A warm and wry family drama with a witchy twist about four generations of Black women living under one roof and the family curse that stems back to a voodoo sorceress in 1950s New Orleans.

For generations, the Montrose women have lived alone with their secrets, their delicate peace depending on the unspoken bond that underpins their family life - Voodoo and hoodoo magic, and a decades-old curse that will kill anyone they fall for.

When seventeen-year-old Nickie Montrose brings home a boy for the first time, this careful balance is thrown into disarray. For the other women have been keeping the curse from Nickie, and revealing it means that they must reckon with their own choices and mistakes.

As new truths emerge, the Montrose women are set on a collision course that echoes back to New Orleans' French Quarter, where a crumbling book of spells may hold the answers that all of them have been looking for...

Rich in its sense of character and place, Black Candle Women is a haunting and magical debut from a talented new storyteller.

In 2017, DNA tests revealed to the collective shock of many scholars that a Viking warrior in a high-status grave in Birka, Sweden, was actually a woman. The Real Valkyrie weaves together archaeology, history and literature to reinvent her life and times, showing that Viking women had more power and agency than historians have imagined. Nancy Marie Brown links the Birka warrior, whom she names Hervor, to Viking trading towns and to their great trade route east to Byzantium and beyond. She imagines Hervor's adventures intersecting with larger-than-life but real women, including Queen Gunnhild Mother-of-Kings, the Viking leader known as the Red Girl, and Queen Olga of Kyiv. Hervor's short, dramatic life shows that much of what we have taken as truth about women in the Viking Age is based not on data but on nineteenth-century Victorian biases. Rather than holding the household keys, Viking women in history, the sagas, poetry and myth carry weapons. In this compelling narrative, Brown brings the world of those valkyries and shield-maids to vivid life.

Marie Browning pushes the envelope of Zentangle into the living dimension of color. Using easy to follow steps, Marie illustrates over 40 new tangles. More than simply coloring regions of a tangle design, this book offers lessons which enable even the novice artist to use a Tombow Dual Brush pen to color delightful Zentangle animals, plants and flowers.

'Richly imagined and elegantly told, with plenty of satisfying secrets, heartaches, and twists' SADEQA JOHNSON 'A spellbinding romp. The Montrose women will have you clutching your pearls on this rollercoaster of a debut' CAROLYN HUYNH 'Written with warmth and an eye for detail, Diane Marie Brown's Black Candle Women explores the bonds of family and the magical power of belief to transform our lives' SHAUNA J. EDWARDS & ALYSON RICHMAN .............................................................. 'All of you are cursed, you hear me? An ugly death for the ones with whom you fall in love' Generations of Montrose women - Augusta, Victoria, Willow - have lived together in their quaint two-story bungalow in California for years. They keep to themselves, never venture far from home, and their collection of tinctures and spells is an unspoken bond between them. But when seventeen-year-old Nickie Montrose brings home a boy for the first time, their quiet lives are thrown into disarray. For the other women have been withholding a secret from Nickie that will end her relationship before it's even begun: the decades-old family curse that any person they fall in love with dies. Their surprise guest forces each woman to reckon with her own past choices and mistakes. And as new truths about the curse emerge, the family is set on a collision course dating back to a voodoo shop in 1950s New Orleans's French Quarter-where a hidden story in a mysterious book may just hold the answers they seek in life and in love... Rich in its sense of character and place, Black Candle Women is a haunting and magical debut from a talented new storyteller.

Interrogating the relationship between women and psychosis from a variety of perspectives, this edited collection explores personal, literary, spiritual, psychological, biological, and psychodynamic approaches. The contributors reflect on medieval mystics and witches, postpartum psychosis, disordered eating, art and literature, feminism, and male/female differences in schizophrenia. Women with experience of psychosis, psychotherapists, and a shaman provide first-person accounts to give the book a personal grounding. Curated with the intent to expand the way we think about women and psychosis, the contributors to this collection recognize that "voices and visions" do not occur in a vacuum, but are experienced within, and are influenced by, particular socio-cultural contexts.

