A biography of a woman whose seductive beauty and tragic marriage repeatedly pulls us back for another look. Alexandra Deutsch literally “unpacks” Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte’s personal belongings in this intuitively sophisticated material culture biography of the woman whose seductive beauty and tragic marriage repeatedly pulls us back for another look and, ideally, a deeper understanding of the person behind the celebrity. In addition to letters and portraits, Deutsch found bits of the story in previously overlooked objects in the vast Bonaparte family collections. Long overlooked textile scraps, for example, tell rich stories of forgiveness gifts from Jerome to Elizabeth. A lone red account book contains a record of her finances, yet turned 180 degrees reads like a journal, providing “some of the most powerful evidence of Elizabeth's internal struggles” during the French trial over her son’s legitimacy. The volume is likely one of the five in which she recorded a “skeleton” of a memoir. Deutsch pays equal attention to the lives of Elizabeth’s son Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, “Bo,” and grandsons Jerome Jr. and Charles, deftly exploring how the members of these next generations defined and perpetuated their royal heritage through material possessions. This work truly expands Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte’s story beyond the “mésalliance” with Napoleon’s younger brother and reveals the complex life of a romantic and rebellious young woman whose deep hurt drove her to the courts of Europe and who ultimately found comfort and satisfaction in her hard-won financial independence. In this well-balanced and exceptionally sensitive work, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte finally breathes.

Author illuminates the experience of menopause, showing how the actual event can be an access to a new and beautiful way of life.

Facing challenges in an increasingly colonial world, Chye Hoon, a rebellious young girl, must learn to embrace her mixed Malayan-Chinese identity as a Nyonya-- and her destiny as a cook, rather than following her first dream of attending school like her brother. Chye Hoon begins to appreciate the richness of her traditions, eventually marrying Wong Peng Choon, a Chinese man. Together, they have ten children. But by the 1930s the cultural shift towards the West has begun, and Chye Hoon is in danger of losing the heritage she so prizes as her children move more and more into the modern Western world.

Examining the cases of Quebec, Catalonia, and Scotland, Keating (political science, U. of Western Ontario) argues that nationalist politics have shifted from demanding a nation-state to preserving social cohesion in a world of weakened states. He asserts that the new nationalisms are civic rather than ethnic and exclusive, and that they are free trading and rooted in civil society as much as in state institutions. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

“Between Two Worlds is an extraordinary story of how an innocent young woman got caught up in the current of political events and met individuals whose stories vividly depict human rights violations in Iran.” — Shirin Ebadi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Between Two World is the harrowing chronicle of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi’s imprisonment in Iran—as well as a penetrating look at Iran and its political tensions. Here for the first time is the full story of Saberi’s arrest and imprisonment, which drew international attention as a cause célèbre from Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and leaders across the globe.

In her stunning New York Times bestseller, Jean Harris details her journey from headmistress to prison inmate. On March l0, l980, her life changed dramatically when the bullets intended for her struck down her longtime lover, the Scarsdale Diet doctor, Herman Tarnower. Now in her own words Jean Harris tells the true and unforgettable story of her tragedy and personal triumph.