These 4 Walls

Architects, we like to believe, shape the world as they please. Reinier de Graaf draws on his own tragicomic experiences to present a candid account of what it is really like to work as an architect. To achieve anything, he notes, architects must serve the powers they strive to critique, finding themselves in a perpetual conflict of interest.

K.D. Hardy is the husband to Tracy Davis Hardy and the Father of one son Kerry Trayvon Hardy. He is a very proud member of the Worship Center Christian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. He is also a Les Brown Platinum Speaker. Before he committed himself to God and became a Platinum Speaker, Kerry lived the life of a "drug dealer". He is an example that change is "POSSIBLE". K.D. Hardy holds an Associates Degree in Early Childhood Education from Ashworth College and a diploma as a Financial Planning Specialist from PCDI. He also has a certification in fitness from the NFPT. He obtained these accomplishments during his incarceration.

"Everything begins on my return to Rwanda" begins Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza's new book written from her prison cell. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza's new book written from her prison cell. After 16 years of exile in Holland, Victoire decided to return to her home country. This book recounts her life experience for 3 years, from the moment she announced her candidacy for presidential elections, to her incarceration into the famous "1930" maximum security prison. In this book, she describes her encounter with corrupt Rwandan judicial system from within. Interrogations, continuous threats, fabricated charges, her attempts to register her party, the prohibition of visiting her family in the Netherlands especially not being able to attend her son's 8th birthday. "Those politicians are ruthless. There are reasons to be afraid to live in this country. I have just spent more than twelve hours behind bars having done nothing, whatsoever" "The problem is not that they ignore who I am or that they don't know what is good for our fellow citizens, they just don't want to run the risk of losing power."

"Every word written in this book was written from within the confines of my home. Spanning over nearly three years this book is a testament to my time being housebound and proof that despite all the suffering, there is always happiness to be created, peace to be unearthed, and a life to be lived. A journey of self-discovery and personal growth, I hope this book may offer you comfort, inspiration, and wisdom, whatever path you find yourself on. And I hope by sharing my story and imparting my thoughts, it may help you in some small way too." - You'll find this book is a collection of "pieces": some longer, some shorter, some reading like letters, others like journal entries, some like poems, and some continuous and broken prose. The book is split into three parts: The Storm, The Aftermath, and The Calm, as well as a bonus chapter called 'A Conversation with Wisdom'. This book will take you on a transformative journey from the bad moments, to the good moments, and everything in between.

A riveting and redemptive family memoir, The Four Walls of My Freedom is Donna Thomson’s account of raising a son with cerebral palsy and a passionate appeal to change the way we think about “the good life.” Donna Thomson’s life was forever changed when her son Nicholas was born with cerebral palsy. A former actor, director, and teacher, Donna became his primary caregiver and embarked on a second career as a disability activist, author, and consultant. Thomson vividly describes her experience in treading delicately through daily care, emergencies, and medical bureaucracy as she and her family cope with her son’s condition while maintaining value and dignity (for Nicholas, too). She brilliantly demonstrates the vital contribution that people with disabilities make to our society and addresses the ethics and economics of giving and receiving care. Featuring an introduction by John Ralston Saul, and two new chapters, The Four Walls of My Freedom is a passionate appeal to change to the way we think about the “good life” that will touch anyone caring for the life of another.

Rose Morash is a woman who guards her privacy and her secrets. From an early age to old age, keeping certain things hidden was essential to her survival. It is only after Rose’s death that her daughter Barbara uncovers some startling truths – truths that re-write the past and transform her own future.In Depression-era Halifax, 11-year-old Rose Morash and her sisters, Lily and Violet, are orphaned when tuberculosis claims both parents. Separated from their old sister Violet, and with no one else to turn to, Rose and Lily are packed off to the Protestant orphanage. The Home is full of strict rules, tedium, emotional neglect – and strangers. Only another orphan, Ora, proves worthy of Rose’s friendship. “We’ll look out for each other, Rose. Promise.”At eighteen, Rose, now a determined, focused young woman, quickly rids herself of the maid’s apron and the sweatshop seamstress job, and moves up in the hierarchy of an elegant downtown department store. Amidst the chaos of WWII come new relationships and new losses. “People aren’t forever,” Rose concludes as the war rages on. “Don’t count on them.” These words, this motto, shape the choices she makes and the course her life takes. Years later, daughter Barbara tries the find renewed connection with her remote and bitter mother. Her efforts are in vain. It is only in the sorting of belongings, the packing of boxes, that Barbara finds the long-hidden truths of the woman she never fully knew.