Silent Souls Weeping

‘A Tale To Be Told, Thus Begins’ attempts to speak about many things in the garb of a book. It talks about patriarchy, ironies, misogynies and prejudices about women. It reimagines India and Pakistan as two human beings instead of two countries. And then, there are heartbreaks that nobody wants to talk about! There is a man, who is afraid of a cat. There is a woman, who tries to pick up her battered life from pieces. There is a soldier who speaks about his time at the war. And there are unopened letters from the past. Some may resemble real life. Some are fictional. Some talk about fear. And some are about demons. Mostly inner ones.

In what ways does the opening of a novel relate to the narrative that unfolds from it? What are the different approaches to close reading a page of prose fiction? How does reading a text for a second time affect our understanding of the significance of its opening? In this unique book, Peter Childs discusses the opening lines of 24 widely-studied literary texts from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. These analyses amount to both an overview of modes of fiction over the last 300 years and also a guide to techniques of close reading. The extracts are taken from the work of novelists ranging from Jane Austen to Salman Rushdie. This stimulating and illuminating book will be a useful text for undergraduates studying the novel and involved in critical appreciation and close textual analysis. Texts discussed: Robinson Crusoe, Tristram Shandy, Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations, Silas Marner, Tess of the D'urbervilles, The Turn of the Screw, Heart of Darkness, The Good Soldier, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, The Life and Death of Harriet Frean, A Passage to India, Mrs Dalloway, Brave New World, The Road to Wigan Pier, Goodbye to Berlin, Under the Volcano, Wide Sargasso Sea, The Bloody Chamber, Shame and The Buddha of Suburbia.

She’s sworn to solve an unthinkable theft, but her promise could get her killed. Can a master of design unpick a nuptial nightmare?

Wedding planner Adrielle Pyper believes wholeheartedly in happily ever after. Desperate for a fresh start since the horror of her best friend’s murder, she makes the move to a posh resort town and revels in attracting famous patrons. But she fears the honeymoon is over when someone steals a priceless imported dress…

With her new celebrity clients’ marital bliss at risk, the sharp-minded beauty takes her own vow to unravel the thread of the gown’s glittering secret. But with irresistible hunks in every pew and terrifying threats delivered to her door, her keen eye for clues could lead her to a deadly altar.

Can Adrielle crack the case before she ties a fatal knot?

Diamond Rings Are Deadly Things is the delightful first book in the Wedding Planner cozy mystery series. If you like heart-racing romance, thrilling twists, and heroines strong in snark, then you’ll love Rachelle J. Christensen’s charming tale.

Buy Diamond Rings are Deadly Things to undo a crooked engagement today!

Cautious Grace Singleton, uncertain of her place in an intimidating world. Outspoken Hannah Parrish, harboring private fear that may change her life. Fragile Ameila Declose, shattered by devastating grief. Circumstance has brought these disparate women of "a certain age" to a Pennsylvania boardinghouse where three square meals and a sagging bed is the most any of them can look forward to. But friendship will take them on a starting journey to a rundown North Carolina farmhouse where the unexpected suddenly seems not only welcome, but delightfully promising. And with nothing more than a bit of adventure in mind, each woman will be surprised to find that they years they've reclaimed from the shadow of twilight will offer something far more rare: confidence, competence, and even another chance at love... The Tampa Tribune calls Joan A Mendicott's The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love "A must-read for women of all ages."

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

In the spirit of novels by Nick Hornby and Tom Perrotta, a smart, funny debut about a disillusioned young man whose fledgling leap from postadolescence to adulthood lands him back in an already overburdened family nest. Calvin Moretti can’t believe how much his life sucks. He’s a twenty-four-year-old film school dropout living at home again and working as an assistant teacher at a preschool for autistic kids. His insufferable go-getter older brother is also living at home, as is his kid sister, who’s still in high school and has just confided to Cal that she’s pregnant. What’s more, Calvin’s father, a career pilot, is temporarily grounded and obsessed with his own mortality. and his ever-stalwart mother is now crumbling under the pressure of mounting bills and the imminent loss of their Sleepy Hollow, New York, home: the only thing keeping the Morettis moored. Can things get worse? Oh, yes, they can. Which makes it all the more amazing that The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac is not only buoyantly fun but often very, very funny. In this debut novel, Kris D’Agostino has crafted an engrossing contemporary tale of a loopy but loving family, and in Calvin Moretti, he’s created an oddball antihero who really wants to do the right thing—if he can just figure out what it is.