Sexual Progressives is a major new study of the feminists and socialists who campaigned against the moral conservatism of the Victorian period. Drawing on a range of sources, from letters and diaries to radical newspapers and utopian novels, it provides the first group portrait of Scotland’s hitherto neglected sexual rebels. They include Bella and Charles Pearce, prominent Glasgow socialists and disciples of an American-based mystic who taught that religion needed ‘re-sexed’; Jane Hume Clapperton, a feminist freethinker with advanced views on birth-control and women’s right to sexual pleasure; and Patrick Geddes, founder of an avant-garde Edinburgh subculture and co-author of an influential scientific book on sex. A consideration of their lives and work forces a reappraisal of our understanding of British sexual progressivism during this period and will therefore be of interest to all historians of modern gender and sexuality.

Lily Bell: Worthy of Love is timeless fable written for children yet touches the heart of all ages, especially those with special needs who long to be included. It is a story of a frail yet determined dove named Lily Bell who is unable to fly. With the help of her family and some unlikely friends, she journeys through the forest to finally find what she has been searching for: her purpose and worth. Lily Bell realizes that she can do all of the things with her friends, just in a different way. The moral of the story is we are all wonderfully made with a unique purpose and plan for our lives. Through our brokenness or “imperfections,” we are able to help others. With the “perfect” self-image being projected on to today’s generation, the story of Lily Bell: Worthy of Love is a heart-warming, uplifting, and relevant change that delivers a strong message of acceptance, friendship, and courage in a way that children will understand and adults will appreciate: we are all worthy of love.

THE summer moon shone brightly down upon the sleeping earth, while far away from mortal eyes danced the Fairy folk. Fire-flies hung in bright clusters on the dewy leaves, that waved in the cool night-wind; and the flowers stood gazing, in very wonder, at the little Elves, who lay among the fern-leaves, swung in the vine-boughs, sailed on the lake in lily cups, or danced on the mossy ground, to the music of the hare-bells, who rung out their merriest peal in honor of the night.

"Many Kingdoms" by Elizabeth Garver Jordan is a captivating novel that transports readers to a world of royalty, intrigue, and forbidden love. Set in a lush and opulent kingdom, Jordan creates a rich tapestry of characters and interwoven storylines that captivate the imagination. As the lives of princes and princesses collide, secrets are unveiled, and alliances are tested, "Many Kingdoms" offers a riveting exploration of power, duty, and the complexities of matters of the heart. Jordan's vivid prose and compelling storytelling make this novel a page-turner for lovers of royal dramas and epic romances.