Naked Swans is a bittersweet anthology filled with poetry and fantasy short stories showcasing women's lives.During the writing of Naked Swans, I shared the work in progress with friends and critics. The following are two of my favorite responses. The strongest response was from a fellow worker. The night he read the manuscript he placed it on my desk, then started to leave. He said he was going to beat up my companion for me. I caught him as he was going out the door. Whoa I put an end to his actions immediately. Later, I found a friend from Florida crying after having read the first handwritten draft. She had identified so closely with what she had read that she was convinced that I had written about the events in her life. The story of the Naked Swans is about life maybe yours.

Isabelle d’Este, daughter of the Duke of Ferrara, born into privilege and the political and artistic turbulence of Renaissance Italy, is a stunning black-eyed blond and an art lover and collector. Worldly and ambitious, she has never envied her less attractive sister, the spirited but naïve Beatrice, until, by a quirk of fate, Beatrice is betrothed to the future Duke of Milan. Although he is more than twice their age, openly lives with his mistress, and is reputedly trying to eliminate the current duke by nefarious means, Ludovico Sforza is Isabella’s match in intellect and passion for all things of beauty. Only he would allow her to fulfill her destiny: to reign over one of the world’s most powerful and enlightened realms and be immortalized in oil by the genius Leonardo da Vinci. Isabella vows that she will not rest until she wins her true fate, and the two sisters compete for supremacy in the illustrious courts of Europe. A haunting novel of rivalry, love, and betrayal that transports you back to Renaissance Italy, Leonardo’s Swans will have you dashing to the works of the great master—not for clues to a mystery but to contemplate the secrets of the human heart.

joy

This captivating collection of 99 essays offers a well-researched but easy-to-read look at birds as familiar as the sparrow and as seldom-seen as the albatross, from dancing varieties (crane) to sacred ones (ibis) to those associated with practical jokes and assassinations (snipe). The book combines extensive field experience with reflections drawn from biology, literature, music, history, politics, and other areas.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1871. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

Choose or lose! After suffering abusive bullying in high school, Viola values family and friends above anything else. A sophomore at Arden College, she plays the oboe, studies psychology, and rejoices in a tight-knit group of friends. Until the night she witnesses them meeting without her. The same night her younger sister calls with news their parents' marriage further disintegrated. Running off into the forest, Viola witnesses sorcery and winds up tangled in a decades-old curse. Lovely and poignant, Swan and Shadow mixes Swan Lake and The Magic Flute into to a gripping, emotional page-turner.