An educator from Indiana moves to California, a new culture, to start a new life. She soon finds she is ill-equipped for her new surroundings, but rises like a storm to overcome or conceal any deficiencies. She is arrogant and self-confident, becoming a high society lady hosting lavish events and outlandish parties. She and her husband travel world-wide. They have multiple homes. They care for their family. They entertain their friends. They give back to their community. They support various charities. They never ever discuss their own needs, wants and providing for their future. In all the excitement and pleasure, they neglect themselves and the spiritual divine spark that brought them together. This story is one of having wealth, going through a calamitous downfall, collapse and failure and coming out the other side with simplicity and contentment. It is a life filled with abundance, affluence, some would say, “a life being lived in the lap of luxury.” It is a life filled with languish, distress, misery, desperation, wretchedness and dashed hopes. It is a life filled with sorrow, remorse, penance, sack cloth and ashes. It is a life filled with recovery, redemption, atonement and satisfaction. It is life filled with love, praise and forgiveness.

Are you frustrated with the pace at which you live and despite the rapid pace, you don’t seem to be getting any closer to your dreams? Do you exhibit any of these classic symptoms that indicate a life out of balance: anxiety, depression, irritability, insomnia, hopelessness, and even chronic physical ailments. Are you wishing to establish a healthy lifestyle that will last a lifetime? Then you are ready to hear the messages of the giant oak tree. The giant oak has witnessed great strength, limitations, fears, courageous moments, love, hate, and disappointments. The giant oak offers wisdom and solace. It buffers and shades from the storms of life. It has experienced the beginning phases of life and has endured, has flourished, and has triumphed over adversity. This healthy oak tree is a loving presence that will lead you on an adventure, tapping the rich realms of your heart, mind, body and soul and guiding you toward balance, health, harmony, and love into your life. Bring with you, nothing more than a pair of ears for listening, a mind willing to learn and an open heart. You will be given ongoing inspiration and the practical tools you need for the adventure. Be prepared for stunning surprises and wondrous awakenings.

In her six-decade long writing career Adrienne Rich (1929–2012) addressed, with sagacity and probing honesty, most of the significant issues of her lifetime. A poet of finely tuned craft, she won numerous prizes, awards, and honorary degrees, and famously rejected the prestigious National Medal for the Arts in 1997. She wrote twenty-five volumes of poetry and seven non-fiction books as she combined the roles of poet, scholar, theorist, and activist. Rich wrote passionately and powerfully about major 20th and early 21st century concerns such as feminism, racism, sexism, the Vietnam War, Marxism, militarism, the growing income disparities in the U.S., and other social issues. Her works ask important questions about how we should act, and what we should believe. They imagine new ways to deal with the social and political challenges of the twentieth century. Setting her work in the context of her life and American politics and culture during her lifetime, this book explores Rich’s poetic and personal journey from conservative, dutiful follower of cultural and poetic traditions to challenging questioner and critic, from passivity and powerlessness to activist, theorist, and acclaimed “poet of the oppositional imagination.”

The unexpected and moving story of an American journalist who works to uncover her family’s long-buried Jewish ancestry in Spain. Raised a Catholic in California, New York Times journalist Doreen Carvajal is shocked when she discovers that her background may actually be connected to conversos in Inquisition-era Spain , Jews who were forced to renounce their faith and convert to Christianity or face torture and death. With vivid childhood memories of Sunday sermons, catechism, and the rosary, Carvajal travels to the south of Spain, to the centuries-old Andalucian town of Arcos de la Frontera, to investigate her lineage and recover her family’s original religious heritage. In Arcos, Carvajal is struck by the white pueblo's ancient beauty and the difficulty she encounters in probing the town's own secret history of the Inquisition. She comes to realize that fear remains a legacy of the Inquisition along with the cryptic messages left by its victims. Back at her childhood home in California, Carvajal uncovers papers documenting a family of Carvajals who were burned at the stake in the 16th-century territory of Mexico. Could the author’s family history be linked to the hidden history of Arcos? And could the unfortunate Carvajals have been her ancestors? As she strives to find proof that her family had been forced to convert to Christianity six-hundred years ago, Carvajal comes to understand that the past flows like a river through time –and that while the truth might be submerged, it is never truly lost.

