Do I Look at You with Love? were the words uttered by Mark Freeman's mother when she learned, once again, that he was her son. This book explores the experience of dementia as it transpired during the course of the final twelve years of her life, from the time of her diagnosis until her death in 2016 at age 93. As a longtime student of memory, identity, and narrative, as well as the son of a woman with dementia, he had a remarkable opportunity to try to understand and tell her story. Much of the story is tragic. But there were other periods and other dimensions of relationship that were beautiful and that could not have emerged without her very affliction. In the midst of affliction there were gifts, arriving unbidden, that served to alert Freeman and his family to what is most precious and real. These are part of the story too. Part narrative psychology, part memoir, part meditation on the beauty and light that might be found amidst the ravages of time and memory, Freeman's moving story is emblematic of nothing less than the bittersweet reality of life itself.

Everyone knows the name Calamity Jane. Scores of dime novels and movie and TV Westerns have portrayed this original Wild West woman as an adventuresome, gun-toting hellion. Although Calamity Jane has probably been written about more than any other woman of the nineteenth-century American West, fiction and legend have largely obscured the facts of her life. This lively, concise, and exhaustively researched biography traces the real person from the Missouri farm where she was born in 1856 through the development of her notorious persona as a Wild West heroine. Before Calamity Jane became a legend, she was Martha Canary, orphaned when she was only eleven years old. From a young age she traveled fearlessly, worked with men, smoked, chewed tobacco, and drank. By the time she arrived in the boomtown of Deadwood, South Dakota, in 1876, she had become Calamity Jane, and the real Martha Canary had disappeared under a landslide of purple prose. Calamity became a hostess and dancer in Deadwood's saloons and theaters. She imbibed heavily, and she might have been a prostitute, but she had other qualities, as well, including those of an angel of mercy who ministered to the sick and the down-and-out. Journalists and dime novelists couldn't get enough of either version, nor, in the following century, could filmmakers. Sorting through the stories, veteran western historian Richard W. Etulain's account begins with a biography that offers new information on Calamity's several 'husbands' (including one she legally married), her two children, and a woman who claimed to be the daughter of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity, a story Etulain discredits. In the second half of the book, Etulain traces the stories that have shaped Calamity Jane's reputation. Some Calamity portraits, he says, suggest that she aspired to a quiet life with a husband and family. As the 2004 - 2006 HBO series Deadwood makes clear, well more than a century after her first appearance as a heroine in the Deadwood Dick dime novels, Calamity Jane lives on - raunchy, unabashed, contradictory, and ambiguous as ever.

Can she save herself from a witch's fate?Martha is a feisty and articulate young woman, the daughter of a wheelwright, living in a Herefordshire village in Elizabethan England. With no mother Martha's life is spent running her father's meagre household and helping out at the local school whilst longing to escape the confines and small-mindedness of a community driven by religious bigotry and poverty. As she is able to read and is well-versed in herbal remedies she is suspected of being a witch. When a landslip occurs - opening up a huge chasm in the centre of the village - she is blamed for it and pursued remorselessly by the villagers. But can her own wits and the love of local stablehand Jacob save her from a witch's persecution and death... A brilliant and accomplished novel that perfectly captures the febrile atmosphere of Elizabethan village life in an age when suspicion and superstition were rife. Perfect for fans of Tracy Chevalier. What readers are saying about The Wheelwright's Daughter: 'It's a gripping story and such accomplished writing. I really enjoyed every moment of working on it.' Yvonne Holland, editor of Philippa Gregory and Tracy Chevalier 'A brilliant debut novel' 'An interesting read and an impressive debut novel' 'A wonderfully written story' 'A skilfully crafted story of love, betrayal, superstition and fear in 16th century England.' 'This is a story of courage, trust, betrayal and love.' 'A great historical novel I loved.' 'Keeps you hooked til the end.' 'An excellent read, highly recommended.' 'Full of historical detail and atmosphere' 'I enjoyed this thoughtful and well-written story by Eleanor Porter.' 'Atmospheric and evocative'

Can she save herself from a witch's fate?Martha is a feisty and articulate young woman, the daughter of a wheelwright, living in a Herefordshire village in Elizabethan England. With no mother Martha's life is spent running her father's meagre household and helping out at the local school whilst longing to escape the confines and small-mindedness of a community driven by religious bigotry and poverty. As she is able to read and is well-versed in herbal remedies she is suspected of being a witch. When a landslip occurs - opening up a huge chasm in the centre of the village - she is blamed for it and pursued remorselessly by the villagers. But can her own wits and the love of local stablehand Jacob save her from a witch's persecution and death... A brilliant and accomplished novel that perfectly captures the febrile atmosphere of Elizabethan village life in an age when suspicion and superstition were rife. Perfect for fans of Tracy Chevalier. What readers are saying about The Wheelwright's Daughter: 'It's a gripping story and such accomplished writing. I really enjoyed every moment of working on it.' Yvonne Holland, editor of Philippa Gregory and Tracy Chevalier 'A brilliant debut novel' 'An interesting read and an impressive debut novel' 'A wonderfully written story' 'A skilfully crafted story of love, betrayal, superstition and fear in 16th century England.' 'This is a story of courage, trust, betrayal and love.' 'A great historical novel I loved.' 'Keeps you hooked til the end.' 'An excellent read, highly recommended.' 'Full of historical detail and atmosphere' 'I enjoyed this thoughtful and well-written story by Eleanor Porter.' 'Atmospheric and evocative'

This is not only a travel book but a thought-provoking documentary on inter-cultural relationships between the different races and nationalities comprising the huge expatriate population and native Arab residents of the oil-rich peninsula. The many characters portrayed, presented in a variety of authentic stories encountered by the author on his travels, are centred around the horrific event of a public stoning in Saudi Arabia. Some of the stories have a humorous flavour, but all are concerned with the human problems - many of them poignant - of expatriates and Arabs alike, living cheek by jowl in a society of gaping contrasts. It would be simplistic to interpret the book as merely a critique of the harsher aspects of Arab life from a Western perspective, for in the cause of future concord, the author calls for a dialogue between the cultures of the Middle East and the West in the name of social justice and modernisation. The present strains, in what has become a multi-cultural society following the influx of millions, mostly from the Third World, anticipates the possibility of trouble in the future. The status of women is highlighted and discussed in several dramatic episodes, and a compassionate view is taken of Asian guest workers in the light of their widespread mistreatment in the Gulf. The rigidity of tradition would seem not merely to prevent the development of a modem mind-set, but in the perceived threat of Westernisation, to trigger an even more regressive attitude, as is shown clearly in this book. But note is also taken of the Arab outlook on the Western world, together with their horror of Western liberal values, and their passionate arguments for resisting change are recorded in detail. An element of suspense and mystery is maintained throughout the book as the execution of the condemned victim progresses through the narrative, only interrupted by recollections of other personalities and the stories surrounding them. Is the condemned person male or female? And what was the offence? No prior information is posted by the authorities on the public punishment or execution of offenders. The attitude of many readers to the horrific episode may change considerably as the tme facts leading up to the execution are revealed towards the end of the book.

The end of the nineteenth century was a difficult time for farmers in Scotland. A decade of cold years made it hard to grow crops or feed animals and grain growers faced competition from America after the repeal of the Corn Laws. In these harsh conditions, ordinary families still pursued their lives and loves. My Father Was a Farmer in New Cumnock tells the story of the Baird family and of their joys and struggles on their farm.