After a blighted childhood, young Laura finds peace and purpose in the home of a midwife and healer. Later, she enrolls in Salerno's famed medical school-the first in the world to admit women. Laura and her adoptive mother hope that Laura can build a bridge between women's herbal healing and the new science of medicine developing in thirteenth century medieval Italy. The hardest lessons are those of love; Laura falls hard for a fellow student who abandons her for a wealthy wife. Worse, her mother rejects her as "impure." Shattered, Laura devotes herself to her work, becoming a respected medico. But her heart is still bitter, and when she sees a chance for revenge, she grabs it-and takes for her own Bieta, the newborn daughter of a woman whose husband regularly raided the physician's garden for bitter herbs to satisfy his pregnant wife's cravings. Determined to protect her adored daughter from the ravages of the world, Laura isolates the young woman in a tower. Bieta, as determined as her mother, escapes, and finds adventure-and love-on the streets of Salerno. Bieta's betrayal of her mother's love comes at a terrible price as lives are ruined and families are torn apart. Laura's medical knowledge cannot heal her broken heart; only a great act of love can bring everyone forgiveness and peace, in Madeleine E. Robins's imaginative novel set during the Middle Ages, Sold for Endless Rue,

For nearly two decades he has been reading, studying, researching and compiling the best and most impressive quotations for writing The Wisdom of The Great. The book is about the lives, works, achievements and quotations of over 450 notables from 50 countries of the world. It contains over 2600 quotations in the span of three millenniums (9th century B.C. to the present time.) Nearly 250 of the individuals have detailed biographies. It is arranged chronically and has a comprehensive glossary, names index, and subject index. What is great about this book is that there are 86 notables (68%) whose names are mentioned in the book People Who Made America. And 30 people in the book 100 People Who Influenced and Changed the World. It is not only a quotation book but also a literary piece, a book of biographies, and an accurate reference book. Read them again and again, seeking their wisdom, their joy, their passion and their beauty. The Wisdom of the Great has been accepted for the 2013 Kansas Notable Books List.

If you enjoy art and architecture, you may be surprised to discover a distinct similarity between a great work of art and a magnificent building, as well as to that of a wonderful, fulfilling long-term relationship between a man and a woman. Although, you will learn, if you are not already aware, you cannot rely on luck alone to achieve happiness in marriage. The art of choosing a mate requires as much forethought as designing a building or creating an oil painting. The Architect: Time Out of Mind will help you know whether a person you date is worth pursuing after two dates or less. Perhaps, during your next first date with someone new of interest, you will want to ask a few specific and relevant personal questions. After considering the answers thoroughly, you now have more information to decide whether your date is worth pursuing. After dating awhile and before bonding or considering a long-term commitment, shouldn’t you also have a clear understanding of your special person’s relational “needs,” beginning perhaps as early as the end of the first date? You will find the answer to that question and many others you may have never thought to ask, in this captivating novel about two young people, Ed Decker and Camilla Holmes. Their story spans forty years, beginning in the late 1950s and how their early “boy-girl” relationship influenced their lives.