the life beating.” — Philadelphia Inquirer

"The Illuminated Catechism gives you space to meditate on God's Word. Bible passages, short devotionals, complementary hymns, selections from Martin Luther, and delightful illustrations invite you to reflect on God's grace, pray, and deepen your understanding of the Christian faith. There are also blank spaces for your doodling, journaling, and reflection" --