Moving chronologically from the colonial period to the present, this collection of seventeen biographical essays provides a window into the social, cultural, and geographic milieu of women's lives in the state. Within the context of the historical forces that have shaped Louisiana, the contributors look at ways in which the women they profile either abided by prevailing gender norms or negotiated new models of behaviour for themselves and other women. Louisiana Women concludes with an essay that examines women's active responses to problems that emerged in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The women whose absorbing life stories are collected here include Marie Therese Coincoin, who was born a slave but later became a successful entrepreneur, and Oretha Castle Haley, civil rights activist and leader of the New Orleans chapter of CORE. From such well-known figures as author Kate Chopin and Voudou priestess Marie Laveau, to lesser known women such as Cajun musician Cleoma Breaux Falcon, this volume reveals a compelling cross section of historical figures. The women profiled vary by race, class, political affiliation, and religious persuasion, but they all share an unusual grit and determination that allowed them to turn trying circumstances into opportunity. Lively yet rigorous, these essays introduce readers to the courageous, dedicated, and inventive women who have been an essential part of Louisiana's history.

"Treasures in the Attic: Gifts from a Woman of Faith "is the true story of author Dell Anne Hines Afzal's grandmother, Lois Annie, and the treasures she left their family. It is documented in memory of her love and strength and shows the trials and tribulations of how she lived her life. It also shows an extremely hard-working, honest, and loving woman who would not allow those heartaches she suffered in her life to limit or taint her examples to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Learning of her tragedies and hardships and how she survived them has given Afzal a sense of purpose and a belief that she can do all things through faith and hard work.

Her purpose in sharing her grandmother's life with the reader is to offer comfort and hope to those who are suffering. She offers her prayers and absolute faith in the understanding that whatever pitfalls may be thrown our way, we must never give up and we are not alone.

The treasures found in her attic on the day she moved from her treasured home of over fifty years offer a glimpse of true caring and respect she left for those she loves. The miracle of the recovery of those gifts and a lost member of the family will open your heart and soul to the true miracles of life.

This book offers an overview of the contributions of author Nora Roberts to the popular literary market. Nora Roberts's captivating biography and extensive canon are explored in this comprehensive reader's guide, including coverage on her early works, critical successes, trilogies and quartets, short stories and novellas, futuristic mysteries written as J.D. Robb, and titles under other pseudonyms. Reading Nora Roberts shows how this remarkable author expands the limits of the genres in which she writes, exploring feminist ideas, Celtic and Western settings, psychological and religious themes, and Gothic and supernatural elements. The book also highlights Roberts's willingness to have her characters face serious real-world issues, including sexism and racism, gun violence, abortion, suicide, corporate greed, and career burnout. Details models of dialogue, slang, and humor, illustrating Nora Roberts's intuitive replication of human quandaries and compromises Includes a timeline of Nora Roberts's life and career, which began in 1979 with a novel and magazine story and advanced to story anthologies, novellas, romances, sagas, trilogies and quartets, Gothic romance, and futuristic thrillers

From the moment she was born, Margaret Vizinau faced enormous obstacles. Despite them all-including being born blind after her pregnant mother contracted German measles-Margaret grew up to be a woman of great faith who dedicated her life to the Lord. Her family migrated to the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1940s to escape the rampant discrimination in the South, and in 1950, Margaret entered an interracial marriage with a nonbeliever. But after six years and the birth of two sons, Dexter and Hank, the marriage ended in a painful divorce. Margaret supported her boys by playing the piano and singing for local churches, but she faced countless challenges as a blind, African American single parent. None of them stopped her from lovingly guiding her sons through the changing times of the civil rights movement, their burgeoning pubescence, and the lure of drugs and violence on the streets. Written by Margaret's older son, "Shine on Me" delivers a fascinating look into the life of a strong, inspirational woman and mother whose unwavering faith in God carried her through life's struggles.

Maria Graham's story is as remarkable as her work, and this biography not only narrates her life but also delves into the representation she made of herself in her published and unpublished journals, diaries, memoirs, and letters. The result of her endeavours is a literary persona that appears far removed from the controversial woman that she actually was. Who is the woman behind the texts? How did she conceive them? Was she simply one of many other adventurous and articulate female authors of the nineteenth century, or did she for some reason stand apart? This book shows how she manufactured her identity at times by conforming to, challenging, or ignoring the rules of society regarding women's behaviour. She was a child of the Enlightenment in that she valued knowledge above all things, yet she flavoured her discoveries with a taste of romanticism. Her search took her to distant lands where she captured for her readers foreign cultural manifestations, exotic landscapes, and obscure religious rites; yet a reading of her work generates the impression that despite the dramatic descriptions of peoples and places, Graham's subject was, simply, herself. What we know of her story comes mainly from her own narratives, although there are significant letters to, from, and about her that round up the analysis. This biography reconstructs Maria Graham's literary image by means of significant passages of her work, memoirs, diaries, journals, and letters. The chosen texts are meant to illustrate salient features of her style and of her interaction with the prevalent ideologies of her time. The intention is to display a groundbreaking female intellectual who captured for her readers the ancientculture of India as deftly as she represented bloodthirsty bandits in the north of Italy or nascent countries in South America.

