Prisoner Of Love

Starting in 1970, Jean Genet—petty thief, prostitute, modernist master—spent two years in the Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan. Always an outcast himself, Genet was drawn to this displaced people, an attraction that was to prove as complicated for him as it was enduring. Prisoner of Love, written some ten years later, when many of the men Genet had known had been killed, and he himself was dying, is a beautifully observed description of that time and those men as well as a reaffirmation of the author's commitment not only to the Palestinian revolution but to rebellion itself. For Genet's most overtly political book is also his most personal—the last step in the unrepentantly sacrilegious pilgrimage first recorded in The Thief's Journal, and a searching meditation, packed with visions, ruses, and contradictions, on such life-and-death issues as the politics of the image and the seductive and treacherous character of identity. Genet's final masterpiece is a lyrical and philosophical voyage to the bloody intersection of oppression, terror, and desire at the heart of the contemporary world.

This collection of poems navigates love’s place in the human experience. I place emphasis on “the place of love” because I believe that every poet is driven by a certain shade of love to birth the deepest of poetic pieces. For example, the poet, JP Clark, was driven by the “place of love” to write “Ibadan”. In this collection, the poet uses simple diction to navigate deep and complicated human emotions. We see that in the poem, “Seeds of Love”: The foundation of our love wasn’t strong; it was built on sinking sands, and as hail and sandstorms threatened, our love crashed like a sandcastle. And I think this is what makes this collection unique. Here, we see a poet who is content with the simplicity of language, the lightness of metaphors to express emotions. The poems find their relativity in the softness of their language. As expected, in exploring the “place of love”, these love poems are not just about the flowery feeling and the butterflies that love elicits; no, they mention the heartbreak, the hurt that comes along with it, for is love not about pain and betrayal too? This collection is not only about the “place of love”; as I mentioned earlier, driven by another shade of love, the poet also explores the “love of body” as seen in the poem, “My Body”: I have learnt to love my body with its scars, to treat it like a prized ornament, to worship it and give it the care it deserves. I have learnt to love myself. You will also see poems about the “love of place”, where the poet dissects the soul of his nation, where he mourns a nation that sends her children out to the harsh experience of becoming immigrants in another country. In all, this is a graceful collection of poems, thematically linked in their concerns, yet diverse in the kinds of emotions each one will provoke in the reader.

Valor is under arrest for the attempted murder of the crown prince. Her parents are outcasts from the royal court, her sister is banished for theft of a national treasure, and now Valor has been sentenced to life imprisonment at Demidova, a prison built from stone and ice. But that's exactly where she wants to be. For her sister was sent there too, and Valor embarks on an epic plan to break her out from the inside. No one has escaped from Demidova in over three hundred years, and if Valor is to succeed she will need all of her strength, courage and love. If the plan fails, she faces a chilling fate worse than any prison ... An unforgettable story of sisterhood, valour and rebellion, Prisoner of Ice and Snow will fire you up and melt your heart all at once. Perfect for fans of Katherine Rundell, Piers Torday and Cathryn Constable.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward comes an unforgettable story of passion and vengeance in the world of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. When Ahmare’s brother is abducted, there is nothing she won’t do to get him back safely. She is unprepared, however, for the lengths she will have to go to save his life. Paired with a dangerous but enticing prisoner, she embarks on an odyssey into another world. Duran, betrayed by his father, imprisoned in a dungeon for decades, has survived only because of his thirst for vengeance. He has been biding his time to escape and is shocked to find an unlikely and temporary freedom in the form of a determined young female. Battling against deadly forces and facing unforeseen peril, the pair are in a race to save Ahmare’s brother. As time runs out, and the unthinkable looms, even true love may not be enough to carry them through.

The Criminal Child offers the first English translation of a key early work by Jean Genet. In 1949, in the midst of a national debate about improving the French reform-school system, Radiodiffusion Française commissioned Genet to write about his experience as a juvenile delinquent. He sent back a piece that was a paean to prison instead of the expected horrifying exposé. Revisiting the cruel hazing rituals that had accompanied his incarceration, relishing the special argot spoken behind bars, Genet bitterly denounced any improvement in the condition of young prisoners as a threat to their criminal souls. The radio station chose not to broadcast Genet’s views. “The Criminal Child” appears here with a selection of Genet’s finest essays, including his celebrated piece on the art of Alberto Giacometti.

Amidst the exciting preparations for the grand opening of Prince Albert's prized Crystal Palace, a young orphan, Sorilda, is being forced into marriage by her recently cuckolded uncle, the Duke of Nuneaton. Having sheltered lovely Sorilda since the tragic death of her parents, the usually fair-minded Duke has been driven to jealous retaliation by his deceitful new Duchess. Suspecting his close neighbour, the Earl of Winsford, of ungentlemanly conduct with his beautiful wife, the Duke issues an ultimatum. The Earl must renounce the Duchess and marry the Duke's flame-haired niece or face the public embarrassment of a scandal. Handsome, intelligent and fabulously wealthy, the Earl makes his choice and reluctantly marries Sorilda, his helpless bride. Angry at being pressured into such a union and aghast that he does not know, let alone love, his wife, the Earl remains distant and determined not to let Sorilda into his life. Enjoying the freedom from the miserable prison of her uncle's home, Sorilda's natural charm and positive nature soon force their way to the surface, despite the coldness of her bridegroom. Delighted by everything around her, it is not long before she has made her way into the hearts of everyone she meets. But, as London Society eagerly awaits the Great Exhibition, a spurned Duchess is busy plotting. Furious at being caught in a compromising situation, and filled with hatred for Sorilda, who has married the man she desires, she will not rest until she has her revenge.

John Lennon's five-year retirement from the world of music, his brief comeback in 1980, and his brutal murder outside his New York home have become the stuff of legend. But the reality of his daily life during that period has been obscured by the mythology Lennon sold to the press in his final interviews, and which his widow Yoko Ono has maintained to this day. Acknowledged Beatles expert Peter Doggett is a lifelong fan of Lennon, and the author of The Art And Music Of John Lennon, a detailed commentary on his entire artistic output. Several years ago, a mysterious set of circumstances led him to a room where he was able to read several of the ex-Beatle's private diaries - never revealed to the public or represented accurately in other books about Lennon. What he learned forced him to confront everything he believed he knew about his hero, and also the profound influence that the musician had wielded over his own life - especially in the wake of Lennon's death on December 8, 1980. Prisoner Of Love is both a revelatory account of Lennon's final years, based on the author's access to the musician's personal writings; and also a poignant memoir of a diehard fan who depended on Lennon for his sense of sanity during the darkest years of his life. The book brings together the tortured artist and the bereaved fan, in an account that will touch the heart of everyone who has ever fallen under the spell of this most charismatic of rock icons.

This story begins in 1945, with how I first met My Love. She was only 15, and I was 17 years old. It's a story about how we met, and how a song had a profound effect on our lives. It is also about how our undying love for each other survived the many obstacles we endured in our early years. We had an unusual start, some touching moments, and a very emotional and somewhat surprising ending. These memories are too precious not to be shared.