From 1967 to 1973, a period that culminated in the socialist project of Salvador Allende, nearly 400,000 low-income Chileans illegally seized parcels of land on the outskirts of Santiago. Remarkably, today almost all of these individuals live in homes with property titles. As Edward Murphy shows, this transformation came at a steep price, through an often-violent political and social struggle that continues to this day. In analyzing the causes and consequences of this struggle, Murphy reveals a crucial connection between homeownership and understandings of proper behavior and governance. This link between property and propriety has been at the root of a powerful, contested urban politics central to both social activism and urban development projects. Through projects of reform, revolution, and reaction, a right to housing and homeownership has been a significant symbol of governmental benevolence and poverty reduction. Under Pinochet's neoliberalism, subsidized housing and slum eradication programs displaced many squatters, while awarding them homes of their own. This process, in addition to ongoing forms of activism, has permitted the vast majority of squatters to live in homes with property titles, a momentous change of the past half-century. This triumph is tempered by the fact that today the urban poor struggle with high levels of unemployment and underemployment, significant debt, and a profoundly segregated and hostile urban landscape. They also find it more difficult to mobilize than in the past, and as homeowners they can no longer rally around the cause of housing rights. Citing cultural theorists from Marx to Foucault, Murphy directly links the importance of home ownership and property rights among Santiago's urban poor to definitions of Chilean citizenship and propriety. He explores how the deeply embedded liberal belief system of individual property ownership has shaped political, social, and physical landscapes in the city. His approach sheds light on the role that social movements and the gendered contours of home life have played in the making of citizenship. It also illuminates processes through which squatters have received legally sanctioned homes of their own, a phenomenon of critical importance in cities throughout much of Latin America and the Global South.

Have you heard the words, I never dared to treat my parents the way kids do today? If you are a baby boomer or the parent of a tween, teen, or adult child, not only have you heard those words, you may have uttered them yourself. If, in this new age of childparent relations, youve ever felt like a helpless puppy or kitten inside a box marked Free to Good Home,if, in spite of all your love and the care with which you embraced parenting, your child has grown into an entitled and thoughtless power broker in your relationshipread on. Author Kay Taylor has studied sociology, parenting, blended families and personal growth for years; in this bold, groundbreaking book she explores the changes in our culture that she believes have given birth to what she describes as the E-generationa generation of teens and young adults that feel so empowered and entitled that they often clash with their parents, creating a palpable power struggle within the family. This often leaves good parents alone, depressed, and completely befuddled as to what they did wrong. Free Mother to Good Home comes from the heart and experiences of an everyday parent in the trenches. Taylor offers a mothers perspective, as well as a remedy for parental blues, helping parents know what they can do to get their houses and their lives back in order.

Take two reality pills and call me in the morning. Swine Flu. Financial meltdown. It's been a bad year for pigs and pigs in suits. The only thing for it is a good dose of Catherine Deveny, who each week in the Age puts everything into perspective with her trademark iconoclastic wit. Free to a Good Home includes her thoughts on gifted children and breakfast television, sexy billboards and the bill of rights. She reflects on her youngest child's first day at school, and on how to be happy in hard times. Fearlessly funny and always provocative, Deveny is the perfect antidote to the modern world's ills. Can anyone explain why I did this? I went to the chemist and bought this crap I put on my face to make me look younger. I put the jar on the counter. The chemist girl said, 'Is this stuff any good?' I said, 'Yeah.' She said, 'Really?' I said, 'I'm sixty.' Eyes like saucers, mouth agape, she gasped, 'OH MY GOD! Sixty! Toula! Fatima! Kelly! Come and check out this old lady. She's sixty!' So the other chemist girls scurried over and after a bit of oohing and aahing one said, 'Oh my God! Sixty? You look like you're forty-five!' I'm forty. Chemist girls, one. Smart-arse, zero.

A delightful debut novel about a woman coming to terms with past disappointments and forging a bright new future-man and dog included. Noelle Ryan works as a veterinary technician at a New England animal shelter, helping pets find homes. If only it were as easy to find one for herself. After discovering she can't have children-and watching her marriage fall apart after a shocking revelation by her husband-she feels as sad and lost as the strays she rescues. She can't seem to get over her ex, Jay. Unfortunately, all Jay wants from her is a huge favor: serving as caretaker for his elderly mother, who blames Noelle for the breakup. While Jay heads off to Atlanta to live the life of a bachelor, Noelle is left only with her Great Dane, Zeke, to comfort her. But when a carefree musician named Jasper tugs at her heartstrings, giving her a second chance at life- and at love- Noelle comes to realize that home is truly where the heart is.

