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Biography and MemoirAugust 2015
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"Treated like a son, Cixi was able to talk to her father about things that were normally closed areas for women." ~ from Jung Chang's Empress Dowager Cixi
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| Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and her... by Charlotte GordonMary Wollstonecraft and her daughter Mary Shelley were ardent feminists long before feminism was cool -- actually, it was considered morally suspect. In Romantic Outlaws, author Charlotte Gordon relates their lives in alternating chapters, demonstrating the parallels between their philosophical and socially conscious outlooks. Wollstonecraft, who penned the revolutionary Vindication of the Rights of Women, died just two weeks after her daughter's 1797 birth, but Shelley (author of Frankenstein), who led a similarly tumultuous life, found inspiration in her mother's writings. Viewing the remarkable women's biographies in parallel provides unexpected insights and enriched appreciation of their achievements. |
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| Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget by Sarah HepolaIn this candid memoir, Salon's personal essays editor Sarah Hepola poignantly and sometimes hilariously depicts her life as an alcoholic and her eventual recovery. Recalling her youth in search of meaning and self-definition and her early devotion to alcohol, she reveals that she kept on drinking even after she realized that her addiction caused terrifying blackouts, difficulties at work, and relationship problems. Hepola's honest account of how she turned her life around offers inspiration to those who suspect they need to change their own habits. |
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| How to Catch a Russian Spy: The True Story of an American Civilian Turned... by Naveed Jamali and Ellis HenicanAfter the 9/11 attacks, 20-something Naveed Jamali realized that he wanted to be an intelligence officer. In order to demonstrate his capability, Jamali persuaded the FBI to hire him as a double agent after lining up a contact in the United Nations Russian mission. Drawing on knowledge gained from watching the television series Miami Vice and films such as Spy Game and the James Bond movies, he traded thumb drives loaded with technical information for envelopes full of cash from the Russian. How to Catch a Russian Spy engagingly reveals Jamali's naiveté and patriotism while relating an intriguing tale of real-life tradecraft. |
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| The Brontë Cabinet: Three Lives in Nine Objects by Deborah LutzDrawing inspiration from objects that belonged to the Brontë sisters -- Emily, Charlotte, and Anne -- Victorian literature specialist Deborah Lutz paints an evocative group portrait of the three authors. Each of the items, including their writing desks, a walking stick, and a dog's collar, opens a window onto the Brontës' daily activities, the relationships among the sisters, and the prejudice against women writers they had to overcome. Anyone interested in this family, Victorian history, or the lives of women authors will find The Brontë Cabinet thought-provoking and illuminating. |
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| Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva by Rosemary SullivanBorn in 1926, Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva spent most of her youth sheltered from the ravages of Stalin's oppressive Soviet regime Though her mother and several other family members died relatively young, Svetlana Alliluyeva didn't realize the full significance of the Soviet dictatorship and the Cold War until the 1960s. In 1967 she created an international sensation when she defected to the United States. In this thoroughly researched biography, author Rosemary Sullivan sensitively explores the historical complexities that conspired to make Svetlana Alliluyeva's life difficult no matter which way she turned. Stalin's Daughter presents a fascinating chronicle of one woman's life and of the world throughout most of the 20th century. |
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Focus on: Women in History
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| Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China by Jung ChangIn 1852, Chinese Emperor Xianfeng selected 16-year-old Cixi to be one of his concubines; in 1856 she gave birth to the Emperor's first son. This son, Tongzhi, became Xianfeng's heir, so that when Xianfeng died five years later Cixi became the Empress Dowager. She cemented her influence through behind-the-scenes manipulation and collaboration with Xianfeng's first wife (also an Empress Dowager), remaining the power behind the throne until her death in 1908. Though often reviled as an evil influence, Cixi worked to bring China out of isolation and to modernize its policies. Empress Dowager Cixi provides a "fascinating and instructive" (Library Journal) view of Cixi's rule during the Qing Dynasty. |
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| Mrs. Lincoln: A Life by Catherine ClintonThough Abraham Lincoln is one of the best documented U.S. presidents, his wife Mary Todd Lincoln may be the most obscure First Lady. Author Catherine Clinton's nuanced biography gives Mary the attention she deserves; it treats her troubles and eccentricities seriously but sympathetically, depicting them in light of the political controversy that swirled around her. Clinton also provides an evenhanded discussion of Mrs. Lincoln's life after her husband's assassination. Library Journal concludes that Mrs. Lincoln, which draws on previous scholarship, including Jason Emerson's Madness of Mary Todd Lincoln, offers a "greater interpretation of the life of this controversial historical figure." |
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| Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War by Leymah Gbowee with Carol MithersIn Mighty Be Our Powers, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee recounts her early life in Liberia and her dreams of higher education, Charles Taylor's devastating brutal takeover of the country, and the domestic abuse that broke up Gbowee's family. Seeing her life and her dreams destroyed, Gbowee could have given in to despair. Instead, she helped to organize a massive women's movement that turned the tide for peace. In now-calm Liberia, she continues to motivate women to work for peace across Africa. For other inspiring accounts of Liberian women's lives, read Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's This Child Will Be Great and Helene Cooper's The House at Sugar Beach. |
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| Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill LeporeFew people know that American revolutionary leader and statesman Benjamin Franklin had a sister named Jane. In Book of Ages, historian Jill Lepore brings Jane's life and opinions to light, adding a fascinating chapter to early U.S. history. Jane Franklin Mecom, poorly educated and seldom leaving home because she was a woman and homemaker, corresponded avidly with her globe-trotting brother. Though most of Mecom's letters disappeared, many of her views appear in Franklin's frequent references to her correspondence. Lepore's carefully researched work paints an engaging, vibrant portrait that brings Franklin's obscure younger sister out of the shadows. Fans of American history and women's studies should not miss this one! |
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| Margaret Fuller: A New American Life by Megan MarshallMargaret Fuller was a colleague of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, a crusader for women's rights, and a critic of the social neglect of prisoners and mental patients. As a journalist and teacher, she made waves with her study titled Woman in the Nineteenth Century. Though she died at age 40 and some of her achievements were dimmed by personal scandals, she made her mark on American history and women's history in her time. Author Megan Marshall's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography extensively quotes from Fuller's diaries and other writings, vividly recounting this ambitious woman's life. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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