The Wild Geese And The North East Wind

The story begins in Cuba when Julian Hamilton, aged eighty and after a life as a famous writer, is confronted with Victoria, his daughter, whose existence he was unaware of. Julian has been spending his retirement and final days of a life that began with the conflicting dilemma he experienced as a young student after leaving Princeton University, USAa conflict that people have between their belief in themselves and their emotional lives. For the writer and painter, it is a greater burden and more onerous than the many people who have to decide whether to sacrifice ambition for a sense of responsibility toward love and family life. After Princeton, Julian gets married but soon finds that following lifes normal format impairs the necessary dedication to evolve as a writer. Fearful of the emotional restrictions that come with full commitment, he leaves his wife to follow the romantic dream of coup de foudre or love at first sight. He meets Rebecca serendipitously, who gives him the necessary inspiration, and they go traveling on an ancient Triumph Speed Twin motorbike, heading towards Morocco with no sense of responsibility. Things go wrong, which fractures their passionate relationship, leaving them in a state of despair. Rebecca is raped and becomes pregnant, and Julian goes into a monastery to make a clean break in order to establish a balanced perspective of the situation. They separate, and Rebecca is left facing a lifetime of unhappiness. The book contains romance, suspense, tragedy, travel, and some thriller action of rape, murder, and sex. The doomed lovers final curtain falls in Barcelona when Julian chooses his art over lovesomething he lives to regret. The novel will present some readers with the unsolvable question as to which path should be taken!

"To read East Wind Melts the Ice is to slip into a time stream that is both as long and sinuous as history and as ephemeral as the present moment. Drawing inspiration from the thousand year old history of Japanese poetic diaries, and form from the ancient Chinese almanac that she uses to contain her musings, Liza Dalby has accomplished the seemingly impossible task of translating the sensibility of the Heian Court of 11th century Japan into the context of contemporary America. The result is a stunning chronicle of the beauty of time passing and an evocation of the transient and whimsical nature of all things."—Ruth Ozeki, author of My Year of Meats and All Over Creation "I imagine Liza Dalby writing this book in an ancient library, a lion sleeping at her side, as in the paintings of Saint Jerome. As she collects and layers arcane and fascinating pieces of knowledge, she builds her own very personal almanac packed with the wonder of loving two cultures, the intense inner life of each season, and boundless curiosity of the scholar/child. This is a book to dip in and out of throughout the year."—Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun "Liza Dalby's memoir of the seasons is as fresh and captivating as springtime. A very special book."—Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma "This beautiful book awakens the senses. A journal, an almanac of the seasons, and a series of reflections on ancient Eastern Chinese and Japanese cultures, here you will find subtle observations of rain and heat, tangerines, mulberries and paulownia trees, crickets and doves forming a rich tapestry as they are woven with evocative fragments of history—stories of geishas, of salesmen who sold bulk fireflies, of the wood that was used for kimono chests, of emptiness in the tea ceremony. Like a lush garden, this book is meant to savor."—Susan Griffin, author of The Book of the Courtesans

'The Patron Saint of Conservation' Sir David Attenborough 'Peter Scott was a huge influence on my childhood...Later on in life I had the good fortune both to meet and to interview him, and he remains, for me, a hero. His knowledge, his kindness to me and his generosity of spirit have remained an influence in my own sphere of natural history....To meet one's heroes can sometimes be a let-down. That was most certainly not the case with Peter Scott.' Alan Titchmarsh A Life In Nature is a portrait of Peter Scott collected from his own conversations, articles and broadcasts including thoughts on expeditions to Lapland, Conservation and Africa, his travels in Europe and much more. Illustrated by Peter's own beautiful illustrations. Sir Peter Scott had a truly incredible life. He was the only son of legendary explorer Captain Scott. His godfather was JM Barrie and he was married to Elizabeth Jane Howard. He also represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at sailing in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal. He founded the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and also helped to found the Worldwide Fund for Nature. This is a beautiful and timely re-discovered book, perfect for those who are interested in preserving our planet.