The best new research on medieval clothing and textiles, drawing from a range of disciplines. This sixth volume of Medieval Clothing and Textiles ranges widely, as ever, across England and Europe. It presents two groundbreaking articles in novel areas of textile and dress scholarship: an introduction to a previouslyunexamined class of embroidery (decorative manuscript repair), and an English-language overview of scholarly research on historical dress in Latvia. Among the other topics considered in the volume are two very different listingsof clothing items from medieval Germany: an invented lexicon by the mystic Hildegard of Bingen, and an accounting of specific real garments worn by ordinary people and donated to finance the building of Strasbourg Cathedral. Papers also consider the mercantile world of clothing in medieval London: one gathers insight on dealers of secondhand clothing from the evidence of historical documents, while the other examines the social rise of the mercers in the light of their representation in literature, and their connections to the literary world. Further articles consider luxurious dress accessories with both worldly and spiritual significance, and analyse a French manual for Englishhousewives, illuminating the often-overlooked topic of home linen production. Contributors: Hilary Davidson, Ieva Pigozne, Valerie L. Garver, Christine Sciacca, Sarah L. Higley, William Sayers, Roger A. Ladd, Kate KelseyStaples, Charlotte A. Stanford

Hilary Davidson delves into the clothing of one of the world’s great authors, providing unique and intimate insight into her everyday life and material world   What did Jane Austen wear?   Acclaimed dress historian and Austen expert Hilary Davidson reveals, for the first time, the wardrobe of one of the world’s most celebrated authors. Despite her acknowledged brilliance on the page, Jane Austen has all too often been accused of dowdiness in her appearance. Drawing on Austen’s 161 known letters, as well as her own surviving garments and accessories, this book assembles examples of the variety of clothes she would have possessed—from gowns and coats to shoes and undergarments—to tell a very different story. The Jane Austen Hilary Davidson discovers is alert to fashion trends but thrifty and eager to reuse and repurpose clothing. Her renowned irony and wit peppers her letters, describing clothes, shopping, and taste. Jane Austen’s Wardrobe offers the rare pleasure of a glimpse inside the closet of a stylish dresser and perpetually fascinating writer.

A comprehensive and beautifully illustrated examination of dress, clothing, fashion, and sewing in the Regency seen through the lens of Jane Austen's life and writings This lively book reveals the clothing and fashion of the world depicted in Jane Austen's beloved books, focusing on the long Regency between the years 1795 and 1825. During this period, accelerated change saw Britain's turbulent entry into the modern age, and clothing reflected these transformations. Starting with the intimate perspective of clothing the self, Dress in the Age of Jane Austen moves outward through the social and cultural spheres of home, village, countryside, and cities, and into the wider national and global realms, exploring the varied ways people dressed to inhabit these environments. Jane Austen's famously observant fictional writings, as well as her letters, provide the entry point for examining the Regency age's rich complexity of fashion, dress, and textiles for men and women in their contemporary contexts. Lavishly illustrated with paintings, drawings, historic garments, and fashion plates-including many previously unpublished images-this authoritative yet accessible book will help readers visualize the external selves of Austen's immortal characters as clearly as she wrote of their internal ones. The result is an enhanced understanding of Austen's work and time, and also of the history of one of Britain's most distinctive fashion eras.

Life for emerging adults is vastly different today than it was for their counterparts even a generation ago. Young people are waiting longer to marry, to have children, and to choose a career direction. As a result, they enjoy more freedom, opportunities, and personal growth than ever before. But the transition to adulthood is also more complex, disjointed, and confusing.
In Lost in Transition, Christian Smith and his collaborators draw on 230 in-depth interviews with a broad cross-section of emerging adults (ages 18-23) to investigate the difficulties young people face today, the underlying causes of those difficulties, and the consequences both for individuals and for American society as a whole. Rampant consumer capitalism, ongoing failures in education, hyper-individualism, postmodernist moral relativism, and other aspects of American culture are all contributing to the chaotic terrain that emerging adults must cross. Smith identifies five major problems facing very many young people today: confused moral reasoning, routine intoxication, materialistic life goals, regrettable sexual experiences, and disengagement from civic and political life. The trouble does not lie only with the emerging adults or their poor individual decisions but has much deeper roots in mainstream American culture--a culture which emerging adults have largely inherited rather than created. Older adults, Smith argues, must recognize that much of the responsibility for the pain and confusion young people face lies with them. Rejecting both sky-is-falling alarmism on the one hand and complacent disregard on the other, Smith suggests the need for what he calls "realistic concern"--and a reconsideration of our cultural priorities and practices--that will help emerging adults more skillfully engage unique challenges they face.
Even-handed, engagingly written, and based on comprehensive research, Lost in Transition brings much needed attention to the darker side of the transition to adulthood.

