Beautiful Shadow

Beautiful Shadow
Author: Andrew Wilson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 578
Release: 2008-12-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 159691968X

The life of Patricia Highsmith was as secretive and unusual as that of many of the best-known characters who people her "peerlessly disturbing" thrillers and short stories. Yet even as her work has found new popularity in the last few years, the life of this famously elusive writer has remained a mystery. For Beautiful Shadow, the first biography of Highsmith, British journalist Andrew Wilson mined the vast archive of diaries, notebooks, and letters she left behind, astonishing in their candor and detail. He interviewed her closest friends and colleagues as well as some of her many lovers. But Wilson also traces Highsmith's literary roots in the work of Poe, noir, and existentialism, locating the influences that helped distinguish Highsmith's writing so startlingly from more ordinary thrillers. The result is both a serious critical biography and one that reveals much about a brilliant and contradictory woman, one who despite her acclaim and affairs always maintained her solitude.

Beautiful Demons

Beautiful Demons
Author: Sarra Cannon
Publisher: Dead River Books
Total Pages: 75
Release: 2010-10-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1624210007

In Peachville, even the cheerleaders have a dark side... Harper Madison isn’t like other girls. She has extraordinary powers, but her inability to control them has gotten her kicked from so many foster homes she’s lost count. Shadowford Home is her last chance, and she hopes Peachville High will be the fresh start she needs. But when evidence ties her to the gruesome murder of a Demons cheerleader, Harper discovers this small town has a big secret.

Shadow

Shadow
Author: Lucy Christopher
Publisher: Lantana Publishing
Total Pages: 40
Release: 2020-06-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1913747085

A modern fairy tale about overcoming our fears and reconnecting with those we love most. In our old house, Ma told me there was nothing to be scared of. No monsters hiding behind doors, or in wardrobes, or under beds. She said there were no dark places at all. But in the new house, under my new bed, that's where I found Shadow. “Beautiful. A really powerful exploration of a child’s experience of a parent’s depression. Big and brave” —Nicola Davies, award-winning author “This soft-spoken story can be anything from a simple, lovely, modern fairy tale to a stunning allegory about overcoming fear & how a parent's depression can affect a child”—ALA Booklist “Helpful to any family going through a challenging situation yet hoping for a brighter future”—Youth Services Book Reviews, 5 STARS

Gods of Jade and Shadow

Gods of Jade and Shadow
Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Publisher: Del Rey
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2019-07-23
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0525620761

The Mayan god of death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this dark, one-of-a-kind fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore. “A spellbinding fairy tale rooted in Mexican mythology . . . Gods of Jade and Shadow is a magical fairy tale about identity, freedom, and love, and it's like nothing you've read before.”—Bustle NEBULA AWARD FINALIST • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • Tordotcom • The New York Public Library • BookRiot The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own. Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true. In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld. Praise for Gods of Jade and Shadow “A dark, dazzling fairy tale . . . a whirlwind tour of a 1920s Mexico vivid with jazz, the memories of revolution, and gods, demons, and magic.”—NPR “Snappy dialog, stellar worldbuilding, lyrical prose, and a slow-burn romance make this a standout. . . . Purchase where Naomi Novik, Nnedi Okorafor, and N. K. Jemisin are popular.”—Library Journal (starred review) “A magical novel of duality, tradition, and change . . . Moreno-Garcia’s seamless blend of mythology and history provides a ripe setting for Casiopea’s stellar journey of self-discovery, which culminates in a dramatic denouement. Readers will gladly immerse themselves in Moreno-Garcia’s rich and complex tale of desperate hopes and complicated relationships.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Shadow on the Crown

Shadow on the Crown
Author: Patricia Bracewell
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 483
Release: 2013-02-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101606193

A rich tale of power and forbidden love revolving around a young medieval queen In 1002, fifteen­-year-old Emma of Normandy crosses the Narrow Sea to wed the much older King Athelred of England, whom she meets for the first time at the church door. Thrust into an unfamiliar and treacherous court, with a husband who mistrusts her, stepsons who resent her and a bewitching rival who covets her crown, Emma must defend herself against her enemies and secure her status as queen by bearing a son. Determined to outmaneuver her adversaries, Emma forges alliances with influential men at court and wins the affection of the English people. But her growing love for a man who is not her husband and the imminent threat of a Viking invasion jeopardize both her crown and her life. Based on real events recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Shadow on the Crown introduces readers to a fascinating, overlooked period of history and an unforgettable heroine whose quest to find her place in the world will resonate with modern readers.

