My Heart In A Suitcase

Memoirs of a Jewish woman, born in 1926 in Berlin. Pp. 1-42 describe her experiences during the Nazi period until, after the "Kristallnacht" pogrom, she was sent to Britain in a "Kindertransport." Her parents were deported to Theresienstadt, where her father died; her mother died in Auschwitz. After the war, she and her husband emigrated to the U.S.

This play about fear and materialistic longing compares an angrily impoverished waitress and a philosophical ceramics teacher in the early stages of multiple sclerosis who are sharing a borrowed, run down seaside apartment for the weekend. Visitors include the shopaholic wife of the landlord, a drunken misfit and two spectral intruders: Pest, a bad memory and Luggage, the Patron Saint of Heavy Burdens.

A funny, unapologetic play about the effects of society's objectification of women.

"When a weary stranger arrives one day with nothing but a suitcase, his new neighbors ask nervous questions about who he is and where he comes from before they are challenged to decide between trusting the newcomer or taking the risk of not believing him"--

Two modern feminist classics by a writer who was amongst the extraordinary generation of British female playwrights to emerge in the 1980s. 'McIntyre's first Royal Court play, Low Level Panic, [is] a deft and funny all-female three-hander, set in a bathroom... The play was directed in 1988 by Nancy Meckler with Caroline Quentin, Lorraine Brunning and Alaine Hickmott in the principal roles. The panic of the title is provoked by omnipresent pornography and a sexual assault on one of the characters. But the play's originality and boldness lie in its treatment of the characters' complex relationships with their own sexual fantasies, their bodies and each other. 'In McIntyre's next play, My Heart's a Suitcase, which had its premiere at the Royal Court in 1990, the sense of invasion felt by the two female central characters is dramatised by characters called Pest and Luggage, who burst unpredictably through the walls of the seaside flat in which the play is set. ... McIntyre's theatrical imagination [is] matched by an unsentimental but sympathetic portrayal of women trying to make sense of their place in a threatening and intrusive world. 'Low Level Panic won the Samuel Beckett award, while My Heart's a Suitcase earned McIntyre the Evening Standard's most promising playwright award, with both plays quickly entering the feminist theatre canon.' David Edgar, The Guardian

Mothering is messy. Our joy and hope in raising children doesn’t change the reality that being a mom can be frustrating, stressful, and tiring. But just as God is using us to shape our children, God is using our children and motherhood to shape us. In The Better Mom, author Ruth Schwenk, herself a mother of four children, encourages us with the good news that there is more to being a mom than the extremes of striving for perfection or simply embracing the mess. We don’t need to settle for surviving our kids’ childhood. We can grow through it. With refreshing and heartfelt honesty Ruth emboldens moms to: Find freedom and walk confidently in purpose Create a God-honoring home environment Overcome unhealthy and destructive emotions such as anger, anxiety, and more Avoid glorifying the mess of mom-ing or idolizing perfection Cultivate life-giving friendships At the heart of The Better Mom is the message that Jesus calls us to live not a weary life, but a worthy life. We don’t have to settle for either being apathetic or struggling to be perfect. Both visions of motherhood go too far. Ruth offers a better option. She says, “It’s okay to come as we are, but what we’re called to do and be is far too important to stay there! The way to becoming a better mom starts not with what we are doing, but with who God is inviting us to become."

“A virtuosic debut [and] a wry look at immigrant life in the global age.” —Vogue Having left Odessa for Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, with a sense of finality, the Nasmertov family has discovered that the divide between the old world and the new is not nearly as clear-cut as they had imagined. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, returning is just a matter of a plane ticket, and the Russian-owned shops in their adopted neighborhood stock even the most obscure comforts of home. Pursuing the American Dream once meant giving up everything, but does the dream still work if the past refuses to grow distant and mythical, remaining alarmingly within reach? If the Nasmertov parents can afford only to look forward, learning the rules of aspiration, the family’s youngest, Frida, can’t help looking back—and asking far too many questions. Yelena Akhtiorskaya’s exceptional debut has been hailed not only as the great novel of Brighton Beach but as a “breath of fresh air … [and] a testament to Akhtiorskaya’s wit, generosity, and immense talent as a young American author” (NPR).

What memories will Asha's yellow suitcase hold now that grandmother is gone?