“An extraordinary work of women’s history, offering a candid consideration of the wifely role in politics during a pre-women’s movement era.” —Texas Observer Child of the Great Depression, teenage “Duchess of Palms” beauty queen, wife of an acclaimed novelist and later of a brilliant U.S. congressman, and ultimately a successful single working woman and mother, Nadine Eckhardt has lived a fascinating life. In this unique, funny, and honest memoir, she recounts her journey from being a “fifties girl” who lived through the men in her life to becoming a woman in her own right, working toward her own goals. Eckhardt’s first marriage to writer Billy Lee Brammer gave her entrée to liberal political and literary circles in Austin and Washington, where she and Brammer both worked for Senator Lyndon B. Johnson. She describes the heady excitement of LBJ’s world—a milieu that Brammer vividly captured in his novel The Gay Place. She next recalls her second marriage to Bob Eckhardt, whom she helped get elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as her growing involvement with the counterculture of social protest, sexual revolution, and drug use. Eckhardt honestly recounts how the changing times changed her perception of herself, recalling that “I didn’t know how to achieve for myself, only for others, and I felt ripped off and empty.” This painful realization opened the door to a new life for Eckhardt. Her memoir concludes with a joyful description of her multifaceted later life as a restaurateur, assistant to Molly Ivins, writer, and center of a wide circle of friends. “The ‘answer record’ to The Gay Place—by Brammer’s ex-wife.” —Texas Monthly

“An extraordinary work of women’s history, offering a candid consideration of the wifely role in politics during a pre-women’s movement era.” —Texas Observer Child of the Great Depression, teenage “Duchess of Palms” beauty queen, wife of an acclaimed novelist and later of a brilliant U.S. congressman, and ultimately a successful single working woman and mother, Nadine Eckhardt has lived a fascinating life. In this unique, funny, and honest memoir, she recounts her journey from being a “fifties girl” who lived through the men in her life to becoming a woman in her own right, working toward her own goals. Eckhardt’s first marriage to writer Billy Lee Brammer gave her entrée to liberal political and literary circles in Austin and Washington, where she and Brammer both worked for Senator Lyndon B. Johnson. She describes the heady excitement of LBJ’s world—a milieu that Brammer vividly captured in his novel The Gay Place. She next recalls her second marriage to Bob Eckhardt, whom she helped get elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as her growing involvement with the counterculture of social protest, sexual revolution, and drug use. Eckhardt honestly recounts how the changing times changed her perception of herself, recalling that “I didn’t know how to achieve for myself, only for others, and I felt ripped off and empty.” This painful realization opened the door to a new life for Eckhardt. Her memoir concludes with a joyful description of her multifaceted later life as a restaurateur, assistant to Molly Ivins, writer, and center of a wide circle of friends. “The ‘answer record’ to The Gay Place—by Brammer’s ex-wife.” —Texas Monthly

More widely studied and more frequently performed than ever before, John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi is here presented in an accessible and thoroughly up-to-date edition. Based on the Revels Plays text, the notes have been augmented to cast further light both on Webster's amazing dialogue and on the stage action. An entirely new introduction sets the tragedy in the context of pre-Civil War England and gives a revealing view of its imagery and dramatic action. From its well-documented early performances to the two productions seen in the West End of London in the 1995-96 season, a stage history gives an account of the play in performance. Students, actors, directors and theatre-goers will all find here a reappraisal of Webster's artistry in the greatest age of English theatre, which highlights why it has lived on stage with renewed force in the last decades of the twentieth century.

The award-winning author of The Last Love Song: A Biography of Joan Didion traces the cultural upheavals of mid-century America through the life of Billy Lee Brammer, author of the classic political novel The Gay Place.

Architect John Lascar and duke’s ward Faith Harper are desperately in love but hiding it, for each fears that admitting their love will destroy the other. But when shocking events force them together physically and change their status in the eyes of the world, each uses that love to help the other survive. Regency Historical by Allison Lane; second of the Portland Chronicles Trilogy

Over the course of the nineteenth century, gardening came to be considered a respectable profession, providing a means to an education, a good chance of advancement and decent working conditions. The hierarchy of the garden staff became just as regimented as that of domestic servants, and progression was attained by hard work, self-improvement and ambition. Training courses and apprenticeships prepared young gardeners for their trade and horticulture became recognised as a skilled profession, with the head gardener commanding a position of influence and respect and women overcoming social barriers to join their peers on equal terms. This book explores the gardening profession within the complexities of Victorian society and the advances in science and technology that pushed the gardener further into the limelight.

Australian Palms offers an updated and thorough systematic and taxonomic treatment of the Australian palm flora, covering 60 species in 21 genera. Of these, 54 species occur in continental Australia and six species on the off-shore territories of Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island and Christmas Island. Incorporating recent advances in biogeographic and phylogenetic research, Australian Palms provides a comprehensive introduction to the palm family Arecaceae, with reviews of botanical history, biogeography, phylogeny, ecology and conservation. Thorough descriptions of genera and species include notes on ecology and typification, and keys and distribution maps assist with field recognition. Colour photographs of habit, leaf, flowers, fruit and unique diagnostic characters also feature for each species. This work is the culmination of over 20 years of research into Australian palms, including extensive field-work and examination of herbarium specimens in Australia, South-East Asia, Europe and the USA.