The Gingerbread Lady

"After a short stay in rehab, her best friend age-defying Toby, her daughter Polly, and Jimmy Perry, a gay actor try to help her adjust to sobriety with a jolly birthday party. Enter Lou Tanner, a former lover, who ends up giving her a black eye. The party is a wash out, the "gingerbread lady" falls off the wagon and hits the ropes once again. Later rewritten by Neil Simon as the film Only When I Laugh starring Marsha Mason." -- Publisher's description.

Brings together the texts of Simon's plays, including Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, California Suite, God's Favorite, The Sunshine Boys, and The Prisoner of Second Avenue.

The Gingerbread Girl is a pastiche of 'Oliver Twist' by Charles Dickens, which was published in monthly instalments in 1837. The twist is that the heroine, thirteen year old Amy Watkins, better known to her friends as Ginge, is no victim like Oliver, but a very feisty young lady. The novel should appeal to girl readers between the ages of 9-12 years and is a Christmas book. The date is November and December 1875 and Amy is an orphan living in Bethnal Green in the East End of London. Her seven year old brother Billy, for whom she has sole responsibility, is very sick and in the workhouse school hospital in Leytonstone. Amy bakes gingerbread girls and sells them at Bethnal Green market as a means to survive. She pays rent for a small room in a lodging house, where she has access to the cooking range in the basement kitchen. Elsa, her landlady, threatens Amy with eviction if she does not run her errands. As few houses had ranges, Amy does what Elsa wants and is drawn, unawares, into a criminal underworld of burglary and art forgery. John Constable's work is said to be easy to forge, so once it is plain that Amy has artistic talent, she inadvertently copies parts of his paintings. She befriends Sweep, a road sweeper, one of a community of characters who live cheek by jowl in the lodging house, and with his help, and support from the other lodgers, she tries to look after Billy and find an escape from the criminals.

ALL SHE WANTED WAS A HOME London, 1936 Ill and stuck in hospital at Christmas, seven year old Cora Kelly is excited to receive a visit from her mother, who brings her the gift of a gingerbread man. But little does Cora know that this will be the last time she sees her . . . As Cora continues her recovery on a farm in the beautiful Norfolk countryside, tragedy strikes her family and she moves back to London with her new guardian, Eliza. Here they live a happy, if simple, life. But, as the Second World War approaches, and the past comes knocking, everything changes. Will Cora be able to escape the inevitable, or is she destined to repeat her parents' mistakes? For fans of Katie Flynn and Sheila Jeffries, The Gingerbread Girl is a heart-warming, festive novel from the Queen of family saga, Sheila Newberry. 'So gloriously nostalgic . . . a perfect example of her talent.' Maureen Lee, bestselling author of The Seven Streets of Liverpool 'Like having dinner with your mother in her warm and cosy kitchen.' Diane Allen, bestselling author of For the Sake of Her Family

She is smart...She is brave...She is utterly witty. Do you want to know what happened to her? Did she escape from the butcher, the cow, or the muddy old sow? Did she make friends with the motherly rabbit and how? At bedtime, or naptime, or just because it’s fun... Mommy, Daddy, Nanny, or anyone Let's read the story or sing aloud... This enchanting tale and give it a twirl The answers are in here, right now! So turn the pages and let’s learn What happened to The Gingerbread Girl