Sam and Henny Pollit have too many children, too little money, and too much loathing for one another. As Sam uses the children's adoration to feed his own voracious ego, Henny watches in bleak despair, knowing the bitter reality that lies just below his mad visions. A chilling novel of the relations between parents and children, husbands and wives, The Man Who Loved Children is acknowledged as a contemporary classic.
"Simply as a portrait of an extraordinary family, the book probably has no equal....C.M. Hébert reads the challenging text with skill and understanding."-Library Journal
Early one morning in 1754, the stillness of Charlestown, New Hampshire, is shattered by shrill war whoops and the terror of an Indian raid. Young Miriam Willard, on a day which had promised new happiness, finds herself instead a captive on a forest trail, caught up in the ebb and flow of the French and Indian War.
She endures a harrowing march north to what she imagines may be a life of slavery. But when they reach Montreal, a sudden twist of fortune brings Miriam to the acquaintance of the prominent Du Quesne family. The Du Quesnes introduce her to a life of luxury that she never could have imagined, and compel her to the most important decision of her life. Based on the actual narrative diary published in 1907, Calico Captive skillfully re-enacts an absorbing facet of history.
"The constant shifts of locale and situation present narrator Hébert with an excellent showcase for her range of talents....But the very best part is the realistic, almost insider's, view of early American war, class structure, and prejudice."-AudioFile
In twenty years of show business, Lucille Ball had only modest and sporadic success. Her television program, I Love Lucy, was her last chance to fulfill the ambition that had sustained her through the frustrations of her professional life and the anguish of a failing marriage. The role of Lucy Ricardo revealed her true gifts, but it changed her life immeasurably, and the remarkable individual who was Lucille Ball became slowly obscured in the shadows of Lucy.
This definitive portrait of Lucille is based on the recollections of fellow performers like Milton Berle, Ginger Rogers, Bob Hope, and Katherine Hepburn; her closest friends and family; and Lucille herself. From her childhood, when her virtual abandonment instilled in her a relentless drive for love and attention, through her struggling years in Hollywood and her troubled relationship with Desi Arnaz, Brady vividly recounts the story of this passionate and vulnerable woman.
"While Brady is a fan, she is also a fine biographer. Her admiration is both clear-eyed and penetrating. With insight and impressive detail, Brady goes beyond Ball's most famous creation-Lucy Ricardo-to expose the complex, determined woman." -Chicago Sun-Times
Ethan Frome is a keenly etched portrait of the simple inhabitants of a nineteenth-century New England village. Ethan, a gaunt, patient New Englander, is a man tormented by a passionate love for his wife's young cousin. His desperate quest for happiness ultimately leads to pain and despair.
Since starting an informal school at Plumfield, Jo and Professor Bhaer provide a haven for poor orphaned boys who thrive on warmth, goodness, and the affectionate interest of the March and Bhaer families. Sometimes it's difficult to tame the wild manners and spirits of boys who have had no nurturing. But the Bhaers have time for all and are rewarded with the trust of the boys, who confide all their hopes, plans, ambitions, and misfortunes.
This is the charming, human account of the adventures of lovely, wealthy Rose Campbell as she grows into young womanhood. Rose's greatest attraction undoubtedly is that she's such a real girl. She has her trials and disappointments, her temptations and failures. But with the aid of loving counsel and a level head, she manages to turn into a thoroughly lovable, admirable woman.
This second story about the March family, Good Wives, picks up three years after the close of Little Women. The March girls and their friend Laurie are young adults with only their futures to find. Along the way they all face painful trials, but each of the girls finds happiness, although not always in the way expected.
Robert Coles first met Dorothy Day when he worked in one of her Catholic worker soup kitchens. He remained close to this inspiring and controversial woman until her death in 1980. His book confronts candidly the central puzzles of her life.
Dreiser transforms the conventional "fallen woman" story into a genuinely original work of imaginative fiction. He hurls his impressionable eighteen-year-old heroine into the amoral world of the big city and reveals, with powerful insight, the driving forces of our culture: America's restless idealism, glamorous material seductions and spiritual innocence.
