Fleur had married Alain Comte de Treville, because she loved him, not because he was blind and she felt sorry for him, or because she cared only for his money and his title, as he suspected.

The Study of Plants in a Whole New Light “Matt Candeias succeeds in evoking the wonder of plants with wit and wisdom.” ―James T. Costa, PhD, executive director, Highlands Biological Station and author of Darwin's Backyard #1 New Release in Nature & Ecology, Plants, Botany, Horticulture, Trees, Biological Sciences, and Nature Writing & Essays In his debut book, internationally-recognized blogger and podcaster Matt Candeias celebrates the nature of plants and the extraordinary world of plant organisms. A botanist’s defense. Since his early days of plant restoration, this amateur plant scientist has been enchanted with flora and the greater environmental ecology of the planet. Now, he looks at the study of plants through the lens of his ever-growing houseplant collection. Using gardening, houseplants, and examples of plants around you, In Defense of Plants changes your relationship with the world from the comfort of your windowsill. The ruthless, horny, and wonderful nature of plants. Understand how plants evolve and live on Earth with a never-before-seen look into their daily drama. Inside, Candeias explores the incredible ways plants live, fight, have sex, and conquer new territory. Whether a blossoming botanist or a professional plant scientist, In Defense of Plants is for anyone who sees plants as more than just static backdrops to more charismatic life forms. In this easily accessible introduction to the incredible world of plants, you’ll find: • Fantastic botanical histories and plant symbolism • Passionate stories of flora diversity and scientific names of plant organisms • Personal tales of plantsman discovery through the study of plants If you enjoyed books like The Botany of Desire, What a Plant Knows, or The Soul of an Octopus, then you’ll love In Defense of Plants.

Poetry. African American Studies. Edited by Adrienne Christian. "Cedric Tillman's poems are straightforward and full of rich details. These poems unfold with rhythm and resonate with remembering; they have much emotional appeal, depicting pop culture, family life, blues, violence, love, religion and history. LILIES IN THE VALLEY is a serious and daring book."--Lenard D. Moore "Cedric Tillman's LILIES IN THE VALLEY is poetic scripture. Rooted in culture, family, love, and the word, Tillman proves that sacredness can drive verse and keep it fresh like newly baked biscuits. This is modern poetry but grounded in the past. It is hip-hop and Sunday morning, church dinner chatter, love and happiness, Carolina shouts and sermons, a new voice ready to testify and do so in a way that no one has yet done before."--Brian Gilmore "In Cedric Tillman's poetry we find the struggle, humor, and beauty of life held in delicate balance. Exquisitely rendered in lines that at times take your breath away and at other times make you laugh or ache, Tillman's voice sings a song of himself and of many. You'll want to hear how varied his song can be, conveying the despair of working in retail, the depths of black Christianity, the joys and constraints of marriage, the pain and comfort of knowing your people. A fine collection of poetry--complex, nuanced, and real."--Malin Pereira

In the Beauty of the Lilies begins in 1910 and traces God’s relation to four generations of American seekers, beginning with Clarence Wilmot, a clergyman in Paterson, New Jersey. He loses his faith but finds solace at the movies, respite from “the bleak facts of life, his life, gutted by God’s withdrawal.” His son, Teddy, becomes a mailman who retreats from American exceptionalism, religious and otherwise, into a life of studied ordinariness. Teddy has a daughter, Esther, who becomes a movie star, an object of worship, an All-American goddess. Her neglected son, Clark, is possessed of a native Christian fervor that brings the story full circle: in the late 1980s he joins a Colorado sect called the Temple, a handful of “God’s elect” hastening the day of reckoning. In following the Wilmots’ collective search for transcendence, John Updike pulls one wandering thread from the tapestry of the American Century and writes perhaps the greatest of his later novels.

In the Great Smoky Mountains region, a fourteen-year-old girl struggles to keep her family together after her father dies.