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Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King
by Antonia FraserLouis XIV, the highly-feted "Sun King", was renowned for his political and cultural influence and for raising France to a new level of prominence in seventeenth-century Europe. And yet, as Antonia Fraser keenly describes, he was equally legendary in the domestic sphere. Indeed, a panoply of women -- his wife Anne; mistresses such as Louise de la Vallière, Athénaïs de Montespan, and the puritanical Madame de Maintenon; and an array of courtesans -- moved in and out of the court. The highly visible presence of these women raises many questions about their position in both Louis XIV's life and in France at large. With careful research and vivid, engaging prose, Fraser makes the multifaceted life of one of the most famous European monarchs accessible and vibrantly current.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King
by Lady Antonia FraserMistresses and wives, mothers and daughters - Antonia Fraser brilliantly explores the relationships which existed between The Sun King and the women in his life. This includes not only Louis XIV's mistresses, principally Louise de La Vallière, Athénaïs de Montespan, and the puritanical Madame de Maintenon, but also the wider story of his relationships with women in general, including his mother Anne of Austria, his two sisters-in-law who were Duchesses d'Orléans in succession, Henriette-Anne and Liselotte, his wayward illegitimate daughters, and lastly Adelaide, the beloved child-wife of his grandson.
Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King
by Lady Antonia FraserMistresses and wives, mothers and daughters - Antonia Fraser brilliantly explores the relationships which existed between The Sun King and the women in his life. This includes not only Louis XIV's mistresses, principally Louise de La Vallière, Athénaïs de Montespan, and the puritanical Madame de Maintenon, but also the wider story of his relationships with women in general, including his mother Anne of Austria, his two sisters-in-law who were Duchesses d'Orléans in succession, Henriette-Anne and Liselotte, his wayward illegitimate daughters, and lastly Adelaide, the beloved child-wife of his grandson.Read by Patricia Hodge(p) 2006 Orion Publishing Group
Love and Liberation: Autobiographical Writings of the Tibetan Buddhist Visionary Sera Khandro
by Sarah JacobyLove and Liberation reads the autobiographical and biographical writings of one of the few Tibetan Buddhist women to record the story of her life. Sera Khandro Künzang Dekyong Chönyi Wangmo (also called Dewé Dorjé, 1892–1940) was extraordinary not only for achieving religious mastery as a Tibetan Buddhist visionary and guru to many lamas, monastics, and laity in the Golok region of eastern Tibet, but also for her candor. This book listens to Sera Khandro's conversations with land deities, dakinis, bodhisattvas, lamas, and fellow religious community members whose voices interweave with her own to narrate what is a story of both love between Sera Khandro and her guru, Drimé Özer, and spiritual liberation. Sarah H. Jacoby's analysis focuses on the status of the female body in Sera Khandro's texts, the virtue of celibacy versus the expediency of sexuality for religious purposes, and the difference between profane lust and sacred love between male and female tantric partners. Her findings add new dimensions to our understanding of Tibetan Buddhist consort practices, complicating standard scriptural presentations of male subject and female aide. Sera Khandro depicts herself and Drimé Özer as inseparable embodiments of insight and method that together form the Vajrayana Buddhist vision of complete buddhahood. By advancing this complementary sacred partnership, Sera Khandro carved a place for herself as a female virtuoso in the male-dominated sphere of early twentieth-century Tibetan religion.
Love and Liberation: Autobiographical Writings of the Tibetan Buddhist Visionary Sera Khandro
by Sarah H. JacobySarah H. Jacoby is assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Northwestern University. She is the coauthor of Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience and coeditor of Buddhism Beyond the Monastery: Tantric Practices and Their Performers in Tibet and the Himalayas.
