I have read this book a number of times and it keeps me glued every time. I am looking for other books written by this author, my copies were borrowed and never returned. This author is one of my favorites.

This is a good novel about the relationship between Sam Houston and Eliza Allen, who Houston married in 1829. The marriage lasted only a few months, at which time Allen fled Houston to return home to her parents. Neither she nor Houston ever revealed the reason for their breakup, but it destroyed Houston's political career in Tennessee and eventually led to his going to Texas, where he became commander-in-chief of the Texas army when Texas won its independence from Mexico, first president of the Republic of Texas, and governor of Texas when it became a state.

There have been a number of theories advanced as to why Allen fled Houston, but since neither one revealed the reason and the historical record is slim, the event will be forever shrouded in mystery. Crook's novel suggests a very plausible theory, and grows out of an academic research article Crook published in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, reprinted in its entirety as an appendix to the novel. To Crook, the reason was not a simple one, and it cannot be fully appreciated without reading her book. To anyone interested in the mystery of their relationship, or in the character of Sam Houston, this is a very good read.

A very good historical novel

Most people will know of the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth as a couple of old cruise liners -- many may have stayed at the Hotel Queen Mary in the ship's now permanent home in the waters of California. For a brief time, these ships were converted to military use in World War II to transport troops. On one occasion, the Queen Mary hit the British light cruiser HMS Curacoa, causing the ship to sink with the loss of hundreds of allied soldiers.

Daniel Butler is a great historian and storyteller and he makes the wartime history of these two ships come alive. He doesn't start with the day the decision was made to use these cruise ships for military use. He sets the stage and gives the readers an understanding of the years leading to World War II -- not only giving a political and military background, but also telling us what was happening in the shipping industry that led to the construction of these two ships.

To me the two most interesting parts of the book came when Butler tells about the most significant event of the Queen Mary's tour of duty (when the Curacoa was cut in two by her), and the most mundane (what it was like for a soldier to be transported on one of the Queens). If there is a weakness, it was here. I wish he could have had more first hand accounts from the surviving veterans who had crossed the ocean on their way to war. But of course, there are fewer and fewer such survivors still with us. Butler wrote this book just in time.

I liked the way Butler filled in the history of the Queen Mary and
Queen Elizabeth.He also told a very good clear picture of life
we lived aboard ship. On page 92 second phargaph tells of a March
1945 crossing . I was on that passage and well remember hearing
the depth charges explodimg.I still have my white tag and cabin
with number on D deck.To verify my memory I checked my discharge and called our coplit yes he remembered hearing the depth charges.
This tolded of the vital roll these two great ships played in
winning of the war.Many of these things where new to me and I was there.

This book is known mostly, perhaps, for the character of Bazarov, widely considered the vanguard of nihilism in literature, especially in Russia. Bazarov is a significant fact of fiction, a sketch of the young middle class intellegentsia developing in Russia in the second half of the 19th century. Brash, self-confident, iconoclastic, educated young men like Bazarov were popping up all over Russia. Turgenev finds a way to tie this into a rich tapestry of love, familial relationships, and simplicity that Arkady and Bazarov, the young men, succumb to. Even in his determination to change the world by destroying it so it can be rebuilt, Bazarov does not overcome the strong bonds of family. Love and family has the sort of redemptive power found so often in War and Peace, and indeed, Turgenev writes from a similar perspective and on a similar wavelength as Tolstoy. This book, while not big on plot, is to be appreciated for blending its simple prose with a poetic passion in showing how love between fathers and sons is ageless, and love between men and women occurs. I found the last passage very moving.

In Turgenev's Fathers and Sons, as in most of Chekhov, nothing much really happens. People talk a lot and that's about it. Should be dull, right? But it isn't. The talk, and the characters revealed, reflect the profound changes that were being felt in Russian society at the end of the 19th Century; changes that would set the stage for much of what was to happen in the 20th Century. But more important to a modern reader, the ideas and the real life implication of those ideas are as current and relevant as when Turgenev wrote. Bazarov, the young 'nihilist', sounds just like the typical student rebel of the 60's (or of the Seattle WTO protests just recently). He has the arrogance and the innocence of idealistic youth. He is as believeable, and as moving in his ultimate hurt, as any young person today might be confronted with the limitations of idealism and the fickle tyranny of personal passion.

