This book is a spiritual journey of Edith Weisskopf-Joelson. Edith's family is Jewish, but the topic of religion is a taboo for her family.

As time goes on, she experiences more and more hatred and predjudice for being Jewish, that she feels that she can't have a life in europe. The year is 1937, and she decides to flee Europe.

Edith travels to America and becomes a well-known psychologist at Purdue University. She finds joy and an affectionate relationship in her married life with Mr.Joelson. But she becomes more and more drawn to the taboo of her childhood, and that is her religious feelings.

She begins to have more and more religious dreams and visions until she is unable to function in society. A priest at the college that she's teaching at helps committ her to a psychiatric hospital.

Edith experiences being a psychiatric patient. Unbenownst to her, one of her old students is interning at the hospital where she is a patient. He helps her to come to terms with her religious feelings and helps her believe that she can share the beauty of these experiences as a teacher outside of the hospital.

While Edith is a patient in the hospital, she receives an invitation from the University of Georgia to be a visiting professor and teach Clinical Psychology. She becomes a very controversial and beloved professor such that there is a waiting list to take her classes.

Edith feels that there are "strangers" and "natives". Strangers are people that have a strong desire to love someone that that person becomes central part of their existence in the world. They are able to transform a drab existence into a something of beauty by the one that they love. Material success isn't so important to them. Strangers can help natives discover love.

Heroine: soft, ripe

Cavalier Gideon Hawkes has returned to England after an extended absence, prepared to retake his family's ancestral home at whatever the cost. Stopping in at a London tavern for some supper he makes the decision to bed one of the wenches there. His choice? Sweet young Mary Monk who, having been rendered homeless and orphaned after the Great Fire and horrifying plague, has made the painful decision to sacrifice her virtue in exchange for survival. But what was meant to be a quick romp for Gideon instead becomes a lasting relationship as he offers Mary his protection.

As the mistress of a powerful and rich man, Mary flourishes. While never really a beauty she still manages to catch the eye of many a man, including the King himself. This suits Gideon just fine as he intends to see her settled with a new protector as soon as he can bring his plan to fruition: to woo and marry the lovely puritan Celeste Southern, new owner of his family's estate. But there is a complication: poor Mary has fallen deeply in love with her paramour! 

What worked for me:
The setting of the story was an interesting one: the Restoration, after the civil war during which Cromwell imposed his harsh religious standards on the people of England. (I love novels set in the past. It's the most painless history lesson you'll ever receive!) The characters were all well-fleshed out for the reader, even the supporting ones. There are several to feel sympathetic toward, and a few to despise. And the education of Mary, a sheltered respectable tradesman's daughter, in the ways of being a wealthy man's mistress was a treat.

The tension in the book in the book was great. As the story moves forward you can't help but feel frustration at the fact that Gideon does not realize that he could have a very happy life with Mary. And there are several plot twists which serve to keep the tension building: Mary's introduction at Court, which earns her a powerful enemy; the accidental meeting between Mary-the-mistress and Celeste-the-betrothed; and the dear friend who wishes to become Mary's new lover, but would put his life in peril if he ever said so out loud. 

As far as Mary's size goes, she was never described as being large. However, she didn't fit in with the particular beauty standard of the day either, as Celeste Southern did. Celeste was tall, willowy, and lily-skinned (think Michelle Pfeiffer.)  Mary was dark, nearly sallow-skinned, and fairly compact in build.

What didn't work for me:    
Since this is an older novel, the pacing may seem somewhat slower than more current books to some readers. However, speaking for myself I didn't find this to be a problem.

Overall:
    Fans of historicals shouldn't miss this one! It's an older title and out of print, but well-worth scouring the used bookstore shelves or online auctions for. 
If you liked "The Fire-Flower" you might also enjoy "The Bride and the Beast", "The Accidental Bride", or "Suddenly You".

This delightful little volume is a compilation of articles written for American troops bound for France in World War One. While their effect on the average doughboy may be questionable, they give a powerful and invaluable insight into one of the most perceptive minds of the age.
Wharton, in her most engaging and always readable style, discusses First Impressions, and examines issues of Reverence, Taste, Intellectual Honesty, and Continuity, and, in her essay on the New Frenchwoman, reveals perhaps more about herself than her subjects.
Highly recommended as a fine introduction to the author.

(The numerical rating above is an ineradicable default setting within the format of the site. This reviewer does nor employ numerical ratings).

"A Game of Love" demonstrates Ms. Layton's superb talent for characterization, motivation, and realistic romantic leads.

Francesca is about as down on her luck as it is possible to be: her father has grand dreams but no luck at the gaming table, she is stuck in France with no way to get back to England, and her continued employment (with one of the nastier families in romantic fiction) depends on her ability to turn a blind eye to their scheming and her successful impersonation of a respectable widow.

Arden Lyons (the "Lion" from the first book in the series) wants to put 32 years of history behind him and settle down as a member of the landed gentry. Unfortunately for him, he finds that in light of his very bad past he has qualms about marrying a good woman.