Winner: 2021 Firebird Book Award for Contemporary Novel Winner: 2021 Firebird Book Award for Crime Fiction Winner: 2021 Firebird Book Award for Romantic Suspense Winner: 2021 Firebird Book Award for Women's Issues A thriller. A love story. A cruel twist of fate. Sometimes six-feet under isn't enough to bury someone. Lanie Spenser endured a childhood of merry-go-round foster homes before suffering an abusive marriage to Dr. Stanley Greystone. After twenty years of suppression by her husband, she musters the courage to divorce and begin a new life. College, trauma counseling, and an exciting career strengthen Lanie into a confident and capable woman. Feeling empowered and restored, she begins a new relationship. Brock Burnham is everything that Stanley was not-kind, tender, and loving. Brock's quest for adventure, sense of humor, and generous affection allow Lanie to feel hopeful about happy-ever-after's for the first time in her life. On the very day she meets Brock, she attends Stanley's funeral. Her ex-husband's death injects a bevy of baby mamas and discarded children into Lanie's world. As the original wife, she inherits the bulk of his estate as well as a string of clues to piece together the labyrinth of Stanley's lurid activities. His death exposes a tangled web of indiscretions, damaged women, and unspeakable acts of cruelty. With every new grain of discovery, Stanley's evil continues to reach from beyond the grave. Lanie's life unravels as her past collides with her present and she uncovers the darkest of Stanley's transgressions. Stanley's pre-meditated attempts to implicate Lanie in his crimes takes one ugly turn after another and there seems to be no end to the depths of Stanley's malevolence. Each twist of his manipulation plunges a blade deeper into her soul, not only threatening her cherished relationship with Brock, but also her mental stability. After Lanie is compelled to recall every moment of her traumatized marriage, she retreats to a reclusive existence. Desperately holding on to happy memories of being with Brock, she prays reflection and self-forgiveness will keep her from tumbling down a dark and bottomless rabbit hole of despair. She eventually emerges from her self-imposed solitude to reclaim what has been there all along-the sunshine she needs. Loving herself. Loving life. Loving Brock. She hopes it's not too late.

This is a Summary of "The Woman: A Novel" which is a poignant and gripping novel that delves into the lives of Vietnam War veterans as they navigate the complexities of returning home to a nation divided by conflict and haunted by the specter of war. At the heart of the story is Frankie, a resilient and courageous woman who served as a nurse alongside her comrades in arms. Set against the backdrop of the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s, the novel traces Frankie's journey from the battlefields of Vietnam to the hallowed grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Along the way, readers are immersed in a rich tapestry of experiences that capture the camaraderie, the pain, and the indomitable spirit of those who served. Through Frankie's eyes, we witness the profound impact of war on both individuals and families, as well as the enduring bonds forged in the face of adversity. From the harrowing realities of combat to the quiet moments of reflection at the Wall, the novel offers a deeply human exploration of love, loss, and the search for redemption

“Exquisite” (Lisa Barr, New York Times best-selling author of Woman on Fire) and “utterly engrossing” (Katherine Gray, cohost of the Netflix series Blown Away), The Color of Ice will wrap you in its spell, all the way to its unforgettable ending. Set among the glaciers and thermal lagoons of Iceland, and framed by the magical art of glassblowing, The Color of Ice is the breathtaking story of a woman's awakening to passion, beauty, and the redemptive power of unconditional love. The stunning new novel by the author of award-winning novels Queen of the Owls and The Sound Between the Notes . . . Cathryn McAllister, a freelance photographer, travels to Iceland for a photo shoot with an enigmatic artist who wants to capture the country’s iconic blue icebergs in glass. Her plan is to head out, when the job is done, on a carefully curated “best of Iceland” solo vacation. Widowed young, Cathryn has raised two children while achieving professional success. If the price of that efficiency has been the dimming of her fire—well, she hasn’t let herself think about it. Until now. Bit by bit, Cathryn abandons her itinerary to remain with Mack, the glassblower, who awakens a hunger for all the things she’s told herself she doesn’t need anymore. Passion. Vulnerability. Risk. Cathryn finds herself torn between the life—and self—she’s come to know and the new world Mack offers. Commitments await her back in America. But if she walks away, she’ll lose this chance to feel deeply again. Just when her path seems clear, she’s faced with a shocking discovery—and a devastating choice that shows her what love really is.