Obsession. Betrayal. Rage. Paranoia. Lust. Revenge. Murder. Anthony Award-winning author Hilary Davidson's short stories invariably lead to dark places. In "Stepmonster," a jilted wife learns that the younger woman who stole her husband may be on the prowl again. In "Son of So Many Tears," the mother of a criminal discovers the carnage left behind by her son. In "Anniversary," a man prepares a very special meal for the girl of his dreams. In "Beast," a wedding-obsessed woman refuses to accept a bad breakup. In "Undying Love," a dead man with a fading memory tries to piece together the mystery of his own murder. In "Insatiable," a wealthy old man watches his beautiful wife seduce a new lover. In "Fetish," a father's terror about the sick, twisted world his daughter inhabits leads him to take some terrible measures to save her. In "The Other Man," a bar owner realizes his adulterous days may be numbered when a cuckolded husband starts stalking him. And in the title story, "The Black Widow Club," a young mother discovers that murder may be a family tradition. Read The Black Widow Club: Nine Tales of Obsession and Murder at your own risk.

Dominique Monaghan just wanted to get even with her two-timing, married boyfriend, a washed-up boxer stuck in a toxic marriage to a dangerously spoiled socialite. However, an elaborate blackmail scheme soon lands her in the middle of an unexpected kidnapping . . . and attempted murder. But who is actually out to kill whom?

Desmond Edgars, Dominique's big brother, has looked out for his wayward sister ever since their

mother was convicted of murdering many years ago, so when he receives a frantic phone call from

Dominique in the middle of the night, he drops everything to rush to the rescue. But to find out what has really happened to his sister, the stoic ex-military man must navigate a tangled web of murder and deception, involving a family fortune, a couple of shifty lawyers, and a missing child, while wrestling with his own bloody secrets . . . .

Hilary Davidson's "Blood Always Tells" is a twisted tale of love, crime, and family gone wrong, by the multiple award-winning author of "The Damage Done" and "Evil in All Its Disguises."

Determining why, when, and to whom people feel compelled to be generous affords invaluable insight into positive and problematic ways of life. Organ donation, volunteering, and the funding of charities can all be illuminated by sociological and psychological perspectives on how American adults conceive of and demonstrate generosity. Focusing not only on financial giving but on the many diverse forms generosity can take, Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson show the deep impactusually good, sometimes destructivethat giving has on individuals. The Paradox of Generosity is the first study to make use of the cutting-edge empirical data collected in Smith's groundbreaking, multidisciplinary, five-year Science of Generosity Initiative. It draws on an extensive survey of 2,000 Americans, more than sixty in-depth interviews with individuals across twelve states, and analysis of over 1,000 photographs and other visual materials. This wealth of evidence reveals a consistent link between demonstrating generosity and leading a better life: more generous people are happier, suffer fewer illnesses and injuries, live with a greater sense of purpose, and experience less depression. Smith and Davidson also show, however, that to achieve a better life a person must practice generosity regularly-random acts of kindness are not enough. Offering a wide range of vividly illustrative case studies, this volume will be a crucial resource for anyone seeking to understand the true impact and meaning of generosity.

"The Damage Done" by Hilary Davidson is the winner of the Anthony Award for Best First Novel
Lily Moore fled to Spain to get away from her troubled, drug-addicted younger sister, Claudia. When Claudia is found dead in a bathtub on the anniversary of their mother's suicide, Lily must return to New York to deal with the aftermath.
The situation shifts from tragic to baffling when the body at the morgue turns out to be that of a stranger who had been using Claudia's identity. The real Claudia had vanished months earlier, reappearing briefly on the day the impostor died. As Claudia transforms from victim to suspect in the eyes of the police, Lily becomes determined to find her before they do.
Is Claudia actually missing or is she playing an elaborate con game? And who's responsible for the body in the tub? Determined to learn the truth at any cost, Lily is unprepared for the terrible toll it will take on her and those she loves
"Grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go till the end."--Linda Fairstein, "New York Times "bestselling author, on "The Damage Done"