Mary & Me Beyond the Canvas

Mary & Me Beyond the Canvas
Author: Susan Van Sleet
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2013-01-15
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 1478712015

The year was 1966, and Susie, a senior in high school, found herself with a new label: unwed mother. It was an era of “silent surrender,” and Susie was forced to leave home and move in with her aunt for three months of seclusion until her baby was born and could be put up for adoption. She somehow found the inner strength to survive the solitude, shame, physical changes, and the incredible loss of giving up her baby. Susie was told to forget about her baby and go on with life, but that was impossible. While other birthmothers may have turned to alcohol or drugs to deal with their loss, Susie transformed her deep longing into art. Her most remarkable works were annual paintings of the child she privately named “Mary.” For more than two decades, Mary grew to adulthood on canvas. And twenty-seven years after giving birth, Susie would finally meet Mary—whose given name was Jeanne—in person. The resemblance between the woman before her and the woman in the paintings was remarkable, and there was a connection of epic proportion between mother and child. The adoption experience had come full circle. This inspirational memoir sheds new light on the shadowy era of closed adoption and shares how one woman translated her pain and guilt into art.

On the Run with Mary

On the Run with Mary
Author: Jonathan Barrow
Publisher: New Vessel Press
Total Pages: 131
Release: 2015-11-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1939931282

“One of the most extraordinary, original—and funniest—books I have ever read. Subversive, satirical, like a farcical, erotic, animal-human animated film” (Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy, author of Kinsey: Sex the Measure of All Things). Shining moments of tender beauty punctuate this story of a youth on the run after escaping from an elite English boarding school. At London’s Euston Station, the narrator meets a talking dachshund named Mary and together they’re off on escapades through posh Mayfair streets and jaunts in a Rolls-Royce. But the youth soon realizes the seemingly sweet dog is a handful; an alcoholic, nymphomaniac, drug-addicted mess who can’t stay out of pubs or off the dance floor. In a world of abusive headmasters and other predators, the sexually omnivorous youth discovers that true friends are never needed more than on the mean streets of 1960s London, as he tries to save his beloved Mary from herself. On the Run with Mary mirrors the horrors and the joys of the terrible twentieth century. Jonathan Barrow’s original drawings accompany the text. “A masterpiece by a young genius, fated to die shortly after he had completed it.” —A. N. Wilson, author of Prince Albert: The Man Who Saved the Monarchy “A unique masterpiece from a bizarre mind. To say it’s Lewis Carroll meets Jean Genet . . . would be to belittle its farcically-filthy originality.” —Nicholas Haslam, author of Redeeming Features “Dementedly cheerful . . . A rollicking catalogue of sex, violence, and acts of cartoonish cruelty, Barrow’s novel is a schoolboy’s happy nightmare writ large; readers may find it impossible to look away.” —Publishers Weekly

La Luministe

La Luministe
Author: Paula Butterfield
Publisher: Regal House Publishing
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019-03-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781947548022

A fictional novel that focuses upon the turbulent life and times of one of the founders of the Impressionist movement: Berthe Morisot. This novel was awarded a first prize in historical fiction from the Chanticleer Reviews writing contest.

The Liar's Wife

The Liar's Wife
Author: Mary Gordon
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2015-07-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307390330

In the short novels that make up this beautiful collection, Mary Gordon presents a quartet of finely rendered, emotionally resonant stories. Here we meet the ferocious Simone Weil during her last days as a transplant in New York City; a vulnerable American graduate student who escapes to Italy after her first, compromising love affair; the charming Irish liar of the title, who gets more out of life than most; and Thomas Mann, opening the heart of a high schooler in the Midwest. At every turn, Gordon revels in the interactions and crucial flashes of understanding that change lives forever. Entrancing reading, The Liar’s Wife is a wonderful demonstration of Gordon’s literary mastery and human sympathy.

Christian Women in the Patristic World

Christian Women in the Patristic World
Author: Lynn H. Cohick
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2017-10-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1493410210

From facing wild beasts in the arena to governing the Roman Empire, Christian women--as preachers and philosophers, martyrs and empresses, virgins and mothers--influenced the shape of the church in its formative centuries. This book provides in a single volume a nearly complete compendium of extant evidence about Christian women in the second through fifth centuries. It highlights the social and theological contributions they made to shaping early Christian beliefs and practices, integrating their influence into the history of the patristic church and showing how their achievements can be edifying for contemporary Christians.

