Yitzakh and Naomi, brother and sister, escaped the Warsaw ghetto in 1942. The two Jews were drawn to what their father repeatedly called their homeland, Palestine. As they stepped upon the shore of their new home, two strong but different forces ensnared them. Naomi fell in love with a quiet Arab introduced as Anwar. Yitzakh felt the land absorb him and consume his soul. A longed-for peace seduced the two but soon vanished as World War II engulfed the area. The Nazis that pushed Yitzakh and Naomi from Warsaw now forced Anwar and Naomi away from their home. Made to live in western Syria, the young couple produced a son, Abraham. However, his future was denied his mother. The former "Ghetto Rat," Yitzakh, was forced back to violence, a partisan's life, and into a tenuous partnership with a strong ruthless Arab named Hafez. The war ended, and Palestine soon became the State of Israel and the once partisan comrades became enemies of necessity. In 1967 Syria and Israel clashed in the Golan, and Abraham, Anwar, Yitzakh, and Hafez became embroiled in a vicious plot to destroy one country and solidify the strength of another. A master's chess game of violence began and under the direction of the two former comrades, all became pawns. An unforeseen element, with roots that mimicked Yitzakh and captured Abraham as surely as Anwar had captured his mother, entered the clash. It would take all of Yitzhak's guile, ferocity, and love to save his country without destroying the ones he held dear. Hafez, as well as voices and memories from the past, haunted the old Jew, as the two warriors moved elements of their world to face and destroy each other.

What can a gardener learn from Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony? Are perennial plants symbols of friendship? Is gardening in the Whig tradition? Are 'non-native' plants 'aliens'? Can the art of writing a novel be compared to gardening? Is Monty Don right about the presence of flowers in the great Renaissance Italian gardens? Do gardens exhibit Late Style? Can mowing be a creative activity? Why is the creation of a new path such a delightful experience? Should gardens open to the public be 'reviewed' in the same way as exhibitions of paintings and newly-published books? Minding The Garden: Lilactree Farm combines brief commentaries on garden history, on rare and familiar plants, on the tantalizing connections between the garden as art form and the other arts, on the pleasures and follies of gardening, in a collection of 125 'Notes' presented in the context of a composite gardening year. Discover how Lilactree Farm evolved over the years, through six retrospective 'plans, ' spaced sequentially throughout the text, and through Des Townshend's spell-casting photographs. Minding The Garden: Lilactree Farm is sure to captivate gardeners, both armchair and active, in the English-speaking world and perhaps beyond....

The multi-million bestselling novel about a young girl's journey towards healing and the transforming power of love, from the award-winning author of The Invention of Wings and The Book of Longings Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted Black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina—a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of Black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

Flowerpaedia is an A-Z reference guide of over 1000 flowers. A comprehensive dictionary of flowers researched and compiled by botanical explorer Cheralyn Darcey.

For those who like to see God in nature and who understand that the church's year is based on nature's cycles, this gardening guide covers the period from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday and features one plant each day to illuminate Lenten themes such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.