What a delightful journey back to a time of innocence when many things seemed possible on the journey of enlightenment and self-discovery! When there was so much going on with Vietnam and civil rights and political movements nationwide and worldwide to get involved in, the real 'seekers' paid little attention to the ongoing play of external dramas across the world, the transitory, impermanent world of the mind and ego, of power and polltics. I could relate to much of her adventures going through my own personal struggles, searches, and esoteric rewards reaped through that plunge into the unknown and mysterious emptiness, instead of retreating into safe patterns of fear and acquiesence of the 'standard' answers of the time given to so many issues which cried out for new discussion.
Here is someone who lived her own life, flowing through the outer world like an artist, touching here, tasting there, but not getting attached to anything permanently on that 'inner search', and finding many realities along the way to embrace fully, and then move on to even deeper ones. Would we all have so much bravery and courage to leave the old, worn-out conditions and positions we find ourselves in and recreate our lives anew! Bravo to her for recalling the stories and the memories that many of us also lived through, and which changed our lives for the better forever!

What a magnificent, wonderful book! I could not put it down. It was like reading my own soul memories (even though I wasn't even born until the 70s!). It brought me to tears (both of joy and heartache) to read the stories and truly know the pain, joy, love, etc. It is amazing! I've never, ever had such an experience with a book. This is THE book for all true flower children and love-seekers. If the quest for love is in your soul, you will find this book a spiritual answer, companion, and friend. It is so hard to maintain a quest for love in this time, in this life, but I continue to try. And Farida's (Flower Child's) book rekindles my desire for such a search; her light guides the way...

Farida Sharan writes a book that is honest and true to the ideals desired for from the turbulent 60's. True Life stories are always interesting to me but this one.... what an adventure! I looked forward with anticipation each time I sat down to read. It's the best book about the summer of love that I have ever encountered.

Newman just kepts improving with age. How she manages to come up with all these new settings, people, and situations is beyond me. Each book can stand on it's own, but I'm happy to have read them all in order to allow me to see how each character in the story has changed and matured.
I hope this series never ends!

I couldn't wait for this latest installment of Sharan Newman's series featuring the clever and clumsy Catherine and her stalwart spouse Edgar, set in the 1140's, this time back in Paris. Just as with her previous novels, I was more than satisfied. I discovered Catherine and Edgar in "Cursed in the Blood" just after our return from Scotland and the north of England this summer, visiting castles of our ancestors dating from the 11th and 12th centuries, primarily. Newman has such a thorough grounding in the history of the time and yet she has the ability to bring her characters to life. I raced through all of her previous novels in the series, except for the next to last one--on order!--just prior to this one, "To Wear the White Cloak". In this latest story, Catherine and Edgar were shocked upon their return from what seems to have been a dangerous and difficult journey to Germany to find a very dead (and moldy!) Knight of the Temple locked inside her father's home. The well-educated twosome have to counter the suspicion that quickly falls on their family, as before, by solving the murder themselves. This is accomplished while they deal with the everyday issues of raising their family in health and safety, establishing themselves financially, and even struggling with moral issue of birth control. You will do yourself a favor if you begin reading Newman's books--go back and read the others--if you have an appreciation for this time period and for an excellent mystery. (Note to fans of Ellis Peters: finally, someone to (almost) fill her shoes)

Paris in 1147 is pure mayhem. Men leaving for the holy land have converged on the city, bringing with them vagabonds and conmen smelling opportunities to gull and steal. There is also evidence that the doomsday cult, the eonisits, has arrived. Starvation seems to be rampant, and a group of ruffians is attacking the Jews. All in all not the homecoming that Catherine had hoped for!