Travels in Vermeer

Travels in Vermeer
Author: Michael White
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015-01-06
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0892554371

“This book is a treasure and a guide. It is a type of healing for the intellect and the heart.” - (Rebecca Lee) A lyrical and intimate account of how a poet, in the midst of a bad divorce, finds consolation and grace through viewing the paintings of Vermeer, in six world cities. In the midst of a divorce (in which the custody of his young daughter is at stake) and over the course of a year, the poet Michael White, travels to Amsterdam, The Hague, Delft, London, Washington, and New York to view the paintings of Johannes Vermeer, an artist obsessed with romance and the inner life. He is astounded by how consoling it is to look closely at Vermeer’s women, at the artist’s relationship to his subjects, and at how composition reflects back to the viewer such deep feeling. Includes the author’s very personal study of Vermeer. Through these travels and his encounters with Vermeer’s radiant vision, White finds grace and personal transformation. "White brings [sensitivity] to his luminous readings of the paintings. An enchanting book about the transformative power of art." - (Kirkus Reviews) "… Figures it took a poet to get it this beautifully, thrillingly right.” - (Peter Trachtenberg) "A unique dance among genres...clear and powerful descriptions touch on the mysteries of seduction, loss, and the artistic impulse." - (Clyde Edgerton)

Cherry

Cherry
Author: Mary Karr
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2001-09-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1101650745

From Mary Karr comes this gorgeously written, often hilarious story of her tumultuous teens and sexual coming-of-age. Picking up where the bestselling The Liars' Club left off, Karr dashes down the trail of her teen years with customary sass, only to run up against the paralyzing self-doubt of a girl in bloom. Fleeing the thrills and terrors of adolescence, she clashes against authority in all its forms and hooks up with an unforgettable band of heads and bona-fide geniuses. Parts of Cherry will leave you gasping with laughter. Karr assembles a self from the smokiest beginnings, delivering a long-awaited sequel that is both "bawdy and wise" (San Francisco Chronicle).

Boop and Eve's Road Trip

Boop and Eve's Road Trip
Author: Mary Helen Sheriff
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2020-10-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1631527649

Eve Prince is done—with college, with her mom, with guys, and with her dream of fashion design. But when her best friend goes MIA, Eve must gather together the broken threads of her life in order to search for her. When Eve’s grandmother, Boop, a retiree dripping with Southern charm, finds out about the trip, she—desperate to see her sister, and also hoping to alleviate Eve’s growing depression—hijacks her granddaughter’s road trip. Boop knows from experience that healing Eve will require more than flirting lessons and a Garlic Festival makeover. Nevertheless, Boop is frustrated when her feeble efforts yield the same failure that her sulfur-laced sip from the Fountain of Youth wrought on her age. She knows that sharing the secret that’s haunted her for sixty years might be the one thing that will lessen Eve’s growing depression—but she also fears that if she reveals it, she’ll lose her family and her own hard-won happiness. Boop and Eve’s journey through the heart of Dixie is an unforgettable love story between a grandmother and her granddaughter.

The Sense of an Ending

The Sense of an Ending
Author: Julian Barnes
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 158
Release: 2011-10-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307957330

BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A novel that follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he never much thought about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning achievement in Julian Barnes's oeuvre. Tony Webster thought he left his past behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

The Upper Room

The Upper Room
Author: Mary Monroe
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Total Pages: 366
Release: 2011-04-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 075826772X

The “magnificent, funny, and terrifying” debut novel from the New York Times bestselling author of God Don’t Like Ugly (The San Francisco Chronicle). Mama Ruby’s known for taking things that aren’t rightfully hers, like her best friend’s stillborn infant, who she brought back to life and christened Maureen. She’s also rumored to have done away with her husband. Some fear her, others try their best to avoid her. But Mama Ruby doesn’t pay them any mind. Not when she’s got the one gift God gave her—her precious baby girl. But growing up with a mama like Ruby is enough to make any half-sane girl wish for something—anything—else. And when Maureen gets the chance to explore the “real” world, you can bet she’s going to take it . . . and run like hell. “[An] engaging debut novel . . . The dialogue and setting are reminiscent of Zora Neale Hurston, but the story has a bizarre, violent edge la Stephen King . . . a candid portrayal of the cold-blooded yet fascinating Mama Ruby.” —Publishers Weekly “A chilling story that is bound to astound Monroe’s fans.” —Booklist Praise for Mary Monroe “An exceptional writer and phenomenal storyteller!” —Kimberla Lawson Roby, New York Times bestselling author “A remarkable talent.” —Chicago Sun-Times “Monroe is a masterful storyteller.” —Philadelphia Inquirer