Depicts the malign influence of a manipulative, insane father on his family and others.

Red is a brilliantly told, captivating history of red hair throughout the ages. A book that breaks new ground, dispels myths, and reinforces the special nature of being a redhead, with a look at multiple disciplines, including science, religion, politics, feminism and sexuality, literature, and art. With an obsessive fascination that is as contagious as it is compelling, author Jacky Colliss Harvey (herself a redhead) begins her exploration of red hair in prehistory and traces the redhead gene as it made its way out of Africa with the early human diaspora to its emergence under Northern skies. She goes on to explore red hair in the ancient world; the prejudice manifested against red hair across medieval Europe; red hair during the Renaissance as both an indicator of Jewishness during the Inquisition and the height of fashion in Protestant England, under the reign of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I; the modern age of art and literature, and the first positive symbols of red hair in children's characters; modern medicine and science and the genetic and chemical decoding of red hair; and finally, red hair in contemporary culture, from advertising and exploitation to "gingerism" and the new movement against bullying.

A Vindication of the Redhead investigates red hair in literature, art, television, and film throughout Eastern and Western cultures. This study examines red hair as a signifier, perpetuated through stereotypes, myths, legends, and literary and visual representations. Brenda Ayres and Sarah E. Maier provide a history of attitudes held by hegemonic populations toward red-haired individuals, groups, and genders from antiquity to the present. Ayres and Maier explore such diverse topics as Judeo-Christian narratives of red hair, redheads in Pre-Raphaelite paintings, red hair and gender identity, famous literary redheads such as Anne of Green Gables and Pippi Longstocking, contemporary and Neo-Victorian representations of redheads from the Black Widow to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and more. This book illuminates the symbolic significance and related ideologies of red hair constructed in mythic, religious, literary, and visual cultural discourse.

In nineteenth-century France, Colette lives a life of apparent perfection, one that others would envy. To the casual observer, she has everything any woman could ever desireshe shares a mansion with servants with her handsome, successful husband and their three beautiful children. Hers is a perfect life in perfect orderyet, she longs for more. One day, a chance encounter with a redheaded man awakens something in Collette, and now nothing will ever be the same. There is no room in her life for what is about to happen. She feels trapped and yearns for more. On one hand, she is caught in a web of marital obligations to a man who seems more passionate about numbers and business deals than he is about his wife. On the other, her passionsher deep love for her children and artseem to soften the bitter blow of emotional disappointment. A new breath of life and hope appears when the red-haired man known only as Vincent encourages her to embrace her other artistic talents. Torn between societys expectations and her deep-seated desire for Vincent and all he represents, Colette must make a choice. She has found her passion, no matter how unconventional it may appear. This is a love she cant denybut is she willing to pay the price for that love? Everything that was once perfect is perfect no longer.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1836.