Women in Uzbekistan have been labeled as victims of patriarchy and submissive, voiceless bodies who lack agency and decision-making power. They are also often symbolized as preservers of rituals and culture and also the victims of socio-economic transformations. During the years of land tenure changes from collectivization to de-collectivization, World War II and the five-year plan economy, women played a vital role in pursuing a diverse range of livelihood opportunities to sustain their families and communities. But what kind of livelihood activities do women pursue in rural areas in Uzbekistan? What do they think about themselves? Do they exercise agency? What are their values, desires, dreams, and inspirations in the post-Soviet period in Uzbekistan? Women's Lives and Livelihoods in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan presents women's voices and their experiences of carrying out livelihood activities such as farming, trading, baking, sewing, building greenhouses, and establishing furniture workshops. In a major contribution to the study of post-Soviet transformations, Zulfiya Tursunova demonstrates how women exercise multi-dimensional empowerment by joining social and economic saving networks such as gap and chernaya kassa. These networks represent a collective movement and action against economic dependency of women on men and the state micro-loan bank system. The networks that do not require external donor interventions have been able to empower women for social justice, knowledge, redistribution of resources, and conflict resolution in ways that are vital to community development. Tursunova provides accounts of such ceremonies as mavlud, ihson, Bibi Seshanba, and Mushkul Kushod. These ceremonies show the ways the conflict resolution practices of women are woven into their everyday life, and function autonomously from the hierarchical elite-driven Women's Committees and state court systems established in the Soviet times. Many local healers and otins (religious teachers) use their discursive knowledge, based on Islam, Sufism, shamanism, and animism to challenge and transform women's subordination, abuse, and other practices that impinge on women's needs and rights. These female religious leaders, through different ceremonial practices, create space for raising the critical consciousness of women and transform the social order for maintaining peace in the communities.

In writing this book, I was at a point in my life where I just wanted to make all of my dreams come true. I knew that life had to be better than what I had become so accustomed to. I grew tired of the routine, the mundane, the boredom and the mediocrity. I made a decision that I was going to stop feeling sorry for myself, eliminate the negative thoughts and work hard toward a new life. A change was to come, and I was determined to see it through. For any woman who has ever felt this way, this message is for you.Through examples of personal experiences, metaphors, and humor, this small, but packed with POWER comprehensive guide, and conversation will deliver just the PUSH, and motivation you need. I sincerely hope that after you read this, you will be inspired to pursue your best life. Ladies, if you are brave enough, I extend the invitation to you to take a walk with me as we embark on this Journey into a life of positive thinking and success. Leave the negative thoughts behind because She's Beyond Those Thoughts.

Women's Voices in Ireland examines the letters and problems sent in by women to two Irish women's magazines in the 1950s and 60s, discussing them within their wider social and historical context. In doing so, it provides a unique insight into one of the few forums for female expression in Ireland during this period. Although in these decades more Irish women than ever before participated in paid work, trade unions and voluntary organizations, their representation in politics and public and their workforce participation remained low. Meanwhile, women who came of age from the late 1950s experienced a freedom which their mothers and aunts - married or single, in the workplace or the home - had never known. Diary and letters pages and problem pages in Irish-produced magazines in the 1950s and 60s enabled women from all walks of life to express their opinions and to seek guidance on the social changes they saw happening around them. This book, by examining these communications, gives a new insight into the history of Irish women, and also contributes to the ongoing debate about what women's magazines mean for women's history.

A humorous yet poignant take on the issues and attitudes that encumber today's women. "Divalution" is full of quips and short stories based on the author's personal experiences and observations, some are funny, others sad, all will touch you. Deborah shares her insight on how women have failed themselves and each other. She offers "The Divalution" as a way to unite and grow. It is a must read if you have ever had a mother, raised a child, had a friend or been in a relationship.

It is July of 1925 when, on a whim, fifteen-year-old Doris Bailey decides to keep a diary-a place where she can openly confide her dreams, hopes, and ambitions. Doris is flirtatious, untamed, and romantic, imagining herself in and out of love with each passing day.

In this first volume of Th e Doris Diaries, her great-niece, Julia Park Tracey, shares Doris's journals capturing a year in the life of a precocious teenager in the rapidly changing world of the mid-1920s. Doris chats on the telephone and dances to records on the Victrola. Not only does she flirt, kiss, and ride in cars with boys, but she also sneaks out, cuts school, and chops off her hair. While Doris constantly pushes the boundaries of acceptable behavior for a young girl, she retells juicy gossip from St. Helen's Hall, a military academy dance, and an Oregon dude ranch-sharing an unforgettable glimpse into a treasure trove of authentic American life in the Northwest.

"I've Got Some Lovin' to Do," with commentary, footnotes, and photographs, presents an entertaining portrayal of an American girl brimming with curiosity, a zest for life, and a hunger to experience love for the first time.

In The Feminine Mystique, Jewish-raised Betty Friedan struck out against a postwar American culture that pressured women to play the role of subservient housewives. However, Friedan never acknowledged that many American women refused to retreat from public life during these years. Now, A Jewish Feminine Mystique? examines how Jewish women sought opportunities and created images that defied the stereotypes and prescriptive ideology of the "feminine mystique." As workers with or without pay, social justice activists, community builders, entertainers, and businesswomen, most Jewish women championed responsibilities outside their homes. Jewishness played a role in shaping their choices, shattering Friedan's assumptions about how middle-class women lived in the postwar years. Focusing on ordinary Jewish women as well as prominent figures such as Judy Holliday, Jennie Grossinger, and Herman Wouk's fictional Marjorie Morningstar, leading scholars from a variety of disciplines explore here the wide canvas upon which American Jewish women made their mark after the Second World War.