Love and Let Die: Bond, the Beatles and the British Psyche
by John HiggsThe Beatles are the biggest band there has ever been. James Bond is the single most successful movie character of all time. They are also twins. Dr No, the first Bond film, and 'Love Me Do', the first Beatles record, were both released on the same day - Friday, 5 October 1962. Most countries can only dream of a cultural export becoming a worldwide phenomenon on this scale. For Britain to produce two on the same windy October afternoon is unprecedented.Bond and the Beatles present us with opposing values, visions of Britain and ideas about male identity. LOVE AND LET DIE is the story of a clash between working-class liberation and establishment control, and how it exploded on the global stage. It explains why James Bond hated the Beatles, why Paul McCartney wanted to be Bond and why it was Ringo who won the heart of a Bond Girl in the end.Told over a period of sixty dramatic years, this is an account of how two outsized cultural monsters continue to define our aspirations and fantasies and the future we are building. Looking at these touchstones in this new context will forever change how you see the Beatles, the James Bond films and six decades of British culture.
Love and Kisses and a Halo of Truffles: Letters to Helen Evans Brown
by James Beard John FerroneAn intimate look into the kitchens and lives of two celebrated American food legends and friends Renowned culinary master James Beard and his dear friend, chef Helen Evans Brown, shared both a love of food and a keen insight into the changing palate of American diners. In this twelve-year, bicoastal epistolary exchange of three hundred letters, Beard and Brown offer not only tidbits of indispensible culinary guidance but also two fascinating perspectives on cooking. Whether swapping recipes for dishes like chocolate crepes and roast duck, trading descriptions of delicious meals, or exchanging stories about their travels, Beard and Brown bring their world to vivid life, and their letters provide a unique snapshot of a culinary love affair that is guaranteed to delight epicureans of all stripes. This charming conversation between two great food-loving friends is both a historic gem and a heartwarming, witty account of a deep and meaningful relationship that lasted a lifetime.
Love and Justice: A Journey of Empowerment, Activism, and Embracing Black Beauty
by Laetitia KyThe deeply personal story of artist, activist, and influencer Laetitia Ky, told through the powerful sculptures she creates with her own hair that embrace Black culture and beauty, the fight for social justice, and the journey toward self-love.Laetitia Ky is a one-of-a-kind artist, activist, and creative voice based in Ivory Coast, West Africa. With the help of extensions, wool, wire, and thread, Ky sculpts her hair into unique and compelling art pieces that shine a light on, and ignite conversation around, social justice. Her bold and intimate storytelling, which she openly shares with her extensive social media audience, covers issues like:• Sexism and internalized misogyny• Racial oppression• Reproductive rights and consent• Harmful beauty standards• Shame and its corrosive effect on mental health• And moreLove and Justice is equal parts memoir, artwork, and feminist manifesto. Ky's striking words, combined with 135 remarkable photographs, offer empowerment and inspiration. She emerges from her exploration of justice and equality with a message of self-love, showing readers the path to loving themselves and their bodies, expressing their voices, and feeling more confident.Through this celebration of women's empowerment, Ky extends a generous invitation to love ourselves, embrace our unique beauty, and to work toward a more just world.
Love and Hate in the Heartland: Dispatches from Forgotten America
by Mark PhillipsMeet the “deplorables.” Meet the majority that was silent until the election of President Donald Trump. Meet the Middle Americans whom globalism and the modern economy have left behind. In a collection of vignettes telling of family history and bar stool interviews and stubborn beliefs and resignation, Mark Phillips gathers a collage of the forgotten Americans—the Americans that urbanites didn’t know existed, pollsters couldn’t define, and politicians sought to target. The Alleghenians featured, the author among them, feel left adrift. They are not politically active; they are more concerned with eking out a living at failing factories than with the intricacies of the Affordable Care Act. Love and Hate in the Heartland goes beyond talking heads and superficial media portrayals to tell stories of humanity, strength, resilience, generosity, and self-reliance. Faced with a bleak outlook, these noble ideals mingle with resignation and misguided bitterness. Written in evocative and graceful prose, it gives faces to the voices we heard in November 2016.