Free to a Good Home is about small farms and big dogs; farmers, their families and friends; bird feeders and feeders of birds; dust and rust; stone walls and other fences; New Hampshire’s First-In-The-Nation-Primary and other entertainment; a few laughs and a few tears. (excerpt) “...Janet, Maggie, and I lay between the rows of blueberries, listening to the slight rustling of the corn and the soft, endless chirp of peepers from the trees, enjoying the sweet, familiar smell of the ripe berries, mesmerized by the grandeur of the Perseid meteor shower. Fresh from chasing frogs in the swamp, Maggie fitted herself between us, her muddy feet and fur still dripping of swamp water, soiling and soaking our clothes ... (excerpt) Free to a Good Home. The cynic in me believes that nothing is free but I’m enough of a romantic to believe at times that everything is free. Maggie was named because of Margaret Thatcher. We already had a dog named Thatcher and Janet couldn’t resist naming the six-month-old, sixty-five pound ‘Free to a good home’ female puppy of indeterminate breeding, Margaret. We called her Maggie and sometimes Margaret S. Dog. She would respond to any of these names if she considered it to be in her best interest and respond to none of them if not.”

Book two in the Heart series. Can the path of true love ever run smooth? Wedding bells are chiming in the village of Clunderton, but will it be happy-ever-afters all around? Rebecca Cavendish thinks not. All she’s feeling is shame and remorse since her affair with property mogul, Edward Hardwicke, whilst in another corner of the village, Louise Edwards is slowly coming to the conclusion she might not be in love with husband, Johnnie, anymore. Meanwhile, Lottie Hardwicke is resisting the urge to do what she does best…interfere. When Edward’s son, James, turns up announcing Hardwickes’ intentions to develop land on the outskirts of the village into residential homes, and Edward makes a further shocking announcement, a divide begins to set hold amongst the villagers, perhaps more monumental than the country being torn apart by Brexit… Will Lottie refrain? Or will she cave-in to that need to interfere, and ensure everyone ends up with their heart in the right home?

He's the hometown hero. She's the small-town sweetheart he left behind. When Katie's high school sweetheart, Brock, severed ties with her, she thought it was the end of the world. They were supposed to marry and live happily ever after. With some help from her friends and family, she healed, grew up, and moved on. There were some bumps along the way, but Katie reached the point where she could say she was happy with her life. Then Brock moved back to Three Creeks and turned her world upside down. Retired Army Colonel Brock Buchanan knows how to go into a battle. He's served on numerous tours and helped rebuild communities under the enemy's nose. They say love is a battlefield, so he should have the upper hand when he returns to Three Creeks to claim what he foolishly left behind all those years ago. When Brock and Katie reconnect at a high school reunion, they take a trip to the past. Brock sees a new future for them. Katie has 20/20 hindsight of everything that went wrong. Everyone in Three Creeks is asking the same question. Does Brock have enough love to rekindle the romance he left behind? Read this heartwarming, small town, clean romance and find out why Brock wants to return home for good.

Thirty-seven million Americans move during any given year. Millions more think about it. They all want the same thing—a perfect place to live. But most of us have only the vaguest idea of what makes us happy, home-wise, and don’t even know all the questions to ask. That’s where Marianne Cusato comes in. One of the most influential people in the home-building industry, designer of the Katrina Cottages, and go-to authority for the media on issues related to housing, she’s written a comprehensive, interactive guide to finding the just right home. This is the book that answers the plea she hears every time she gives a speech—“I wish I’d talked to you before buying my house!” By leading the reader through every step of choosing a home—from the broad strokes, such as city vs. suburb and buy vs. rent, to specific details of energy use and building materials—The Just Right Home helps readers understand not only what they want in a home but what they need. It shows why proximity—to work, to stores, to schools—trumps location, and what the difference means. Why a property’s live-in value is greater than its resale value. How to identify and assess the big three variables: function, cost, delight. How to get a realistic grip on budget, including factoring in maintenance costs. How to plan for future needs—children moving out, a parent moving in, or just growing old in a home. Why all square feet are not created equal. The ins and outs of zonings, covenants, home-owner associations. The five elements to look for when walking through a property. How much to pay an inspector. And so much more. Filled with sidebars, boxes, examples, anecdotes, and cheat sheets, it’s the book that helps readers answer all their questions about where to live and what to live in.

A Good Home is an addictive read, a profoundly emotional book about the author's early life in rural Jamaica, her move to urban North America, and her trips back home, all told through vivid descriptions of the unique homes she has lived in -- from a tiny pink house in Jamaica and a mountainside cabin near Vancouver to the historic Victorian farmhouse she lives in today, surrounded by neighbors who share spicy Malaysian noodles and seafood, Greek pastries and roast lamb, and Italian tomato sauce and wine (really strong wine). Full of lovingly drawn characters and vividly described places, A Good Home takes the reader through deeply moving stories of marriage, children, the death of parents, and an accident that takes its high-flying author down a humbling notch. Its pages sparkle with stories and reflections on home as: A foundation on which to build connections with children, relatives, and friends A place to celebrate the joys of elegant design, overflowing gardens (except for the wisteria vine, which cannot be coaxed into blooming), and the sharing of good food A wise teacher, showing us who we really were -- and who we really are When this brave, clear-eyed, and honest book returns, full circle, to the way it began, readers will want to read it all over again.