Catherine, Edgar and family have finally made it home from Germany. However upon entering their house, they find the dead and festering body of a man garbed as one of the Templars. Catherine and Edgar naturally report this finding to the Marshall of the Knight Templars; and so it is with great outrage that they discover that they are somehow under suspicion for either knowing who committed the murder, or else witholding some vital clue of the crime. Catherine resolves to solve the mystery. However other matters keep getting in the way. She has to deal with the unsettling relationship that seems to be growing between her Jewish cousin Solomon, and Edgar's sister, Margaret; someone keeps trying to break into their house; and to cap it all, Jehan, that somewhat mad and vengeful knight from previous novels, has returned and is causing all kinds of problems by spreading rumours about Catherine and her family's involvement with witchcraft and lapsed Judaism. Too many things are getting in the way of solving the mystery of the dead Templar!

This series keeps getting better and better. The historical detail is wonderful, and the plot, while a seemingly simple one is padded with enough sub-plots to keep the reader's interest. A truly enjoyable read!

These poems are accessible and moving, telling stories that drive us to discover their endings and meanings. The language is beautiful. These poems are free from the elite idea that poetry should consist only of images, refraining from story-telling.

i love the poems in this book because they remind me of some of my experiences living in the south. the language is poetic, but clear and the voice that speaks through these pieces is one of struggle and pride. the family poems were especially evocative.

The poetry of Sharan Strange is a compelling series of revelations on life and living in a rural Southern town. Dorothy: Being a foster kid gave her second-class/status, but she was still our hero./An outcast like us, she was an ally against/school bullies and neighborhood brats./Though we were all poor, she was rejected/for more simple-minded, human reasons./With smoke-dark skin, hair no longer/than a snap, and legs covered with sores,/any hope she nursed of being found/desirable or cherished was revoked./She retaliated with a physical prowess/that awed us. Endless chores gave her/muscles to rival the older boys'/and she stunned them in short breathless tussles/that often drew blood. We envied her a body/whose strength matched its rage./At fourteen, she could beat a man./In our small world, she seemed invincible,/until we learned her one weakness:/a love for my brother that, unreturned,/provoked the only fight she willingly lost.

This book is a finely cut jewel in the world of menopause literature. Not only does it delve deeply into all the facets of menopause; physical, emotional and in terms of each individuals evolution to a new and potentially better phase of life, but it does so in a way that is so positive and inspirational that I find myself refering to it simply to remind myself that life is good and that even difficult experiances can be a special gift from God to learn and grow from. Don't get me wrong. The facts are clearly outlined, the alternative therapies researched throughly and explained in terms that any layman can understand. This book will gently guide you through all the ins and outs, ups and downs, of menopause in a throughly practical way. But it also goes a step beyond that, making this book a very special addition to the library of anyone going through menopause, or for someone that knows they will someday and would like to be prepared. I have also read 'Herbs of Grace', by the same author and would recommend that this also be read and cherished by anyone interested in Natural Medicine and all that it has to offer.

As a holistic practitioner, I find women vastly misunderstand the nature of menopause, thinking it just a negative physical cycle to medicate and suppress and be done with. Farida Sharan shows us, from her vast experience as a naturopathic doctor and healer, that we can deeply understand and embrace this time as part of our growth, and move through it with comfort, clarity and wisdom. Along with valuable information on natural physical healing, this book takes us on a much needed journey into the emotional and spiritual forces at work during menopause, and thus into a greater level of emotional and spiritual maturity possible for all women. This is a must read for women, even those who are years away from this important transition in life.

I found Herbs of of Grace to be both educational and "user friendly". Farida guides the reader through empowering steps to heal themselves on all levels. This is required reading for all my students and without fail they have all responded with enthusiasm for this wonderful book of wisdom. I highly recommend Herbs of Grace for students, pracitioners, and anyone who would like to empower themselves to wholeness and wellness.

Farida Sharan shares a wealth of information about the wonderful healing uses of Herbs. She incorporates with finite detail many herbal cleansing routines. When applying the information on an individual level, this reference will bring the reader to an understanding of the independently healthful lifestyle. A must have for anyone interested in natural health and herbal medicine.

I am a Ph.D. student working on my dissertation in case study research. This book is right on target for academic researchers using a case study approach. If you don't know anything about the process, you need this book. If you think you already know this process, you need this book.