Love and Fury: The Magic and Mayhem of Life with Tyson
by Paris FuryGypsy Queen to the Gypsy King, Tyson Fury's wife Paris reveals the magical highs and epic lows of life with the Heavyweight Boxing World Champion, as she shares their life story and what keeps them strong through the good times - and the bad.Paris Fury is Tyson's rock, the wife he thanks for all his success. Both from Traveller families, she married him at 19 and is hands-on mother to their five children, as well as at his side through every fight. Always glamorous, strong, grounded, and her own woman. When Tyson's struggles with depression, OCD and alcohol have threatened to overwhelm them, she has held them together, and helped to see Tyson through to the greatest boxing victories.With all her warmth, humour and honesty, she tells her story - from her Traveller childhood, falling in love, making a home and a family, to coming through Tyson's darkest moments. She vividly describes the anguish of their worst times, and what it's like to be at the ringside. And she shows what it takes to balance the fame, the fans and all the sporting pressures alongside everyday family life.
Love and Fury: The Magic and Mayhem of Life with Tyson
by Paris FuryGypsy Queen to the Gypsy King, Tyson Fury's wife Paris reveals the magical highs and epic lows of life with the Heavyweight Boxing World Champion, as she shares their life story and what keeps them strong through the good times - and the bad.Paris Fury is Tyson's rock, the wife he thanks for all his success. Both from Traveller families, she married him at 19 and is hands-on mother to their six children, as well as at his side through every fight. Always glamorous, strong, grounded, and her own woman. When Tyson's struggles with depression, OCD and alcohol have threatened to overwhelm them, she has held them together, and helped to see Tyson through to the greatest boxing victories.With all her warmth, humour and honesty, she tells her story - from her Traveller childhood, falling in love, making a home and a family, to coming through Tyson's darkest moments. She vividly describes the anguish of their worst times, and what it's like to be at the ringside. And she shows what it takes to balance the fame, the fans and all the sporting pressures alongside everyday family life.
Love and Fury: The Magic and Mayhem of Life with Tyson
by Paris FuryGypsy Queen to the Gypsy King, Tyson Fury's wife Paris reveals the magical highs and epic lows of life with the Heavyweight Boxing World Champion, as she shares their life story and what keeps them strong through the good times - and the bad.Paris Fury is Tyson's rock, the wife he thanks for all his success. Both from Traveller families, she married him at 19 and is hands-on mother to their six children, as well as at his side through every fight. Always glamorous, strong, grounded, and her own woman. When Tyson's struggles with depression, OCD and alcohol have threatened to overwhelm them, she has held them together, and helped to see Tyson through to the greatest boxing victories.With all her warmth, humour and honesty, she tells her story - from her Traveller childhood, falling in love, making a home and a family, to coming through Tyson's darkest moments. She vividly describes the anguish of their worst times, and what it's like to be at the ringside. And she shows what it takes to balance the fame, the fans and all the sporting pressures alongside everyday family life.(P)2021 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Love and Fury
by Richard HoffmanAn acclaimed author reflects on his upbringing in a post-World War II blue-collar family and comes to terms with the racism, sexism, and other toxic values he inherited. Richard Hoffman sometimes felt as though he had two fathers: the real one who raised him and an imaginary version, one he talked to on the phone, and one he talked to in his head. Although Hoffman was always close to the man, his father remained a mystery, shrouded in a perplexing mix of tenderness and rage. When his father receives a terminal cancer diagnosis, Hoffman confronts the depths and limitations of their lifelong struggle to know each other, weighing their differences and coming to understand that their yearning and puzzlement was mutual. With familial relationships at its center, Love & Fury draws connections between past and present, from the author's grandfather, a "breaker boy" sent down into the anthracite mines of Pennsylvania at the age of ten, to his young grandson, whose father is among the estimated one million young black men incarcerated today. In a critique of culture and of self, Hoffman grapples with the way we have absorbed and incorporated the compelling imagery of post WWII America and its values, especially regarding class, war, women, race, masculinity, violence, divinity, and wealth. A masterful memoirist, Hoffman writes not only to tell a gripping story but also to understand, through his family, the social and ethical contours of American life. At the book's core are the author's questions about boyhood, fatherhood, and grandfatherhood, and about the changing meaning of what it means to be a good man in America, now and into the future.From the Hardcover edition.
