Showing results by narrator "Elizabeth Wiley" in All Categories

This powerful Cold War novel tells the story of two cousins, one German and the other an American Army brat, as they navigate the political and social turmoil that threatens their friendship and ends in the abrupt rise of the Berlin Wall–which may separate them forever. Drew is an army brat, a...

Mary "Mae" Foley was a force to be reckoned with. On one hip she held her makeup compact, on the other, her NYPD badge. When women were fighting for the vote, Mae was fighting crime in the heart of New York City—taking down rapists, bootleggers, Nazis, and serial killers. One of the first women to be sworn into the police force, Mae not only fought crime in the city that never sleeps, but also did something much bigger—challenged the patriarchal systems that continually tried to shut her and other women down.

After a couple of close calls, local news reporter Josie Posey and her meddling Mahjong Mavens have vowed to mind their own business and leave all crime-solving to the authorities. But when her friend Nellie's Aunt Pearl, a respected doll collector, needs help, Josie springs into action.

In the schoolroom of a simple European village, Kicsi spends her days dreaming of the lands beyond the mountains: Paris and New York, Arabia, and Shanghai. When the local rabbi curses Kicsi's school for teaching lessons in Hebrew, the holy tongue, the possibility of adventure seems further away than ever. But when a mysterious stranger appears telling stories of far-off lands, Kicsi feels the world within her grasp.

When her six-year-old nephew vanishes from a neighborhood carnival, Aubrey Lynd's safe, snow-globe world fractures; it shatters when the FBI's investigation raises questions about her own family that Aubrey can't answer. Aubrey picks apart the inconsistencies to expose the first of many lies: a ransom note - concealed from the FBI - with a terrifying and impossible ultimatum. Aubrey doesn't know what to believe or whom to trust.

In Tokyo, Angelica Navarro, a Filipina nurse who has been working in Japan for the last five years, is the caretaker for Sayoko Itou, an intensely private woman about to turn 100 years old. Angelica is a dedicated nurse, working night and day to keep her paperwork in order, obey the strict labor laws for foreign nationals, study for her ongoing proficiency exams, and most of all keep her demanding client happy.

If you feel frazzled, you dwell in good company. Racing between the demands of work, health, family, and friends, many people report feelings of worry, irritability, and increasing stress. While we often cannot control stressful life events, we can learn to control our brain's response to those circumstances and reduce our suffering.

The year was 1832, a cholera pandemic raged, and the French royal family was in exile, driven out by yet another revolution. From a drafty Scottish castle, the duchesse de Berry - the mother of the 11-year-old heir to the throne - hatched a plot to restore the Bourbon dynasty. For months, she commanded a guerilla army and evaded capture by disguising herself as a man. But soon she was betrayed by her trusted advisor, Simon Deutz, the son of France's Chief Rabbi.

Clara Cannucciari became an internet sensation late in life, making cooking videos until her 96th birthday. Her YouTube® Great Depression Cooking channel garnered an army of devoted followers. Now, in Clara's Kitchen, she gives listeners words of wisdom to buck up America's spirits, recipes to keep the wolf from the door, and tells her story of growing up during the Great Depression with a tight-knit family and a "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" philosophy of living.

Hailed by the New Yorker as "a crucial forebear of generations," award–winning director Joyce Chopra came of age in the 1950s, prior to the dawn of feminism, and long before the #MeToo movement. As a young woman, it seemed impossible that she might one day realize her dream of becoming a film director. In this engaging, candid memoir, award–winning director Joyce Chopra describes how she learned to navigate the deeply embedded sexism of the film industry, helping to pave the way for a generation of women filmmakers who would come after her.

"A child of my own. Flesh of my flesh...." That is the deep yearning that fills Tess' heart. Despite years spent under a doctor's care and advances in medical technology, she and her husband have discovered their options have been exhausted, leaving them with arms empty, long-held dreams shattered. A unique opportunity arises in the form of a young pregnant teen desperate to free herself from her misguided decisions.

Ruth McClintock is obsessed with Annie Oakley. For nearly a decade, she has been studying the legendary sharpshooter, convinced that a scarring childhood event was the impetus for her crusade to arm every woman in America. This search has cost Ruth her doctorate, a book deal, and her fiance - but finally it has borne fruit. She has managed to hunt down what may be a journal of Oakley's midlife struggles, including secret visits to a psychoanalyst and the desire for vengeance against the "Wolves", or those who have wronged her.

Between the 12th and 15th centuries in Europe, not all women fit the stereotype of passive housewife and mother. Many led bold and dynamic lives. In this collection of historical portraits, Maria Teresa Brolis tells the fascinating tales of fashion icons, art clients, businesswomen, saints, healers, lovers, and pilgrims - both famous and little known - who challenge conventional understandings of the medieval female experience. Drawing on evidence from literary works and archival documents, Brolis pieces together an intricate overview of 16 women's lives.

Burl Davis checked out of this life a little earlier than expected - before Holly could serve him with divorce papers over his extramarital flings. Unfortunately, it was not before he nearly bankrupted her beloved B&B, Holly Grove, a converted plantation in her family for generations. Holly would never wish anyone dead, but three months later, she's feeling a lot more relief than grief. But then Burl's ghost appears as an unwelcome guest. Before his spirit can move on, her not-so-dearly departed needs Holly’s help to bust up the drug-smuggling ring he was involved with.

Josie Posey, a mature yet ever-feisty big city crime reporter turned crime solver, has officially retired to a touristy small town in middle America where she and her posse of friends "unofficially" have their noses in everything. Josie loves her new life, but a weekly game of mahjong isn't enough: she itches to get back into the action. She gets more than she bargained for when The Village Gazette asks her to interview their local celebrity, a former NYC prima ballerina. Then, the ballerina's husband is discovered dead—face down in the couple's beloved field of flowers.

Gender exists in almost every society as a way of organizing its people. Gender is used to assign certain responsibilities, obligations, and privileges to some, and to deny them to others. In Gender: A World History, Susan Kingsley Kent tells the story of this seemingly simple but in fact quite complex concept. With historical perspective, she critically examines our everyday understandings of women and men, masculinity and femininity, and sexual difference in general.

The Uncollected Essays of Elizabeth Hardwick is a companion collection to The Collected Essays, a book that proved a revelation of what, for many, had been an open secret: that Elizabeth Hardwick was one of the great American literary critics, and an extraordinary stylist in her own right. The thirty-five pieces that Alex Andriesse has gathered here-none previously featured in volumes of Hardwick's work-make it clear that her powers extended far beyond literary criticism.

Why do some Americans find pleasure in sleeping outside, particularly when so many others, past and present, have had to do so for reasons other than recreation? Never only a vacation choice, camping has been something people do out of dire necessity and as a tactic of political protest. Yet the dominant interpretation of camping as a modern recreational ideal has obscured the connections to these other roles. Camping Grounds rediscovers unexpected and interwoven histories of sleeping outside.

We all have to work with people we can't stand to be around. Our challenge is to find creative ways to handle these difficult people. In the fable Make Difficult People Disappear, the skills and strategic plan needed to change your mindset are told through a clear, concise story. By first understanding the four main personality types in the workplace, commander, organizer, relater, and entertainer, listeners can then devise effective strategies for diffusing unproductive and damaging behavior.

In the next decade and a half, China and India will become two of the world's indispensable powers - whether they rise peacefully or not. During that time, Asia will surpass the combined strength of North America and Europe in economic might, population size, and military spending. Both India and China will have vetoes over many international decisions, from climate change to global trade, human rights, and business standards.