A shocking indictment of polygamy, this book reveals gruesome facts about Bible-based polygamy through the experiences of 18 brave women who escaped from ten of the 11 main polygamous groups. (Christian)

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE starring Abigail Cowen, Tom Lewis, Nina Dobrev, with Logan Marshall Green and Eric Dane, special appearance by Famke Janssen. Distributed by Universal Pictures with a screenplay by Francine Rivers and D.J. Caruso. California’s gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep. Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside. Then she meets Michael Hosea, a man who seeks his Father’s heart in everything. Michael obeys God’s call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel’s every bitter expectation, until despite her resistance, her frozen heart begins to thaw. But with her unexpected softening comes overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband’s pursuing love, terrified of the truth she no longer can deny: her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael does . . . the One who will never let her go. A powerful retelling of the story of Gomer and Hosea, Redeeming Love is a life-changing story of God’s unconditional, redemptive, all-consuming love. Includes a six-part reading group guide!

Set in the impoverished and bustling Lower East Side of Manhattan at the turn of the 20th century, The God of Vengeance is a memorable urban drama of intrigue and romantic liaisons. The God of Vengeance is a gritty, unflinching yet deftly written play, wherein the complexities of human existence and flaws are explored to their fullest. A brothel owner lives with his family above his place of business, and strives to keep his young daughter innocent of what goes on in the establishment that provides their livelihood. However, the girl's curiosity gets the better of her; upon witnessing the sordid goings on, she rapidly develops a fascination for one of the working girls. First published in 1906, and sporadically staged in the decades to follow, the play is unique for featuring a lesbian love affair - a matter shocking and taboo for its era. After one performance in English in 1923, the entire cast was placed under arrest for indecency. Critics of the time were divided; many noted its artistic qualities, but roundly condemned its frank and unabashed depiction of female homosexuality. Others proclaimed it a great drama, and a culturally significant product of the Yiddish diaspora of New York City.

As a child, Carla van Raay experienced a trauma that changed her forever. Burdened by the weight of this terrible secret, all she wanted to do was survive. Life as a nun promised refuge from the outside world. Carla hoped to find love and understanding within the convent walls. Instead she became enmeshed in a complex system of regulations that drove her to the brink of madness. Finally released from her vows, she escaped back into the 'real' world. A hasty marriage and separation left Carla with a daughter to support. With few professional skills to rely on from her years as a nun, she turned to another age-old profession - prostitution. She worked as an escort to learn the ropes, then struck out on her own, setting up a massage service. God's Callgirl was born. When eventually the seamier side of the business began to assert itself, Carla embarked on a journey to uncover the dark secret of her past.

Christopher Hitchens, described in the London Observer as “one of the most prolific, as well as brilliant, journalists of our time” takes on his biggest subject yet–the increasingly dangerous role of religion in the world. In the tradition of Bertrand Russell’s Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris’s recent bestseller, The End Of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope’s awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry of the double helix.

A poignant account of everyday polygamy and what its regulation reveals about who is viewed as an "Other" In the past thirty years, polygamy has become a flashpoint of conflict as Western governments attempt to regulate certain cultural and religious practices that challenge seemingly central principles of family and justice. In Forbidden Intimacies, Melanie Heath comparatively investigates the regulation of polygamy in the United States, Canada, France, and Mayotte. Drawing on a wealth of ethnographic and archival sources, Heath uncovers the ways in which intimacies framed as "other" and "offensive" serve to define the very limits of Western tolerance. These regulation efforts, counterintuitively, allow the flourishing of polygamies on the ground. The case studies illustrate a continuum of justice, in which some groups, like white fundamentalist Mormons in the U.S., organize to fight against the prohibition of their families' existence, whereas African migrants in France face racialized discrimination in addition to rigid migration policies. The matrix of legal and social contexts, informed by gender, race, sexuality, and class, shapes the everyday experiences of these relationships. Heath uses the term "labyrinthine love" to conceptualize the complex ways individuals negotiate different kinds of relationships, ranging from romantic to coercive. What unites these families is the secrecy in which they must operate. As government intervention erodes their abilities to secure housing, welfare, work, and even protection from abuse, Heath exposes the huge variety of intimacies, and the power they hold to challenge heteronormative, Western ideals of love.

All Tastes! • All Species! • All Currencies! You can find anything in Scalentine, the city of portals, but you won’t find a better brothel than the Red Lantern. And its proprietor, Babylon Steel (ex-mercenary, ex-priestess, ex… lots of things), means to keep it that way. But a prurient cult are protesting in the streets, sex workers are disappearing, and Babylon has bills to pay. When the powerful Diplomatic Section hires her – off the books – to find a missing heiress, she has to take the job. And then her past starts to catch up with her... Originally published as Babylon Steel in 2011 to critical acclaim, this trope-busting, inclusive, sex positive fantasy is back to delight and entertain readers, complete with a gorgeous new cover from Discworld artist Stephen Player.