"Revelatory. . . . [This] crackling new biography of the Roosevelt marriage speaks volumes." —Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air, Best Books of 2010Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt's marriage is one of the most celebrated and scrutinized partnerships in presidential history. It raised eyebrows in their lifetimes and has only become more controversial since their deaths. From FDR's lifelong romance with Lucy Mercer to Eleanor's purported lesbianism—and m...

“Enthralling . . . Here we find an ugly, walleyed existentialist philosopher, the elegantly beautiful author of The Second Sex and the Gallic equivalent of a bevy of young starlets who share the bed of one or the other--or sometimes both. Readers will turn these pages alternately mesmerized and appalled.” — Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book WorldPassionate, freethinking existentialist philosopher-writers Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre are one of the world's legendary cou...

This new edition of Hazel Rowley's highly acclaimed biography of Christina Stead brings to life one of the most important literary figures of her age. Christina Stead left Australia in 1928, aged twenty-six, for Europe, not to return to Australia until she was seventy-two. An intensely private person, Stead lived a life that was stormy, eccentric and brave. Stead's fiction was large and passionate, original and challenging, as was her life. Hazel Rowley's compelling biography is a vigorous...

“Enthralling . . . Here we find an ugly, walleyed existentialist philosopher, the elegantly beautiful author of The Second Sex and the Gallic equivalent of a bevy of young starlets who share the bed of one or the other--or sometimes both. Readers will turn these pages alternately mesmerized and appalled.” — Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book WorldPassionate, freethinking existentialist philosopher-writers Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre a...

Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt's marriage is one of the most celebrated and scrutinized partnerships in presidential history. It raised eyebrows in their lifetimes and has only become more controversial since their deaths. From FDR's lifelong romance with Lucy Mercer to Eleanor's purported lesbianism—and many scandals in between—the American public has never tired of speculating about the ties that bound these two headstrong individuals. Some claim that Eleanor sacrificed her person...

An unbelievably believable story about the afterlife, with documenting photographs from the former publisher of a major metropolitan newspaper.An unbelievably believable story about the afterlife, with documenting photographs from the former publisher of a major metropolitan newspaper.In 2004, Janis Heaphy Durham's husband, Max Besler, died of cancer at age 56. The daughter of a Presbyterian minister, she practiced her faith as she struggled with her loss. ...

“In December 1776, a small boat delivered an old man to France.” So begins a dazzling narrative account of Benjamin Franklin’s French mission, the most exacting—and momentous—eight years of his life.When Franklin embarked, the colonies were without money, munitions, gunpowder, or common cause; like all adolescents, they were to discover that there was a difference between declaring independence and achieving it. To close that gap Franklin was dispatched to Paris, amid great secrecy...

The classic #1 New York Times bestselling memoir, celebrating the life and legacy of First Lady Barbara Bush—updated with new forewords from her five children, including reflections from George W. and Jeb, as featured on A&E’s Biography.Barbara Bush endures as one of America’s most popular First Ladies. She has won worldwide acclaim for her wit, compassion, and candor as both a presidential wife and mother. In this fascinating memoir, Mrs. Bush of...

Against a backdrop of peach orchards and languid summer afternoons, Dori Sanders spins a wise, sweet tale of crossing racial barriers in the South Carolina countryside. It was unthinkable that Gaten Hill, a successful black man, would marry Sara Kate, an uppercrust white woman. It was unbelievable that hours after his wedding, he would be killed in a devastating accident. Left to grieve together, Gaten's 10-year-old daughter, Clover, and her white stepmother forge a warm friendship which g...

This program includes archival recordings of Ernest HemingwayHemingway's deeply reflective account of his destructive Paris affair and how it affected the legendary life he rebuilt after, as told to his best friend, the writer A.E. Hotchner.In June of 1961, A.E. Hotchner visited an old friend in the psychiatric ward of St. Mary's Hospital. It would be the last time they spoke: a few weeks later, Ernest Hemingway was released home, where he ...

“The book is a romp from cover to cover—and, just like a great meal, left me ready for more.”—Karen Shimizu, Executive Editor, Food & WineWhen Leslie Karst learned that her offer to cook dinner for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her renowned tax law professor husband, Marty, had been accepted, she was thrilled—and terrified. A small-town lawyer who hated her job and had taken up cooking as a way to add a bit of spice ...

Glamorous, fun and packed with scandalous anecdotes and exclusive interviews, Never Shaken, Never Stirred tells the story of two extraordinary sisters, Ann and Laura Charteris, who made marrying well an art form.While Laura eventually became the Duchess of Marlborough, Ann's third and final husband was the journalist Ian Fleming, who she inspired to start writing the spy franchise he would become famous for. Along the wa...