CHILDREN · FICTION
Laura Gates Galvin
Also known as: Laura Galvin Gates, Laura Gates-Galvin
"I'm sure that someday children in school will study the history of the men who made war as you study an absurdity.
— from Women, 1871
Most acclaimed
Love
"A timeless treatise on the unique power of human emotion, Stendhal's "Love" is translated by Gilbert and Suzanne Sale with an introduction by Jean Stewart and B.C.J.G. "Knight" in "Penguin Classics". In 1818, when he was in his mid-thirties, Stendhal met and fell passionately in love with the beautiful Mathilde Dembowski. She, however, was quick to make it clear that she did not return his affections, and in his despair he turned to the written word to exorcise his love and explain his feelings. The result is an intensely personal dissection of the process of falling - and being - in love: a unique blend of poetry, anecdote, philosophy, psychology and social observation. Bringing together the conflicting sides of his nature, the deeply emotional and the coolly analytical, Stendhal created a work that is both acutely personal and universally applicable. This translation retains all the colour and passion of the original and is accompanied buy the author's original prefaces and appendices. In their introduction, Jean Stewart and B.C.J.G. "Knight" discuss the relationship between Stendhal and his beloved and explore his views on feminism, education and society. Stendhal (1783-1842) was the pseudonym of Henri Marie Beyle, born and raised in Grenoble. Offered a post in the Ministry of War, from 1800 onwards he followed Napoleon's campaigns throughout Europe before retiring to Italy. Here, as 'Stendhal', he began writing on art, music and travel. Though not well-received during his lifetime, his work, including "The Red and the Black" (1830) and "The Charterhouse of Parma" (1839), now places him among the pioneers of nineteenth-century literary realism. If you enjoyed "Love", you might like Gustave Flaubert's "Sentimental Education", also available in "Penguin Classics". "The single most insightful book on the role of imagination on love". (John Armstrong, author of "Conditions of Love: The Philosophy of Intimacy")." --from book description, Amazon.com.
Dogs
The threat of terrorism and biological warfare become all too real in this riveting thriller when the danger comes from a family's most cherished pets. Tessa Sanderson, ex-FBI agent, has moved to a sleepy Maryland town to escape her tragic past. When the town's beloved dogs begin viciously attacking pet owners, federal CDC agents determine that the dogs are carrying a mutated flu affecting the aggression center of their brains, for which their is no known cure. Tessa offers to help round up and quarantine the dogs, even though some unconvinced locals are preparing to protect their pets by any means necessary. But she has another reason for getting involved--someone has been sending her threatening emails in Arabic claiming responsibility for the virus, and Tessa is resolved to go deep undercover to expose this deadly conspiracy. Combining hard science with thoughtful narrative, this chilling tale of science fiction explores the complex relationships between dogs and their owners.
Women
1871
WOMEN is a novella about falling in love with a woman, about loving women, about being a woman. It is a novella about a mother and a daughter. A novella about female friendships that blur the line of romance. A novella about a woman who, after having her first sexual relationship with a woman, goes on a series of (comical) OK Cupid dates with other women. A novella about a woman in her twenties who doesn't know if she's gay or straight or bi. A novella about falling in love and having your heart broken and figuring out what to do next. The book is an urgent recall of heartbreak, of a stark identity in crisis.