This book is about the Doncaster line of women's clothing manufactured by the Tanner Companies in Rutherfordton, North Carolina. The forward, written by Jimmy Tanner, chairman of the board of the Tanner Companies, reveals several reasons that the book was written. "This little book was written with several purposes in mind: namely, to entertain, to inform, to record history, and if the truth be known, to sell an opportunity". The opportunity that Mr. Tanner is referring to is the opportunity to become a Doncaster Fashion Consultant, a person who sells the Doncaster line of clothing and related products directly to women.

Peggy Payne traces the history of the Tanner Companies and development of the Doncaster line, reviews the design and crafting of the clothing (including the search for the fine materials of which the clothing and products are made), describes and praises the skill with which the Doncaster Consultant serves her clientele, discusses the Doncaster style of giving back to the community and to other communities, and finally, traces the Tanner Companies entrepreneurial ventures with other clothing designers.
The book is written in an easy to read style and is highly recommended reading for anyone interested in becoming a Doncaster Consultant or anyone interested in purchasing Doncaster clothing and products.

This book covers everything from understanding the characteristics of early-childhood ages to building relationships with the children and their parents to ways of making discipline situations easier. Its section called "The Program" is especially helpful because it lays out helpful hints for each part of your teaching day--from welcoming students to clean-up time. Each "tip" is easy to understand and, most importantly, easy to put in practice. They are each unique and creative and were obviously inspired by teachers themselves.

Now in an fully updated third edition, The Entrepreneur's Guide To Equity Compensation from the Foundation for Enterprise Development provides an excellent and highly recommended introduction to the hows, whys, and wherefores of employee ownership, as well as how empowered employees can help build a cutting-edge, proactive organization. Individual chapters address both individual-based and company-wide stock plans, savings plans that can hold employer stocks, crucial issues that can interfere with success, and much, much more. A recommended primer for any employer, for The Entrepreneur's Guide To Equity Compensation costs far less than what an unwise stock options decision would impose upon a corporate bottom line!

This excellent and clear explanation of approaches to equity plans, provides a guide to creating an employee ownership strategy. The book covers: stock grants; direct stock purchase programs; stock option plans; qualified employee stock purchase programs (ESPPs); employee stock ownership programs (ESOPs); 401(k) and other qualified retirement plans; nonqualified deferred compensation plans; stock appreciation rights and phantom plans; stock programs for American companies operating abroad; and the most suitable equity arrangement for various types of legal forms of companies. Explains the concept, pros and cons, and tax and cost implications. Viewing this work as a compensation consultant, I find it to be an outstanding reference, providing highly accessible explanations. Very highly recommended.

I have used the Entrepreneur's Guide for several years. It is an excellent tool - comprehensive yet easy to understand and logically organized. It presents a very complex area in a clear fashion that goes a long way to helping the interested person decide on a general approach to equity compensation that will fit their needs and help reach their goals for a very reasonable cost. I recommend it to anyone considering exploring an equity compensation strategy of any kind.

Medical researchers provide evidence that volunteering helps the body produce it natural healers, endorphens, enhancing health and increasing longevity. I have used information in this book successfully when encouraging individuals to become more involved in their communities.

Some of these reviews perplex me. I too came to this book expecting that the best Peggy Payne (a non-Indian name if there ever was one!) could do was part the curtains on the Delhi-Varanasi sleeper and give us a tourist's glimpse of the mysterious landscape outside. To be sure, she does not look at India as would a native such as Amitav Ghosh or Manil Suri (please read his "Death of Vishnu"). But, to my mind, she does something better and perhaps more difficult. She looks at the complicated and fascinating life of Varanasi through the eyes of Natraja, an American woman who has lived there for 20 years. It is India as filtered through a fascinating and absorbing character whose self-imposed isolation makes especially acute her perceptions of what's going on around her. I highly recommend this book if you love India or want to visit this complicated land.

I found this book to be unsettling, but I could not stop reading. I believe readers who enjoyed "The God of Small Things" will understand what I mean by that, and I also believe they will enjoy this book as much as I did.

The story follows Estelle, a beanpole of a girl who flees North Carolina to find safe haven in Varanasi (Benares), the holiest of India's Hindu cities. Here she becomes Madame Natraja, and manages a small guesthouse called Saraswati. The beanpole of a girl now tips the scales at close to 400 pounds, and the guests of Saraswati are surprised at both her girth and her American-ness.

After an astrologer's prediction of unrest, seeds of religious disparity are sown amongst the Hindus and Muslims, and a Muslim is found murdered at Saraswati. As a result, a strict curfew is announced, and no one is to leave their homes. The guests of Saraswati find themselves virtual prisoners. During their "internment," they come to learn a great deal about each other, as well as India's cutsoms, and the rather mysterious Madame Natraja.

Throughout the book, we are brought back to North Carolina through flashbacks, being fed tiny bread crumbs of hints as to what has made Estelle-Natraja the miserable creature she now is. The truth is bittersweet, indeed.

It wasn't until I was finished with the book that I came to learn that Peggy Payne is also a travel writer; that rings particularly true in this, her first work of fiction. Her eye and ear for the "foreign" as we may know it are painfully true at times, and she unveils a world we can only hope to otherwise dream of. Pick up a copy of this book and curl up with it in front of the fire. It is a delight from the first sentence to the last but, if you're like me, you'll beg for more.

For over two decades, American Madame Natraja managed the small guesthouse Saraswati. When she lived in segregated Nevus, North Carolina in the 1950s, people knew the three hundred pound-plus woman as Estelle. A scandal forced Estelle to leave town and she kept moving until she settled in India's holiest of cities, Varanasi.

Her adopted home city has racial problems too as violence periodically erupts between the Hindus and Muslims. When someone murders a Muslim near Saraswati, the city leaders impose a strict curfew with no one allowed to leave their homes. The guesthouse visitors see a side of India they never expected to observe and learn how precious life truly is. Madame Natraja never veers from her set course until a friend vanishes.

The Lonely Planet tour guidebook lists the main protagonist as a "one woman blend of East and West." That is a very insightful look at Madame Natraja, who understands her western roots even as she embraces aspects of eastern culture. The story line is intriguing and complex, as Peggy Payne has written an intense novel with many layers of interpretation available to the reader.

Harriet Klausner