Women and the Psychosocial Construction of Madness focuses on the question of madness as it is experienced by women within gendered sociopolitical contexts. Contributors to this edited collection engage with a diverse range of topics, including black and ethnic minority women's experiences of psychosis, psychosis in transwomen, sexual trauma and psychosis, the doctor-patient relationship, and women's experiences of mental health treatment and recovery. Chapters span the disciplines of psychoanalysis, sociology, women's studies, critical theory, and madness studies.

This collection offers a diverse range of perspectives that seek to find meaning in madness. Mainstream biomedical approaches tend to interpret experiences commonly labelled "psychotic" as being indicative of a biological illness that can best be ameliorated with prescription drugs. In seeking to counter this perspective, psychosocial outlooks commonly focus on the role of trauma and environmental stress. Although an appreciation for the role of trauma has been critical in expanding the ways in which we view madness, an emphasis of this kind may nevertheless continue to perpetuate a subtle form of reductivism-madness continues to be understood as the product of a deficit. In seeking to move beyond causal-reductivism, this book explores a variety of perspectives on the question of finding inherent meaning in madness and extreme states. Contributors to this book are distinguished writers and researchers from a variety of international and interdisciplinary perspectives. Topics span the fields of depth psychology and psychoanalysis, creativity, Indigenous and postcolonial approaches, neurodiversity, mad studies, and mysticism and spirituality. This collection will be of interest to mental health professionals, students and scholars of the humanities and social sciences, and people with lived experience of madness and extreme states. Readers will come away with an appreciation of the more generative aspects of madness, and a recognition that these experiences may be important for both personal and collective healing.

Interrogating the relationship between women and psychosis from a variety of perspectives, this edited collection explores personal, literary, spiritual, psychological, biological and psychodynamic approaches. Chapter themes include explorations of medieval mystics and witches, postpartum psychosis, disordered eating, art and literature, feminism, and male/female differences in schizophrenia. Women with lived experience of psychosis, psychotherapists, and a shaman provide personal accounts to ground the book in lived experience. Curated with the intent to expand the way we think about women and psychosis, the contributions to this title recognize that 'voices and visions' do not occur in a vacuum but are experienced within, and are influenced by, particular socio-cultural contexts.

This collection offers a diverse range of perspectives that seek to find meaning in madness. Mainstream biomedical approaches tend to interpret experiences commonly labelled "psychotic" as being indicative of a biological illness that can best be ameliorated with prescription drugs. In seeking to counter this perspective, psychosocial outlooks commonly focus on the role of trauma and environmental stress. Although an appreciation for the role of trauma has been critical in expanding the ways in which we view madness, an emphasis of this kind may nevertheless continue to perpetuate a subtle form of reductivism-madness continues to be understood as the product of a deficit. In seeking to move beyond causal-reductivism, this book explores a variety of perspectives on the question of finding inherent meaning in madness and extreme states. Contributors to this book are distinguished writers and researchers from a variety of international and interdisciplinary perspectives. Topics span the fields of depth psychology and psychoanalysis, creativity, Indigenous and postcolonial approaches, neurodiversity, mad studies, and mysticism and spirituality. This collection will be of interest to mental health professionals, students and scholars of the humanities and social sciences, and people with lived experience of madness and extreme states. Readers will come away with an appreciation of the more generative aspects of madness, and a recognition that these experiences may be important for both personal and collective healing.

