Mary Shelley's own life was as dramatic as her fiction. Even had she not (at the age of 19) authored Frankenstein, one of the greatest horror fables in literature, she would be crucial to the study of Romanticism, as the daughter of two of the great radical thinkers of the day, William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft (who died following Mary's birth); and as the second Mrs Percy Bysshe Shelley, her companion for that stormy stay at Byron's Geneva villa in 1816 - the 'haunted summer' that begat Frankenstein. Drawing on unexplored sources, Miranda Seymour's hugely acclaimed biography penetrates the myth to offer the fullest, richest portrait of this extraordinary woman. 'Mary Shelley is the most dazzling biography of a female writer to have come my way for an entire decade.' Financial Times 'Brilliant and enthralling, this portrait illuminates Mary's life in many unexpected ways.' Independent on Sunday 'Miranda Seymour has vivid narrative gifts and a perceptive understanding of the main personalities.' New York Times Book Review 'A thoughtfully considered and exceptionally lifelike portrait of a complex and often misunderstood character.' Los Angeles Times 'A harrowing life, wonderfully retold.' Washington Post Book World 'A splendid biography.' New Yorker

This is a deeply personal story of a young woman's journey through addiction, the loss of her love, and her mother's suicide. Heartbreaking at times, this memoir is more than a drug-a-log as you are taken into her raw lifestyle as an addict, and the long road to recovery. Powerful and inspiring.

An ALA Best Book for Young Adults, an ALA Quick Pick, and an ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Young Readers Nancy and Katie are best friends with one big thing in common—they both cut themselves: “Not by accident, we do it purposely—and regularly—because physical pain is comforting, and because now it has become a habit.” Crosses was the first novel for young adults to deal with an increasingly widespread disorder, and “graphically describes the cry for help of many adolescents and how far they have to fall before they are even noticed” (Voice of Young Adults).

We know the facts of Mary Shelley’s life in some detail—the death of her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, within days of her birth; the upbringing in the house of her father, William Godwin, in a house full of radical thinkers, poets, philosophers, and writers; her elopement, at the age of seventeen, with Percy Shelley; the years of peripatetic travel across Europe that followed. But there has been no literary biography written this century, and previous books have ignored the real person—what she actually thought and felt and why she did what she did—despite the fact that Mary and her group of second-generation Romantics were extremely interested in the psychological aspect of life.In this probing narrative, Fiona Sampson pursues Mary Shelley through her turbulent life, much as Victor Frankenstein tracked his monster across the arctic wastes. Sampson has written a book that finally answers the question of how it was that a nineteen-year-old came to write a novel so dark, mysterious, anguished, and psychologically astute that it continues to resonate two centuries later. No previous biographer has ever truly considered this question, let alone answered it.

When her third child was born with disabilities and cognitive delays author Shelley Brouwer had more questions than answers, and was thrust into an uncertain world. With equal parts fear and determination she set out to help her family and her daughter thrive. Navigating the murky waters of an undiagnosed disability and a rare medical disorder, Shelley learned as she went, and discovered along the way, her young daughter was her greatest teacher. Then the unthinkable occurred, at the age of 22, this sweet daughter died. Written with deep insight and humor Brouwer invites you to walk with her through this universal tale of a mother's love. Grieve with her (for a minute or two) the child she imagined, and embrace with her the child that was. Share the emotional struggles her family sometimes faced, and the small triumphs (seemed huge) her daughter achieved. Then walk with her again, through grief turned hope after her after devastating loss. Out of longing for a book Brouwer couldn't find, Because She Was was written to offer a dose of reality, a bit of guidance, and a healthy dose of encouragement.

Discover How to Change Your Life in a Year Straight-talking, honest and with touches of humour, Shelley Wilson shares her journey as she sets out to prove that being a 40-something, single mum with back fat and grey hairs isn't the end of life as we know it. From fighting flab to writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, Shelley covers a wide variety of themes as she tackles twelve challenges in twelve months. Packed with affirmations, tips, steps and links, HOW I CHANGED MY LIFE IN A YEAR will keep you motivated for the year to come and beyond.

As a five-year-old in Home-wood, Alabama, Shelley Stewart watched his father kill his mother with an axe. Two years later, Stewart escaped the care of abusive relatives, making a living as a stable hand. A stint in the army led to electroshock treatments for trying to integrate whites-only dances. But despite numerous setbacks, he never gave up his will to succeed. Eventually, odd jobs at radio stations laid the foundation for a 50-year career in broadcasting. As an African-American radio personality, Stewart reached out to Jim Crow Alabama, using music to integrate his audience. Along the way, he helped launch the careers of such legends as Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, and Gladys Knight. Instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement, he publicized the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A remarkable witness to and participant in the momentous social changes of the last three decades, Stewart, now a successful businessman and community leader, shares his courageous personal story that shows the indomitable strength of the human spirit.

“Ingenious, sensual, gleeful. . . . It demands of its readers only imagination, and rewards them with hilarity, terror, and marvels.”—Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn Nora and Blanche are cojoined twins. Nora, the dominant twin, thirsts for love and adventure, while Blanche has been asleep for nearly 30 years. Determined to shed herself of her her sister’s dead weight, Nora leaves for London in search of the mysterious Unity Foundation, which promises to make two one. But once Nora arrives in London, the past begins to surface, forcing her into a most reluctant voyage into memory—a search for meaning and understanding, that will push Nora to the brink of insanity. Grotesque, funny, and dazzlingly told, Shelley Jackson’s first novel is an imaginative and touching portrait of two lives in a cleft world yearning for wholeness.

The inspiration for Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's most famous work, "Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus" has been debated for 200 years. In 1814, two years before the notorious "Gothic Summer" in Geneva, 16 year old Mary Godwin eloped to Paris with the 22 year old poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, inviting Mary's 15 year old step-sister Claire Claremont to go with them. They would walk across war ravaged France to Switzerland and up the Rhine River to a castle called Frankenstein. Three years later Mary would publish the diaries she kept of that journey of two teenage girls and the poet of "free love". In the published version of "A History of a Six Week's Tour" she would tell where they went and what they saw, but she never revealed the true secrets of that trip, from where a later inspiration arose. Here now, for the first time is revealed the secret portions of that tour and beyond.

A witty and immersive look at the history, mythology, science, and magical touch that makes whisky taste like a drop of gold. Braving the “all boys” clubhouse of the world of whisky has not been easy, but Shelley Sackier has managed to do just that out of her love for the drink. By turns funny and poignant and filled with vivid insight into this ancient craft, Make it a Double will persuade even a teetotaler to want a wee dram. As a woman whose first sip of whisky created the female doppelganger of a Mr. Yuk sticker, that experience produced a sharp realization that the liquid was foul, poisonous, and needlessly dirtied a previously clean glass. And then she met Scotland. Her curiosity and growing passion lit a fire—igniting a desire to learn more about this craft’s rich and vivid history and the need to break out of an old life and to become the mother, partner, and woman she has always sought to be. After completing a course in Scotland’s famed Bruichladdich Distillery, Shelley begins her path of writing about—and working within—the world of whisky. There has never been a better time for Shelley's inimitable voice to shed light on this intoxicating realm. Women are not only impressively contributing to the burgeoning sales of the spirit—making up nearly 40% of the whiskey-drinking population in the United States—but they are also growing in number as they enter in to, train within, and lead the industry with their determined creativity and innovation. In the tradition of Blood, Bones, and Butter, Make it a Double establishes Shelley Sackier as a fresh new voice in the lush world of culinary narrative.