I loved this book when I first read it as a teenager and I enjoyed it even more on subsequent rereadings. It makes the world of 19th century Russia seem strangely familiar and it gives many a current political thread a grounding in meaningful history.

One of the most eloquent works in Russian literature, Fathers and Sons has had a major influence on subsequent Russian writers. Turgenev weaves so much into this short novel. As the title suggests he is dealing principally with generational differences, but ultimately this is a book about finding yourself in the world. In Bazarov, we have the ultimate nihilist, someone who renounces all societal conventions, which his peers utterly fail to understand. As a young doctor he has turned his back on noble society. We see some of his old feelings briefly rise to the surface in a romance which he pursues, but Bazarov chooses to extinguish those feelings, and return to his paternal home, where he ultimately seals his fate.

Turgenev is the bridge between the Russian writers of the early 19th century and the later 19th century. In many ways, Fathers and Sons reminded me of the theme which Lermontov explored in "A Hero of Our Time," and Turgenev appears in Dostoevsky's work, even if deliberately as a caricature.

This book is about mediation--and mediation can be any number or combination of different strategies to come to an agreement you and the other person can live with. The purpose of mediation is to save money, time and aggravation while giving you the best possible outcome in your dispute/divorce. When you take someone to court, you just don't know how it will turn out; you may think your case is iron-clad, only to find out the judge just thinks differently! Going to court can just leave too much to chance.

This book gives the reasons why to use mediation, the different forms mediation can take, how to initiate mediation, how to prepare for mediation and protect your rights throughout the process.

The book also includes information on when mediation doesn't work or wouldn't be a good idea--which is just as important as knowing the benefits.

If what you want is "your day in court," meaning a chance to explain and be heard, then you'll understand why mediation will be more satisfying than merely handing your case over to an attorney.

This book lacks an index, however, a sure shortcoming in any work of non-fiction.

I don't live in NC anymore, but when I did, Miss Lawrence wrote a garden column and was known all over the state by garden club members like my mom who met her at least once. We lived in Guilford County which is part of the Greensboro-High Point MSA these days and she lived in Raleigh to the east, and then Charlotte to the south. Anyway, she understood what would and wouldn't work in the Zone 7 garden. (I still live in Zone 7 -- in Virginia).

Miss Lawrence was the first writer to educate gardeners in our circles about the differences in growing regions. She corresponded with folks in other places and shared information about what was happening in their gardens with her column readers. She also informed readers about information she gleaned from the Market Bulletins. These bulletins were posted by folks who had something to offer or wanted something --gardenwise. The only expense involved much of the time was postage.

This book is a fascinating compilation of articles Miss Lawrence wrote about the Market Bulletins. The sections are filled with newsy notes and humor, and makes one feel as if she is hanging over the garden gate getting the latest news from a neighbor up the road. Great bed time reading.

In "A Rock Garden in the South" Ms. Lawrence returns to her greatest strength. I don't think anyone has ever understood rock gardens as well as Ms. Lawrence. And if you're concerned about water scarcity and drought, knowing about rock gardening is quite pragmatic.

Although the book was written some time ago, and released after her death, it was edited by Nancy Goodwin and Allen Lacy, so the contents are solid and up to date. The contents read somewhat like an annotated plant list, but Ms. Lawrence writes beautiful prose so it's not at all dry and boring. In fact, her writing is useful and entertaining.

Ms. Lawrence believed you could make a rock garden almost anywhere--even if you didn't have rocks. The key is to plant things that will grow in your area. Most of her writing in this book is useful for the middle South -- Zones 6-8 -- but if you look at a garden book showing the USDA growing zones you'll see they extend clear across the country.

The book contains a great deal of information about plants and their likes and dislikes. There are no photographs, this is solid text, however, if I want to know what something looks like I find a catalog from Wayside Gardens and poke around. Some of the more esoteric items may not be pictured in any garden catalog with photos, but sometimes it's worth the gamble to just try something on faith.

Several pages showing plant requirements (will it work in dry shade?), as well as sources for seed exchanges and nurseries are located in the back of the book.