'I really enjoyed this read. It was well written with a captivating storyline and well developed characters . . . [An] evocative and tender book . . . everyone who reads it will be enchanted like I was' reader review 'Propulsive and poignant, Black Candle Women concocts an intoxicating potion of warmth, wisdom, and wonder. This gorgeous debut novel is a sweepingly fashioned love story where romance and rebellion intertwine with fear and family. And the stakes are epic. I was completely and gladly under Ms. Brown's spell' AVA DUVERNAY 'A big-hearted debut, with complex, flawed, and compelling characters I was rooting for every step of the way' E.M. TRAN 'Richly imagined and elegantly told, with plenty of satisfying secrets, heartaches, and twists' SADEQA JOHNSON 'A spellbinding romp. The Montrose women will have you clutching your pearls on this rollercoaster of a debut' CAROLYN HUYNH 'Written with warmth and an eye for detail, Diane Marie Brown's Black Candle Women explores the bonds of family and the magical power of belief to transform our lives' SHAUNA J. EDWARDS & ALYSON RICHMAN 'Black Candle Women is a compassionate novel about motherhood, sisterhood, independence, and the reflection and forgiveness required to break generational curses' DE'SHAWN CHARLES WINSLOW 'Brown deftly portrays an insular family of women in all of its complicated glory . . . The spiritual angle gives this powerful family drama a magical twist that will delight readers' BOOKLIST (starred review) 'Black Candle Women is a bold and tender story about three generations of women each attempting to find their way amidst the gifts and curses they've inherited . . . This novel is a wondrous celebration of womanhood' CLEYVIS NATERA ************************************* 'All of you are cursed, you hear me? An ugly death for the ones with whom you fall in love' For generations, the Montrose women have lived alone with their secrets, their delicate peace depending on the unspoken bond that underpins their family life - Voodoo and hoodoo magic, and a decades-old curse that will kill anyone they fall for. When seventeen-year-old Nickie Montrose brings home a boy for the first time, this careful balance is thrown into disarray. For the other women have been keeping the curse from Nickie, and revealing it means that they must reckon with their own choices and mistakes. As new truths emerge, the Montrose women are set on a collision course that echoes back to New Orleans' French Quarter, where a crumbling book of spells may hold the answers that all of them have been looking for... Rich in its sense of character and place, Black Candle Women is a haunting and magical debut from a talented new storyteller. ************************************* Early readers are LOVING Black Candle Women! 'I LOVED IT SO SO MUCH. Magic? A cursed family tree? Badass women? This was an adventure from start to finish and it was my pleasure to read' 'What a fascinating story about some amazing women. I was caught on page one and stayed captivated until the very end. Bravo!!' 'This book was amazing from start to finish. I was so captivated by each of the characters' 'I was invested from the first page and really loved these characters and their story'

Bridging Minds Across the Pacific offers new insight into U.S.-China relations by looking at the far-reaching dynamics of educational exchanges between these two countries. Deng Xiaoping's milestone decision in 1978 to send a large number of Chinese nationals to study in the United States has fostered increased cross-Pacific dialogue among academics. In recent years a tidal wave of "returnees" who studied abroad have moved back to China. Cheng Li and this volume's distinguished contributors examine how these individuals are working to shape their home country, especially in social science curriculum development, program-building, and research, and in public policy formation. This book explores whether sweeping educational exchanges between these two profoundly different countries have promoted productive mutual understanding.

Bridging Minds Across the Pacific offers new insight into U.S.-China relations by looking at the far-reaching dynamics of educational exchanges between these two countries. Deng Xiaoping's milestone decision in 1978 to send a large number of Chinese nationals to study in the United States has fostered increased cross-Pacific dialogue among academics. In recent years a tidal wave of 'returnees' who studied abroad have moved back to China. Cheng Li and this volume's distinguished contributors examine how these individuals are working to shape their home country, especially in social science curriculum development, program-building, and research, and in public policy formation. This book explores whether sweeping educational exchanges between these two profoundly different countries have promoted productive mutual understanding.

This volume examines important aspects of China's century-long search to provide appropriate and effective health care for its people. Four subjects--disease and healing, encounters and accommodations, institutions and professions, and people's health--organize discussions across case studies of schistosomiasis, tuberculosis, mental health, and tobacco and health. Among the book s significant conclusions are the importance of barefoot doctors in disseminating western medicine, the improvements in medical health and services during the long Sino-Japanese war, and the important role of the Chinese consumer. Intended for an audience of health practitioners, historians, and others interested in the history of medicine and health in China, the book is one of three commissioned by the Chinese Medical Board to mark its centennial in 2014."

Women and the Psychosocial Construction of Madness focuses on the question of madness as it is experienced by women within gendered socio-political contexts. Chapter themes include diverse topics such as: black and ethnic minority women's experiences of psychosis; psychosis in transwomen; sexual trauma and psychosis; the doctor-patient relationship; and women's experiences of mental health treatment and recovery. Chapters span the disciplines of psychoanalysis, sociology, feminism / women's studies, critical theory, and mad studies. As a companion volume to Women and Psychosis: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, the overarching goal of this book is to provide an exploration of the unique interaction between the social and the psyche as it relates to marginalized women's mental health.