Diane Benscoter grew up in the heartland of America in a small Nebraska town with a loving family. At 17, motivated by her idealism and inspired by the lyrics of her favorite songs, she left home in search of a way to end war. She found easy answers to life's hard questions in the form of a religious cult commonly known as the Moonies. In "Shoes of a Servant" Benscoter weaves a gripping story of her servitude in the cult, the deprogramming staged by her desperate family, and her subsequent involvement in the underground world of deprogramming, culminating in her arrest for kidnapping. Often humorous and always heartbreaking, Benscoter's story carries the reader on a journey into the world of mental manipulation, providing compelling insight on how human vulnerabilities open the door for extremism. ..".Read this book and share it with everyone - because everyone is vulnerable." Dr. Joachim De Posada "Don't Eat the Marshmallow...yet"

Faten’s happy life in her village comes to an abrupt end when her father arranges for her to work as a servant for a wealthy Beirut family with two spoiled daughters. What does a bright, ambitious seventeen-year-old do when she is suddenly deprived of her friends, family, education and freedom? Could the mysterious, wealthy young man who lives in the next apartment building help? When Faten finally manages to make contact with Marwan, a musician and engineering student, he helps her figure out a way to pursue her studies in secret. Even against the uncertain backdrop of the civil war, their romance develops, as the two conspire to exchange notes and meet at an idyllic seaside cafe. But in Lebanese society the differences in religion, class and wealth are stacked against them, and their parents have very different ideas about what their futures should be. When Marwan’s mother chooses a girl who will make him a suitable wife, Faten must pick up the pieces of her life and move forward. She does so, despite the odds, pursuing a job, an education and her independence. And, in the end, it seems there may be room in her life yet for romance, and hope for a future where young people can determine their own destinies. An engaging and lucidly written coming-of-age novel. Faten struggles to fulfill her potential in the midst of her society’s rigid expectations. She’s a nuanced, complex protagonist that any teenager can relate to — stubborn, impulsive and full of longing, but with the determination and smarts to keep her real dreams in sight.

A father waits up on Christmas Eve night to demand retirement from the hero of his childhood, Santa Claus. The same saint who used to symbolize Christmas spirit is now plastered on advertisements everywhere, driving shoppers into holiday hysteria! Dear old Dad makes a mistake, however, by forgetting what every child knows: When Santa comes in the night with a bag full of surprises, he always leaves the perfect gift.

In April of 1860, on her 17th birthday, Anne's father gave her Wexford, a 15,000-acre cotton and tobacco plantation. He also gave her a new body servant, whom Anne named Moragan. Moragan is not a conventional slave. She is about 10, Irish, and has a habit of speaking her mind - a trait that annoys Anne profoundly! Moragan, does not know the rules and conventions of being a slave - much less being a body servant, so Anne trains her. It is not an easy task for either one of them, and Moragan is certain her behind will be completely worn away before she learns to behave! As America begins to fall apart at the seams, Anne and Moragan begin to forge a completely different relationship. Moragan runs Wexford House for Anne, and she learns what it means to be a slave from both perspectives: owner and owned. Anne always reminds Moragan that she and all the other servants are only stock, and not 'people'. Both of them are products of their time: and as Anne learns how to govern the society under her, she and Moragan discover who they truly are.

The House Servant's Directory or a monitor for private families comprising hints on the arrangement and performance of servants' work, with general rules for setting out tables and sideboards. In first order The art of waiting in all its branches and likewise how to conduct large and small parties with order with general directions for placing on table all kinds of joints, fish, fowl, etc with full instructions for cleaning plate, brass, steel, glass, mahogany and likewise all kinds of patent and common lamps: observations on servants' behaviour to their employers and upwards of 100 various and useful receipts chiefly compiled for the use of house servants, and identically made to suit the manners and customs of families in the United States

Robert Roberts' The House Servant's Directory, first published in 1827 and the standard for household management for decades afterward, is remarkable for several reasons: It is one of the first books written by an African American and issued by a commercial press, and it was written while Roberts (ca. 1780-1860) was in the employ of Christopher Gore (1758-1827), a former senator from and governor of Massachusetts (and ancestor of the novelist Gore Vidal). Gore Place, where Roberts worked from 1825 to 1827, is one of the grandest neoclassical mansions built in America. Not only was the extraordinary set of recommendations that Roberts made about relations between servants and their masters unique for its time, but his many recipes for cleaning furniture and clothing and for purchasing, preparing, and serving food and drink for small and large dinners are also still useful today. As portrayed in Graham Hodges' introduction, Roberts' own story is a unique window into the work habits and thoughts of America's domestic workers and into antebellum African American politics. Of particular note is Roberts' contribution to the emergence of new self-perceptions of black manliness. Written at a time when male Americans in general were reconsidering the construction of masculinity, Roberts' advice to his fellow servants fostered black dignity for work that few felt merited respect, and his counsel to employers on proper treatment of their servants insisted on their humanity and respect for their skills.