Cast No Shadow

Cast No Shadow
Author: Nick Tapalansky
Publisher: First Second Books
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2017-10-10
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1596438770

A doomed romance brings a town to its knees in this teen gothic graphic novel from acclaimed comics writer Tapalansky and phenomenal newcomer artist Espinosa.

Gravity's Shadow

Gravity's Shadow
Author: Harry Collins
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 896
Release: 2010-08-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0226113795

According to the theory of relativity, we are constantly bathed in gravitational radiation. When stars explode or collide, a portion of their mass becomes energy that disturbs the very fabric of the space-time continuum like ripples in a pond. But proving the existence of these waves has been difficult; the cosmic shudders are so weak that only the most sensitive instruments can be expected to observe them directly. Fifteen times during the last thirty years scientists have claimed to have detected gravitational waves, but so far none of those claims have survived the scrutiny of the scientific community. Gravity's Shadow chronicles the forty-year effort to detect gravitational waves, while exploring the meaning of scientific knowledge and the nature of expertise. Gravitational wave detection involves recording the collisions, explosions, and trembling of stars and black holes by evaluating the smallest changes ever measured. Because gravitational waves are so faint, their detection will come not in an exuberant moment of discovery but through a chain of inference; for forty years, scientists have debated whether there is anything to detect and whether it has yet been detected. Sociologist Harry Collins has been tracking the progress of this research since 1972, interviewing key scientists and delineating the social process of the science of gravitational waves. Engagingly written and authoritatively comprehensive, Gravity's Shadow explores the people, institutions, and government organizations involved in the detection of gravitational waves. This sociological history will prove essential not only to sociologists and historians of science but to scientists themselves.

Hortense and the Shadow

Hortense and the Shadow
Author: Natalia O'Hara
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2017-11-07
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0316440817

A haunting, original fairy tale from two dazzling debut picture book talents, in the spirit of Neil Gaiman and Carson Ellis. Hortense is a kind and brave girl, but she is sad--even angry--that her shadow follows her everywhere she goes. She hates her shadow, and thinks her shadow must hate her too. But one cold, dark night, when bandits surprise her in the woods, Hortense discovers that her shadow is the very thing she needs most. This stunningly illustrated story stirs the soul with its compelling, subtle exploration of self-esteem, self-identity, and finding inner strength.

My Beautiful Shadow

My Beautiful Shadow
Author: Radhika Jha
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2014-11-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9351362787

'I have a secret. I belong to a club. And my club is the biggest, best kept secret in all of Tokyo. You can call my club the beauty lovers' club.' Kayo is a young Tokyo housewife and mother. Outwardly, she is no different from other young mothers. But she has a secret. She belongs to a kind of a club. It involves beautiful clothes and accessories and is the most important thing in their lives. The club makes it possible for Kayo to escape the tedium of her life, and to embrace a dazzling new world. But it quickly becomes an obsession, a drug, the way to both paradise and hell. Can she find her way out of the dark underworld of debt, lies and prostitution? Or is she doomed to exchange one form of loneliness for another? A deeply absorbing novel about the 'holes' that suddenly appear in women's lives, My Beautiful Shadow is also a powerful cautionary tale about consumerism gone mad.

Shadow Garden

Shadow Garden
Author: Alexandra Burt
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2020-07-21
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0440000335

A wealthy woman suspects something is off about the luxurious complex she lives in . . . and she is right, in this riveting domestic-suspense novel from international bestselling author Alexandra Burt. Donna Pryor lives in the lap of luxury. She spends her days in a beautifully appointed condo. Her every whim is catered to by a dedicated staff, and she does not want for anything. Except for news of her adult daughter. Or an ex-husband who takes her calls. Donna knows something is wrong, but she can't quite put her finger on it. As her life of privilege starts to feel more and more like a prison, the facade she has depended on begins to crumble. Somewhere in the ruins is the truth, and the closer Donna Pryor gets to it, the more likely it is to destroy her.