With her raven tresses and brilliant dark eyes, Lynn Trevor cast a spell over more than one man in Cornwall. Her wild beauty held a passionate spirit and a determination that would let nothing stand in her way. But many whispered that her uncanny abilities and unnatural independence proved she trafficked with the powers of darkness-and they claimed her life should be forfeit. To gain her freedom, Lynn fled to the wilds of the New World as the reluctant wife of handsome, aristocratic rogue Clay Penley. In the untamed raw colony she would struggle to build her future-and free herself from shadows of the past. But she had no weapons to fight the man whose kisses heated her very blood with shameful desire, whose passion would fire her senses to undreamed-of ecstasy-and who held her spellbound to a love neither time nor torment could break.

As a British Quaker, this book was of considerable interest to me. The picture it portrays of American Quaker life was a surprise in some ways - the intensity of the faith and the faithfulness of daily behaviour struck me as extremely 'other worldly'. Elizabeth is a likeable woman, and concern for her kept me reading. However, the actual mystery was very predictable almost from the first, and the somewhat contrived accumulation of accident, would-be suicide and ultimate detection is not especially well structured. It is, however, courageous to write about murder amongst Quakers, and the Peace Testimony is very well explored, in the light of imperfect human beings, and their capacity for sin and self-deception. Rebecca Tope

Elizabeth Elliot, protagonist of Quaker Testimony by Irene Allen, is the Clerk of a Quaker Meeting in Boston. At the center of this book is the question of what one must do when one's beliefs clash with the compromises most of us find necessary to live in modern society. The secondary question is how a community deals with those who choose to live by their beliefs when those beliefs appear to threaten some in that society. One Quaker family takes literally the teaching about war and refuses to pay that portion of their income taxes which goes to the military. Instead they donate this money to a society promoting peace. (As chapter introductions Ms. Allen includes statements of belief and action from various Quaker authorities.) The IRS is prepared to seize their last asset, their home, but the wife, Hope, is murdered before this can happen. Elizabeth is a suspect at first, and she feels compelled to investigate because this murder could bring dishonor upon the whole Quaker community. Elizabeth is a very believable character, independent, almost prickly with anyone who threatens or challenges her independence, but fully aware that at age 67 there are many things she physically cannot do. The story is very interesting and the dilemma a very real one. My only quarrel with the book is the style of writing. Ms. Allen, I think, tells too many of the quotidian activities of each day, things I do not need to know in order to enjoy the story, know the characters and understand the crime. The details sometimes slow the story down and pull me out of what is happening. I become aware that I am reading a story, not living it. In spite of this, I recommend the book for it forces the reader to think about the compromises we make between what we believe and what we must do in order to live in this world

In short, save your money. I recently borrowed this book from a friend and was very disappointed. Though I hate to be so severe, I think that Newark is a weak writer. Her own comments, which appear in a following review, illustrate this point. First, she didn't even click on the "I Am the Author" link (yeah). In addition, she raves about some professor's comment regarding this novel: "Jane would be proud of you." Then, Newark declares: "I intend of have those words engraved on my tombstone." Well, I "intend of" ask you not to buy this book. Newark also says: "The next reviewer claims to be a member of the Jane Austen Society, but she chooses to be anonymous. No true Jane Austen reader would hide her identity." How does Newark know that a woman wrote the previous review? There are men who love Austen's work, too. Furthermore, I have a hard time believing that Newark belongs to the Jane Austen Society. No true Jane Austen reader would ever have written this book.

I waited a long time to get my hands on this book, as the inter libery did not hold a copy. ... I was very disappointed in the story it started out well but I found that it lacked something. The story is mainly about Charlotte Collins and her daughter whom the youngest of the Darcy's son's falls in love with. To me it needed more bite to the story, as it was too short and I felt that more could have been added which would have made the story much more interesting

The trouble I've found in reading this novel is that I cannot put aside the feeling that no one other than Jane Austen should have the right to continue her own work; putting aside that thought, however, I still find it hard to praise a book which is born of a pen so obviously inferior to that of Austen. While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, this weak imitation is not a worthy successor to the original piece. One should not pass off recycled words and ideals as continuing in the Austen tradition. The author's comments on this review board trouble me a great deal,although her personality is irrelevent when we're judging her pen; few objective judge of literature would declare this a good sequal to P&P, and the need to cite someone else's opinion in a short posting so full of stylistic and grammatical errors shows a real insecurity regarding one's own work and total contempt for opposing views and criticisms which I find shameful in a writer. Instead of reading this thin scrap of a book, the reader would benefit much more were he to re-read Austen's rich original.