In Unlikely Couples, Thomas E. Wartenberg directly challenges the view that narrative cinema inherently supports the dominant social interests by examining the way popular films about "unlikely couples" (a mismatched romantic union viewed as inappropriate due to its class, racial, or gender composition) explore, expose, and criticize societal attit

Examines the way popular films about mismatched couples explore, expose, and often criticize societal attitudes, boundaries, and prejudices.

Philosophy and Film moves from broad theoretical reflections on film as a medium to concrete examinations of individual films.

Most people live in couple relationships for a good part of their lives, and many couples experience distress and seek help. To support the professionals who treat these couples, Dr Nelsen organizes material from systems and cognitive-behavioural approaches as well as ego psychology and object relations theory in one solid, nonjudgmental volume.

This fascinating information book for younger readers shows how friendship can be found practically everywhere! It explores the weird and wonderful symbiotic relationships between animal species, from sharks and cleaner fish to zebras and birds. The spreads feature clear, bite-sized text and quirky illustrations. Printed laminated case format.

No longer is pregnancy a repulsive or shameful condition in Hollywood films, but an attractive attribute, often enhancing the romantic or comedic storyline of a female character. Kelly Oliver investigates this curious shift and its reflection of changing attitudes toward women's roles in reproduction and the family. Not all representations signify progress. Oliver finds that in many pregnancy films, our anxieties over modern reproductive practices and technologies are made manifest, and in some cases perpetuate conventions curtailing women's freedom. Reading such films as Where the Heart Is (2000), Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), Palindromes (2004), Saved! (2004), Quinceañera (2006), Children of Men (2006), Knocked Up (2007), Juno (2007), Baby Mama (2008), Away We Go (2009), Precious (2009), The Back-up Plan (2010), Due Date (2010), and Twilight: Breaking Dawn (2011), Oliver investigates pregnancy as a vehicle for romance, a political issue of "choice," a representation of the hosting of "others," a prism for fears of miscegenation, and a screen for modern technological anxieties.

A stunning novel set in Venice about two women and two marriages--George Eliot at the end of her life, and a sculptor named Catherine Spingold a century later.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ABIA 2024 SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA 'The zigzagging life of an adventurer' THE TIMES 'An astonishing, wonderful memoir of an extraordinary life' HENRY MARSH, author of Do No Harm 'Exciting and complex, full of insight and humour' SPECTATOR 'Enthralling, miraculous, clear as the brilliant constellations of the night sky' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD An unforgettable memoir from the author of the sensational international bestseller Tracks: the story of a mother and daughter, of love, loss and the pursuit of freedom ________________________________________ In 1977, twenty-seven-year-old Robyn Davidson set off with a dog and four camels to cross 1,700 miles of Australian desert to the sea. A life of almost constant travelling followed. From the deserts of Australia, to Sydney's underworld; from Sixties street life, to the London literary scene; from migrating with nomads in Tibet, to 'marrying' an Indian prince, Davidson's quest was motivated by an unquenchable curiosity about other ways of seeing and understanding the world. Davidson threw bombs over her shoulder and seeds into her future on the assumption that something would be growing when she got there. The only terrain she had no interest in exploring was the past. In Unfinished Woman Davidson turns at last to explore that long avoided country. Through this brave and revealing memoir, she delves into her childhood and youth to uncover the forces that set her on her path, and confront the cataclysm of her early loss. Unfinished Woman is an unforgettable investigation of time and memory, and a powerful interrogation of how we can live with and find beauty in the uncertainty and strangeness of being. 'In her twenties, Davidson trekked 1,700 miles through the Australian wilderness. This led to the bestselling book Tracks and global fame. Half a century later she has written about what motivated her – including the tragic early death of her mother' Simon Hattenstone, GUARDIAN

This collection investigates intermarriage and related relationships around the world since the eighteenth century. The contributors explore how romantic relationships challenged boundary crossings of various kinds – social, geographic, religious, ethnic. To this end, the volume considers a range of related issues: Who participated in these unions? How common were they, and in which circumstances were they practised (or banned)? Taking a global view, the book also questions some of the categories behind these relationships. For example, how did geographical boundaries – across national lines, distinctions between colonies and metropoles or metaphors of the ‘East’ and the ‘West’ – shape the treatment of intermarriage? What role have social and symbolic boundaries, such as presumed racial, religious or socio-economic divides, played? To what extent and how were those boundaries blurred in the eyes of contemporaries? Not least, how have bureaucracies and law contributed to the creation of boundaries preventing romantic unions? Romantic relationships, the contributors suggest, brought into sharp relief assumptions not only about community and culture, but also about the sanctity of the intimate sphere of love and family. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of The History of the Family.