I'm a nursing research teacher and this book really helps me and my students to understand what is a case study in research. This book has been very helpful in our college of nursing and it can helps all research in humanities field

Sharan has done a wonderful service for all policymakers and practitioners in the feild. This is a bbok that provides coherent description of Cooperative Learning.

This is possibly the best of the first four books written by Sharan Newman in her Catherine LeVendeur Mysteries. It is a complex tale of murder and deceit in the realm of Paris in the 12th century, and reflects upon a true problem of the time--stolen reliquaries. If you have read and enjoyed Sheri Holman's "A Stolen Tongue" or Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose," you may find yourself finishing this tale in one sitting. It a quick but fascinating read, highly entertaining, and showing the author's ever increasing level of mastery of the genre. Highly Recommended.

When I first picked up this series, it was after I had read the Guinevere Trilogy, by the same author, Sharan Newman. My mom had gone to a conference for Mystery Writers and picked up a bunch of her books, including the first installment of her Catherine Levendeur Series. I fell in love with it, and each year my mom returns to the conference she gets me a signed copy of her latest adventure. The character was very headstrong then, but now, in this sixth part of the continuing series, Catherine has taken motherhood, and life in mideval France to a more mature level. It's very enjoyable to see how the characters of Edgar, Catherine, and their children have changed over the years in the stories, but it may not be as strong as in the first few.

In this novel, Catherine, her husband Edgar, and the rest of her family trek the miles to distant Germany to save her younger, estranged sister, Agnes, from an undetermined fate, as she was accused of the murder of her new husband. The conflicts are understandable and believable as we see her struggles to hold a family together in a time and place of racial anger and missunderstanding with the various culture clashes.

Sharan Newman's views and enterpretation of the time peroid are amazing and fantastic to see, but some of the plot becomes rediculous and confusing, as well as Catherine's strange newly-found, docile sense of motherhood. It seems that she is no longer taking on the mysteries of this novel, but leaving it to her husband. I enjoy this series very much. It is a must read! Take it from me, you should pick up this series, but don't be dissapointed if the attitude changes from book to book. The years do go by swiftly, and Catherine is, and always will be a little too headstrong for her family, no matter how any children she has! Try it out for yourself!

Ms Newman does it again - a perfectly detailed, well-written mystery. This time, I even had a hard time figuring out "who done it", which isn't always the case with her books. Once again Catherine, Edgar, and their children are on the road. First, to visit Catherine's old convent, then on to Germany to help Catherine's sister beat a murder charge. Her lovely, graceful sister has turned her back on devoutly Catholic Catherine and her Jewish family (it's a complicated tale - your best to start with the first book, Death Comes as Epiphany and go from there!), but Catherine still feels the pull of family ties. Now, sis has been charged with her bridegroom's murder and she has no one to defend her, except Juhan, a more-than-slightly dangerous knight. Meanwhile, it's a dangerous time to be Jewish in Europe, fanatical Christians are preaching vengeance against the Jews - and Catherine's father is feeling the pull of his birth, to return to his Jewish heritage. The complexities of the family that Catherine's sister has married into make solving the mystery a bit more tricky than other Newman books. In fact, while the mystery elements are always good, they are surpassed by the development of characters and relationships. What will become of Edgar's sister Margaret (who plays a big role here) - will she find the good match for bloodlines that her birth demands, or will her attachment to Solomon (Catherine's stoutly Jewish cousin) grow, and vice versa? Will Catherine keep getting pregnant every time she leaves Paris? Will Hubert really leave it all behind to live openly as a Jew and how will that affect his wife and children? This book develops these side characters - including Solomon, one of my personal favorites and Walter, a knight from their past on his way to the crusades. Stay tuned - I have a hunch that things will continue to be very interesting for our Catherine and Edgar!

In this latest book, we get to see the lives of the aristocracy and the peasants in Trier. Catherine and her family deal with murder, family relationships, and offshoots of the established church. I am always fascinated with the glimpses of the Jewish communities as well as the disagreements within the Catholic Church. We get a feel for the difficulties of life in those days, and the strength needed to overcome them.