Having experienced the Berkeley "revolution" of the '60s, Carolyn Hawley, a young, tenured college music instructor, fled with her two young children to the remote wilderness of northern California. There, without a "male-head-of-house" they lived as modern day pioneers, building a home, and surviving the elements. It details relationships between human and animal lives, including many nature experiences. There are "how-to" tips regarding developing virgin land, and various adventures along the way. There are contrasts of opposites of all kinds, including balancing the cultured intellectual life as a concert artist with that of an adventurer/farmer. Among the contrasts is that of the "hippie"-"redneck" cultures, both prevalent in the back hills of the "emerald triangle" and the drug culture. When isolated from the rest of the world of man for long periods, one senses a different reality; one in which the illusions of romantic love, fame and riches are all dispelled by the intrusion of truth, beauty, and love, seen and felt while living in the bosom of mother nature. Then in the chapter "Return of the Aging Woodnymph", the book depicts a similar adventure in the wilderness, but as experienced 30 years later, with the added wisdom (and short comings) of age. The contrast between the two adventures fades, and becomes Zen-like, showing that though everything changes, everything also stays essentially the same. What is gained, and what is lost is unimportant. Being alive, and living to the fullest becomes the ultimate goal of life.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1882.

The Wood Nymph is the digital reissue of a previously published and long out-of-print novel by New York Times Bestselling author Mary Balogh. Lady Helen Wade is not interested in living the proper life of a proper young lady. She prefers to slip away to her own place in the woods, where she can wear comfortable clothes and let her hair down and go barefoot while she dreams and paints and communes with nature. There she meets the rich and handsome William Mainwaring, newly arrived owner of the property upon which the woods stand. William, nursing a broken heart, is enchanted by the simple country girl whom he knows only as Nell, and returns a number of times in the hope of seeing her again. A brief, passionate affair ensues before guilt sends William abruptly away so that he can avoid further temptation to ruin her. When they meet again, Helen and William are both in London, and he knows her for who she is. How can he persuade her that he is not the heartless cad she believes him to be when he knows he behaved badly? And how can he persuade her that he loves both Nell and Helen—and that somehow he is worthy of her love?

MY NAME IS AMANDA FRENCH. My family name French, I believe says it all. We, the French women, were born to wear elegant clothing and accessories, the finer brocades and silks, fluid and cool, raw dupioni and nubby shantung, the texture that is pure sex to the hand that appreciates. All the women in my family have some sense of the future and will tell you what it holds; and even before I was sure what it was, I knew I had it, the power to see. My grandmother, a healer, could interpret the sky; predict weather patterns, upcoming anomalies, drought, that sort of thing. My sister read hands; tiny crooked lines leading up and down, front to back, thumb to wrist, are the roads she helps to navigate. My aunt could read dreams and tell an expectant mother the sex of her unborn baby. My great grandmother could heal "troublesome ailments" and call out evil spirits from the sick, the overlooked, and cursed alike. And her mother, my great great grandmother before her, was known to associate with ghosts, the spirits that have passed over but not before promising to return and tell all, which they did by channeling through her in different languages. Her sister, my great aunt, could tell you the day and time of your birth and the day and time of your death. Sometimes I know the future in my breast. Sometimes I see the future coming out like a picture show, images that seep into your head the way rainwater collects in a basement corner, gathering from no place in particular. More often though, I see events in tea leaves, little bits of myself floating to the top of a shapely Spode china cup, tentatively dancing along the fragile gold leaf rim like your last memories in the few minutes before death. Often as I would stare down into my tomorrow, wondering if I should drink the brew or run to the sink and pour it down the drain, I would often do the latter. It's not that a particular vision was so frightening or alien—I grew up after all with these gifted women around me conversing with entities neither you nor I could see—it's just the memory of seeing trouble early in a courtship and remembering what it felt like, one lone tear snaking down my face, and my words all square and neat as I told him, "I love you but... I see no future." Or, I did see a future and there was no happiness in it. But, with this man, with Reed, I never saw a blessed thing. I never saw anything at all in the beginning. If I had, it would have been as shocking I'm sure as seeing blood on the moon. I guess it's true what they say, that you never see the bus that hits you.

A dark relationship evolves between a high schooler and her English teacher in this breathtakingly powerful memoir about a young woman who must learn to rewrite her own story. “Have you ever read Lolita?” So begins seventeen-year-old Alisson’s metamorphosis from student to lover and then victim. A lonely and vulnerable high school senior, Alisson finds solace only in her writing—and in a young, charismatic English teacher, Mr. North. Mr. North gives Alisson a copy of Lolita to read, telling her it is a beautiful story about love. The book soon becomes the backdrop to a connection that blooms from a simple crush into a forbidden romance. But as Mr. North’s hold on her tightens, Alisson is forced to evaluate how much of their narrative is actually a disturbing fiction. In the wake of what becomes a deeply abusive relationship, Alisson is faced again and again with the story of her past, from rereading Lolita in college to working with teenage girls to becoming a professor of creative writing. It is only with that distance and perspective that she understands the ultimate power language has had on her—and how to harness that power to tell her own true story. Being Lolita is a stunning coming-of-age memoir that shines a bright light on our shifting perceptions of consent, vulnerability, and power. This is the story of what happens when a young woman realizes her entire narrative must be rewritten—and then takes back the pen to rewrite it.

Based on true events, "Errol, Fidel and the Cuban Rebel Girls" recreates one of the 20th centuryOCOs great untold stories. Cuba, 1959: In the final year of his life, Errol Flynn found time for one last adventure. The dashing star of many Hollywood films had always longed to be a real hero. Fidel Castro was the genuine article, and now he was looking for fame. What each man had the other wanted and, as revolution raged around them, the stage was set for an explosive encounter. Cuba is on the brink of revolution and Errol Flynn is there making what will be his final film. When they meet, Errol is involved in the latest in a long line of relationships with under-age women, while Fidel is ready to march triumphantly into Havana after overthrowing the Batista government. Within days of the coup, Errol is chased out of Cuba with a firing squad and Fidel hot on his heels.aaa Featuring a full cast of Hollywood movie stars, beautiful women, Cuban revolutionaries and New York mobsters, "Errol, Fidel and the Cuban Rebel Girls" is the story of two men at the opposite ends of astonishing careers. It is a story with two heroes ... but there is only ever room for one."