Love and Fury: A Novel of Mary Wollstonecraft
by Samantha SilvaA Best Novel of Summer (New York Times Book Review)From the acclaimed author of Mr. Dickens and His Carol, a richly-imagined reckoning with the life of another cherished literary legend: Mary Wollstonecraft – arguably the world’s first feministAugust, 1797. Midwife Parthenia Blenkinsop has delivered countless babies, but nothing prepares her for the experience that unfolds when she arrives at Mary Wollstonecraft’s door. Over the eleven harrowing days that follow, as Mrs. Blenkinsop fights for the survival of both mother and newborn, Wollstonecraft recounts the life she dared to live amidst the impossible constraints and prejudices of the late 18th century, rejecting the tyranny of men and marriage, risking everything to demand equality for herself and all women. She weaves her riveting tale to give her fragile daughter a reason to live, even as her own strength wanes. Wollstonecraft’s urgent story of loss and triumph forms the heartbreakingly brief intersection between the lives of a mother and daughter who will change the arc of history and thought.In radiant prose, Samantha Silva delivers an ode to the dazzling life of Mary Wollstonecraft, one of the world's most influential thinkers and mother of the famous novelist Mary Shelley. But at its heart, Love and Fury is a story about the power of a woman reclaiming her own narrative to pass on to her daughter, and all daughters, for generations to come.
Love and Fatigue in America
by Roger KingLove and Fatigue in Americarecords an Englishman’s decade-long journey through his newly adopted country in the company of a mystifying illness and a charismatic dog. When he receives an unexpected invitation from an unfamiliar American university, he embraces it as a triumphant new beginning. Instead, on arrival, he is stricken with a persistent inability to stand up or think straight, and things quickly go wrong. Diagnosed with ME disease—chronic fatigue syndrome—he moves restlessly from state to state, woman to woman, and eccentric doctor to eccentric doctor, in a search for a love and a life suited to his new condition. The journey is simultaneously brave, absurd, and instructive. Finding himself prostrate on beds and couches from Los Alamos to Albany, he hears the intimate stories offered by those he encounters—their histories, hurts, and hopes—and from these fragments an unsentimental map emerges of the inner life of a nation. Disability has shifted his interest in America from measuring its opportunities to taking the measure of its humanity. Forced to consider for himself the meaning of a healthy life and how best to nurture it, he incidentally delivers a report on the health of a country. By turns insightful, comic, affecting, and profound, Roger King’sLove and Fatigue in Americabriskly compresses an illness, a nation, and an era through masterly blending of literary forms. In a work that defies categorization, and never loses its pace or poise, the debilitated narrator is, ironically, the most lively and fully awake figure in the book. “Remarkable. . . . [S]mart and funny. . . . [A]musing observations about everything American. . . . [T]his is not a traditional novel. . . . [T]his, as it turns out, is a brilliant perspective from which to view and write about life. . . . [G]reat reckonings unfurl in mere paragraphs. ”—Jackson Newspapers. com “As the disease drives the narrator city to city, woman to woman, and doctor to doctor, it brings into relief many of America’s follies and excesses, most notably our health-care system, which King portrayed as antiquated, bureaucratic, and inhumane. After more than fifteen years, America brings the narrator ‘not aspiration realized, nor a largeness of life fitting to its open spaces, but the nascent ability to be satisfied with less. ’”—The New Yorker
Love and Death in the Sunshine State: The Story of a Crime
by Cutter WoodSometimes the facts aren't the only truth. When a stolen car is recovered on the Gulf Coast of Florida, it sets off a search for a missing woman, local motel owner Sabine Musil-Buehler. Three men are named persons of interest—her husband, her boyfriend, and the man who stole the car—and the residents of Anna Maria Island, with few facts to fuel their speculation, begin to fear the worst. Then, with the days passing quickly, her motel is set on fire, her boyfriend flees the county, and detectives begin digging on the beach. Cutter Wood was a guest at Musil-Buehler’s motel as the search for the missing woman gained momentum, and he found himself drawn steadily deeper into the case. Driven by his own need to understand how a relationship could spin to pieces in such a fatal fashion, he began to meet with the eccentric inhabitants of Anna Maria Island, with the earnest but stymied detectives, and with the affable man soon presumed to be her murderer. But there is only so much that interviews and records can reveal; in trying to understand why we hurt those we love, this book, like Truman Capote’s classic In Cold Blood, tells a story that exists outside of documentary evidence. Wood carries the investigation beyond the facts of the case and into his own life, crafting a tale of misguided love, writerly naiveté, and the dark and often humorous conflicts at the heart of every relationship.
