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A Lady of Cotton : Hannah Greg, Mistress of Quarry Bank Mill
by David Sekers
In 1789 Hannah Lightbody, a well-educated and intelligent young woman of means, married Samuel Greg and found herself at the centre of his cotton empire in the industrial heart of England. It was a man's world, in which women like Hannah were barred from politics, had few rights and were expected to be little more than good, dutiful wives. Struggling to apply herself to household management, Hannah instead turned her attention to the well-being of the cotton mill workers under her husband's control. Over the next four decades she fought to improve the education, health and welfare of cotton girls and pauper apprentices at the mill. Her legacy helped turn the north-west into the pioneering heart of reform in Britain. Here, the story of Hannah's remarkable life is told for the first time.
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Take Courage : Anne Brontë and the Art of Life
by Samantha Ellis
Anne Bronte is the forgotten Bronte sister, overshadowed by her older siblings virtuous, successful Charlotte, free-spirited Emily and dissolute Branwell. Tragic, virginal, sweet, stoic, selfless, Anne. Take Courage is Samantha's personal, poignant and surprising journey into the life and work of a woman sidelined by history.
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| A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee's Incredible Story of Love, Loss... by Melissa FlemingAfter civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, eventually driving millions from their homes, 19-year-old Doaa Al Zamel and her family fled to Egypt. As the political situation there deteriorated, she and her new husband undertook a risky sea crossing to Europe, but their boat wrecked and many passengers drowned. Al Zamel's story was widely reported after she rescued a young child from the water, but in A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea we read more complete details of her inspiring and illuminating story. |
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Between breaths : a memoir of panic and addiction
by Elizabeth Vargas
The beloved 20/20 anchor presents this candid memoir of anxiety, addiction and recovery in which she addresses her time in rehab, her first year of sobriety and the guilt she felt as a working mother who had never found the right balance.
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Changing My Mind : A Memoir
by Margaret Trudeau
In a love story that shocked the world, Margaret Trudeau became the youngest First Lady when at age 22 she married Pierre Trudeau, a man almost thirty years her senior and the 15th Prime Minister of Canada. In her first book in almost thirty years, Margaret looks back on a controversial life and examines the consequences of her lifelong struggle with mental illness. From flower child to self-described 'hippie mother', unpredictable Margaret Trudeau became synonymous with scandal and intrigue internationally.
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Sorry not sorry : dreams, mistakes, and growing up
by Naya Rivera
The actress best known as Santana Lopez on Glee reflects on the successes and missteps of her life, urging young women to pursue their dreams and refuse to allow past mistakes to define them.
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| Of All That Ends by Günter Grass; translated by Breon MitchellIn this absorbing collection of writings on life, creativity, and aging, Nobel Prize-winning author Günter Grass explores his memories in prose, poems, and drawings. Incomplete at the time of his death, Of All That Ends sums up many vivid memories, such as an account of stockpiling ribbons for his beloved Olivetti typewriter. Grass also recounts discoveries in old age, including a diminished need for sleep and the experience of designing his and his wife's coffins and trying them out once they arrived. This is an elegantly written testament to the author's life, to positive aspects of growing old, and to the power of art to inspire others. |
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The man who knew : the life and times of Alan Greenspan
by Sebastian Mallaby
An author who was granted complete access to former chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan presents a biography of the man whom some believe to be the most important economic statesman of our time.
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Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
by Herbert P. Bix
A biography of the Japanese emperor reveals a powerful man who successfully cultivated an image of a reluctant king while manipulating important events behind the scenes for five decades.
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A Simple Girl : Stories My Grandmother Told Me
by Josh Flagg
With $5 in her pocket, Flagg managed to become one of the leading fashion designers of her day, and a pillar in the California apparel industry. From a mere $2000, she built a multi-million dollar clothing company and has over the years given vast sums of her wealth to charity. She is an inspiration to everyone.
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Never Put All your Eggs in One Bastard
by Peta Mathias
Funny, passionate, outrageous and honest, this is a memoir about travel, house renovations, food, music, men and change. Peta Mathias has been making major moves in her life since leaving home to train as a nurse.
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Frantumaglia : A Writer's Journey
by Elena Ferrante
The New York Times best-selling and reclusive Italian author addressing such subjects as her choice to remain anonymous, her literary inspirations, Italian politics and culture and the role of the writer in modern society presents a brilliant collection of occasional writings, interviews and letters.
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#2sides : My Autobiography by Rio FerdinandCandid, outspoken and supremely honest, and including interviews with those close to him, #2Sides is Rio's unique story: from his early days in Peckham, through to picking up the Champions League trophy on a rainy summer's night in Moscow, #2Sides is the tell-all account of an extraordinary and controversial life in the game. On winning and losing; on defending and attacking; on Moyes, management and fellow players; on John Terry, lost friendships and ongoing rivalries; on the love and hate of the beautiful game; and on playing for club, country and for yourself - this is a full spectrum of life.
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Contemporary and Historic Women
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| Isabella: The Warrior Queen by Kirstin DowneyWhen Europe was beginning its transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, one of the most powerful monarchs was Isabella I of Castile. Though she's typically named second in the pair "Ferdinand and Isabella," she was the sovereign Queen, who unified Spain in an era of frequent wars, forced Moors and Jews to convert to Catholicism under threat of banishment, and funded Columbus' voyages to the Western Hemisphere on behalf of Spanish expansion. In Isabella, historian Kirstin Downey demonstrates why she was one of the most significant women in history. |
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| I'll Drink to That: A Life in Style, with a Twist by Betty Halbreich with Rebecca PaleyWhen Betty Halbreich published this book in 2014, she was 86 years old and still working as a personal shopper for luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman, where she'd acquired a loyal following over her 40 years there. I'll Drink to That is as much a personal accounting of her life (privileged childhood, early marriage, and a divorce that forced her into the working world) as it is about her influential role in the lives of her clients. |
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| Somewhere Inside: One Sister's Captivity in North Korea and the Other's Fight to Bring her Home by Laura Ling and Lisa LingIn March 2009, American citizen Laura Ling and her translator Euna Lee were working on a documentary near the border between China and North Korea when they were captured, tried for trespassing and "hostile acts," and sentenced to hard labor. Laura's sister, journalist Lisa Ling, launched a campaign for their release that involved a worldwide media appeal and solicited support from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, among other prominent leaders. In Somewhere Inside, Laura and Lisa relate their ordeals in alternating chapters, revealing the sisters' persistent faith and unwavering love over the five months of Laura and Euna's captivity. |
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| The Bolter by Frances OsborneIn 1982, when author Frances Osborne was 13, she was reading the London Sunday Times when she found a compelling photo showing an elegant woman, Idina Sackville, framed between two elephant tusks. When Frances' parents saw what she had discovered, they broke the news to her that the notorious Idina was her great-grandmother. This revelation eventually led Frances to trace Idina's life and write The Bolter -- a choice of title that reflects Idina's nickname, inspired by her serial marriages and over-the-top behaviour. |
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| Mary Tudor: Princess, Bastard, Queen by Anna WhitelockKing Henry VIII of England's first child to survive past infancy was a girl: Mary Tudor's birth was a disappointment and the lack of surviving brothers a source of consternation to her father. Declared a bastard by King Henry, she fought to take the throne as Mary I while asserting her Catholic faith. Biographer Anna Whitelock paints her as a tenacious survivor who demonstrated her intelligence and administrative abilities as queen. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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