Abraham's divine and mythic destiny is to be the father of not just one but two great peoples: the Hebrews and the Arabs. His son Ishmael was born to an Egyptian princess who was a captive slave in his household, at a point in the patriarch's life when he despaired of having any children by his wife Sarah. But then the three mysterious messengers of Yahweh appear and tell him that Sarah, in her old age, will conceive a son. Ishmael and his mot...
The death of a humble clergyman in 1877 leads amateur sleuths Violet Paget and John Singer Sargent into a medieval world of saints and kings-including the legendary Arthur-as they follow a trail of relics and antiquities lost since the destruction of Glastonbury Abbey in 1539. Written in alternating chapters between the two time periods, The Spoils of Avalon creates a sparkling, magical mystery that bridges the gap between two worlds that coul...
From 1882 to 1884, John Singer Sargent painted his greatest masterpieces-the Daughters of Edward Darley Boit and Madame X-haunting portraits with dark psychological depths. The first unconsciously revealed a secret that would cause great anguish in his private life, the other created a social scandal that drove him from Paris forever. Portraits of an Artist brings to life the subjects of Sargent's paintings-his family, friends, enemies and lov...
Janet Magill's brother has been shipped off to Vietnam, and Aaron Becker, her childhood sweetheart, might well be next. When Janet's parents banish her from the Berkeley protests to what they expect will be a safe, idyllic springtime in Paris, she runs headlong into the 1968 May Revolution and falls in love with a secretive Czech dissident. Far from the City of Light, Aaron makes plans to evade the draft and join her, but loses contact as her ...
Few tragedies are felt as deeply as the loss of a child, whether by death orincapacitation. For many families, the echoes of this pain are even detected in the lives of subsequent children or in an older child whose life has been redirected as a result of this loss. Replacement children share a common experience, one in which they are, often unconsciously, allocated to fill a void left in the family. They are burdened with the daunting task of...