This romance is sweet and satisfying from beginning to end, as Francesca and Arden determine whether their initial attraction can survive the truth. Just when it seems that no barrier can keep them apart, Francesca's "dead husband" reappears, very much alive...

This book i cannot tire of. It is my all time favorite. The characters, the magic... Full of warmth and beauty and it really takes you there. Highly Recommended Classic, little known fairy tale.

Margaret Clarkson's book, Grace Grows Best in Winter, is one of the finest I have ever read on the subject of personal anguish and suffering. Christian author and speaker Joni Erickson Tada was greatly helped by this book when she first became a quadriplegic, and she writes a brief introduction. The author states her goal: "to lead sufferers to discover and to embrace the character of God that they will be enabled to live triumphantly within the hedge of suffering wherein He has placed them, which in His inscrutible soverenty He has not yet seen fit to release them..." and I believe this is precisely what she does. I think any reader will be greatly affected by her work, either introduced to or reminded of the greatness and nearness of Christ to him or her in times of loneliness and personal toture - whatever the experience may be.
Clarkson is a hymn-writer as well as literary author, and her sense of the aesthetic is evident in her own words but also in the quotes throughout the book. She pulls from Christians throughout the ages: Juliana of Norwich, John Bunyan, Samuel Rutherford, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christiana Rosetti, Amy Carmichal, The Nicene Creed, The Westminster Shorter Catechism, Thomas a Kempis, Horatius Bonar, Fanny Crosby and more. The quotes alone are worth the entire book - but one of the best features are her very short chapters. They are pithy and intense but also encouraging - and for one who is suffering and without the mental energy or physical stamina to focus for very long, these chapters are perfectly suited. They are not too short, though, for others who have the time and the privilege to delve deeply into what she is saying. My copy is used and was loaned to me by a friend who has read and reread this book with various-colored highlighters over the years. The corners are dog-eared and there are some tear-stains, some of which are mine more recently added. But again, I would recommend this book to anyone, particularly those who are hurting and hungering to know God's hand and presence in the present experience.
Clarkson writes from a Presbyterian perspective, but I think anyone - whether he or she is of any demonination or religious background, or even without a religious background or articulated faith - will benefit from this book. Even if it only raises more questions about God, they will be questions that every living soul is challenged to ask when one crashes into the cold and frightening world of personal suffering - be it suffering of your own or the suffering of a loved one whom you are caring for.
Don't pass up this opportunity to hear from Clarkson. She will be a helpful guide on the long and often tumultuous path to healing. Her wisdom far surpasses many in the present age of TV talk-show sound bites with self-help tips that have to be interrupted by commercials. Even if you are not a Christian and struggle with or don't agree with what she says, you will appreciate the time and effort she has put into this work. A must read for all who counsel those who are suffering.

What a magnificient analysis full of profound and original insights.This book was done with such exemplary clarity that one need not be a student of philosophy in order to comprehend the ideas that are discussed.I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in discovering the important pathway into the lives and thoughts of the great minds.

The Green Branch is the second book in a trilogy, the first being The Heaven Tree and the conclusion being The Scarlet Seed. It is a highly dramatic and satisfying piece of storytelling, concerned mainly with the theme of honor and the difficulty of honoring one's vows. The quote above is from the author's introduction to the 1993 edition of the trilogy.

Taking up thirteen years after The Heaven Tree, we find Harry Talvace's widow in Wales, married to his best friend, and Harry's son (also named Harry) a young warrior eager to prove himself and carry out his blood feud against Ralf Isambard, who ordered his father's death. Harry is captured by Isambard, who offers him his parole to fight for the Welsh prince against England if he returns when the war is over. In spite of terrible temptations, Harry keeps his promise, even to the point of refusing to kill Isambard in battle.

This book is not as strong or moving as the first and last books, but is an essential part of the trilogy nevertheless, carrying on the author's themes and plots and setting up the climactic events of the third book. The interactions between young Harry and Isambard are wonderfully drawn, as Harry all unwittingly learns about honor and oath-keeping.

As she converted to Christianity, Edith Stein joined one of the strictes orders-that of Carmelites. That was because she thought that only behind convent walls she could completely detach from the outside world and devote herself to God. So, when we talk about the title of the book:"The hidden life" we do not talk only about the life in a convent but also about the base of Edith Steins life that was contemplation of a hidden life of Good in everything that exist. As the convent itself had its spiritual life, Edith Stein contributed it with her hagiographic essays about Carmelite saints. Therefore here we can find inspired interpretations of lives of some well known or less known Carmelite saints like St. Theresa of Avila or St. Elizabeth. The rest of the book contents some other religious essays and dialogues that deeply marked Edith Steins life during her stay in a Carmelite convent. An inspired and interesting book.

The perfect picture book biography about Lincoln. With bold, colorful illustrations the illustrator allows the author to cover dicey parts of Lincoln's story (ie., assassination) by portraying the subjects with folk-style looking characters. For example the scene where Lincoln is shot is appropriate for young kids to look at as it is not graphic nor bloody. Somehow, it works and allows for a discussion about how Lincoln died and why he died.Outstanding effort! Plus the book is bigger than average picture books!