In 1835, near the headwaters of the Arkansas River, Cara Rojo, a Ute war chief finds an eight year old white girl who had witnessed her family being swept away in a flash flood the day before. The girl has blocked out the horror of the flood and can not speak, yet seems to fear nothing. The Ute Indians take her to their village and name her Tavimois, the Spirit of the Sunrise. The girl is Hannah Headly, and her brother, Daniel, has survived the flood, but believes his sister was killed with his younger brother and parents. Daniel is nursed back to health by Big Butt, the Crow wife of negro Mountain man Bull Thompson. Needing money to return to the East, Daniel hires on as Bull Thompson’s helper and heads deeper into the wilderness to trade with the plains tribes to the West and North. Bull takes Daniel to meet the, Frenchman, Phillip Rondel, who has a beautiful half Indian daughter he wants to marry off to a white man. Daniel is soon smitten by Monique Rondel’s beauty. After a winter of trading with the Indians, Bull Thompson brings Daniel back to the Frenchman’s camp and Daniel asks Monique to Marry him. Monique will only marry a Sundancer, and Daniel agrees to Sundance. Bull Thompson gives Daniel opium to dull the pain of the bone needles the Indians thrust through his chest muscles to start the sundance. Hanging by leather cords tied to the bone needles in his chest, Daniel has a sun dream, a vision of his sister running happily through a forest of laughing aspens.

In 1895 Swami Vivekananda of the Ramakrishna Mission initiated two Europeans one a womean into the ancient tradition of sannyasa or world-renuciation. This practice was continued in the first part of the twentieth century by Swami Shivananda of Rishikesh. From the late sixties onwards with the sudden expansion of European awareness of Indian Spirituality, a vast hord of foreign religious heads have spread through India in incomprehensibly large numbers.

A young artist forges a path of self-discovery in an enriching novel about forgiving the past and embracing second chances, from the bestselling author of An Unfinished Story. Maine, 1969. After losing her parents in a car accident, aspiring artist Annalisa Mancuso lives with her grandmother and their large Italian family in the stifling factory town of Payton Mills. Inspired by her mother, whose own artistic dreams disappeared in a damaged marriage, Annalisa is dedicated only to painting. Closed off to love, and driven as much by her innate talent as she is the disillusionment of her past, Annalisa just wants to come into her own. The first step is leaving Payton Mills and everything it represents. The next, the inspiring opportunities in the city of Portland and a thriving New England art scene where Annalisa hopes to find her voice. But she meets Thomas, an Ivy League student whose attentions--and troubled family--upend her pursuits in ways she never imagined possible. As their relationship deepens, Annalisa must balance her dreams against an unexpected love. Until the unraveling of an unforgivable lie. For Annalisa, opening herself up to life and to love is a risk. It might also be the chance she needs to finally become the person and the artist she's meant to be.

My love of art has never wavered. I had not painted since my teenage years. The loss of my son through adoption many years before, along with a lack of expression of my own creativity, had left me bereft and plummeting into deeper depression time and time again. Art had been such a saviour to me as a child, when I was confused by what was happening around me. In my own grief and pain as a teenager, I deprived myself of my one sanctity in a self-imposed punishment. I would allow myself to paint again when I found my son, and so the bargain was made. I found my son in 2008. I have a profound belief in the power of creativity in all its forms to heal. Lily was my saving grace. This book is for everyone looking to find their heart again and in so doing touch base with that child that lives inside.

As a young girl growing up in Kenya, Wangari was surrounded by trees. But years later when she returns home, she is shocked to see whole forests being cut down, and she knows that soon all the trees will be destroyed. So Wangari decides to do something—and starts by planting nine seedlings in her own backyard. And as they grow, so do her plans. . . . This true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a shining example of how one woman’s passion, vision, and determination inspired great change. Includes an author’s note. This book was printed on 100% recycled paper with 50% postconsumer waste.