Love and Death in Kathmandu: A Strange Tale of Royal Murder
by Amy Willesee Mark WhittakerOn June 1, 2001, the heir to the Nepalese throne, Crown Prince Dipendra, donned military fatigues, armed himself with automatic weapons, walked in on a quiet family gathering, and, without a word, mowed his family down before turning a gun on himself. But Dipendra did not die immediately, and while lying in a coma was declared king. He was now a living god. Award-winning journalists Amy Willesee and Mark Whittaker set out to understand what could have led to such a devastating tragedy, one that fascinated and appalled the world. Exploring Kathmandu and other parts of the kingdom, they conducted exhaustive interviews with everyone from Maoist guerillas to members and friends of the royal family, gaining insight into the people involved in and the events behind the massacre. At the heart of the story is the love affair between Dipendra and the beautiful aristocrat Devyani Rana, whom he was forbidden to marry. Culminating their portrait of Nepal is a chilling reconstruction of the events of that fatal day. As conspiracy theories circulate and rebels threaten to topple the monarchy, the future of this small Himalayan kingdom, promises to be as tumultuous as its past. Revealing a country where the twenty-first century mingles uneasily with the fourteenth,Love and Death in Kathmandu is both an enlightening portrait of a place that is a world apart and a riveting investigation of an incredible crime.
Love and Death at the Mall
by Richard PeckThe award-winning writer for young adults comments on the creative process; American values in schools, malls, and elsewhere; changing lifestyles and expectations; and how it all relates to the kinds of writing to which young readers respond.
Love and Consequences: A Memoir of Hope and Survival
by Margaret B. JonesIn this book, Margaret B. Jones brings us movingly into the world of her youth - a world of gangs and poverty, but also of hope and survival - to create a memoir like no other.
Love and Care: 'An honest and thoughtful memoir. Moving but full of hope. Beautiful.' Kate Mosse
by Shaun Deeney'An honest and thoughtful memoir about what it means to be a carer - particularly what it means to be a man who cares. Moving but, ultimately, full of hope. Beautiful.' KATE MOSSE'A beautiful, intimate story of love and understanding - candid and funny. This is a lyrical memoir of hope and forgiveness.' RAYNOR WINN, author of The Salt Path 'A heart-warming, heart-wrenching, and beautifully humane account of loving and caring.' NICCI GERRARD, novelist and author of What Dementia Teaches Us About LoveShaun is determined to put the past behind him. No longer brooding on his divorce, and with his two daughters grown up, he is making a fresh start in a new country. And hoping to find love one more time. Until the sudden death of his father changes everything.With his mother in a care home, Shaun knows he has to make a choice: leave his mother there, or give up his new-found freedom to look after her himself in the home she once shared with his father.Love and Care charts his first year caring for his mother who has Parkinson's dementia; a woman he loves deeply but realises he hardly knows as he tries to connect with her through music, food and everyday joys. Can he face the challenges and prove the doubters wrong? And what will the decision mean for his chances of finding love?Writing with raw honesty and humour, Shaun reflects on his own relationships - as a son, a father, and as a man. He explores our ability to keep hope alive, to forgive and be forgiven. Along the way he learns that letting go may just be the most valuable lesson in love.Framed by the changing seasons, Love and Care is a story of redemption, and a celebration of our capacity to love, in all its forms.
Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution
by Mary GabrielBrilliantly researched and wonderfully written, LOVE AND CAPITAL is a heartbreaking and dramatic saga of the family side of the man whose works would redefine the world after his death. Drawing upon years of research, acclaimed biographer Mary Gabriel brings to light the story of Karl and Jenny Marx's marriage. We follow them as they roam Europe, on the run from governments amidst an age of revolution and a secret network of would-be revolutionaries, and see Karl not only as an intellectual, but as a protective father and loving husband, a revolutionary, a jokester, a man of tremendous passions, both political and personal. In LOVE AND CAPITAL, Mary Gabriel has given us a vivid, resplendent, and truly human portrait of the Marxes-their desires, heartbreak and devotion to each other's ideals.
Love and Butterflies: A Collection of Memories
by Taylor McleanFreshly minted with an undergraduate degree from Cornell University, Taylor joins the Peace Corps hoping to put her skills and knowledge to use for the good of others. She soon learns, however, that this is easier said than done. Through language and cultural barriers, loneliness, and insecurities, she develops a newfound sense of self and a deeper understanding of others. Like a butterfly, Taylor emerges from her own chrysalis, and in doing so, she finds the love of a man to whom she dedicates this book. Originally published as a wedding gift for her husband, Stephen, Taylor's first book is also a profoundly insightful collection of essays documenting her journey of discovery in West Africa, and the people and experiences that changed her life. Taylor McLean served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana, West Africa, from 2004-2006. There she met the love of her life, Stephen. Though they have settled for now in Alexandria, Virginia, they are always looking for the next big adventure.
Love and Addiction: A Memoir
by Lorraine WoodA woman can be a mother, wife, friend, a force in business, a spiritual guide and a person who found peace and redemption in recovery. Every month, Lorraine Wood tells the story of her devastating family legacy of addiction in the hopes that it will inspire people to start, and stay, on their own difficult path to addiction recovery. Love & Addiction is her heart-wrenching memoir that records her story. Born to alcoholic parents Lorraine struggled through childhood as the eldest of six children living on a rural farm in New Zealand. Like most ‘good girls’ in the 1950s, she married young and quickly had four daughters. The view out her window offered nothing but cows and she longed for more. After months of persuasion the family finally moved to the city of Auckland. There, fate introduced her to her true soul mate, Bill. The only problem was that Bill was also a married man, and with three daughters of his own. But their love could not be denied and before long, two divorces were navigated and one family of seven children was formed in Sydney to start afresh. It was then that the cracks began to show. Bill, also a former alcoholic, had transferred his addictive tendencies to financial risk, racking up a millions of dollars in debt. An intervention was needed. For both of them. It was only at this stage, at 50 years of age, that Lorraine understood the true generational damage of addiction. When one person is addicted, an entire family suffers and need their own rehabilitation and support to truly recover and heal. Lorraine’s purpose in life was born. In 1993 she and Bill took the greatest financial risk of all and opened South Pacific Private – a hospital that specializes in addiction treatments. Since Bill’s tragic death, Lorraine continues to run the hospital solo, now known as the only Australian equivalent to the renowned US treatment facility, The Meadows. With engaging, heartwarming anecdotes Lorraine opens up her life and bares her soul in Love & Addiction, a memoir.
Love, Anarchy, & Emma Goldman: A Biography
by Candace Falk“What this remarkable book does . . . is to remind us of that passion, that revolutionary fervor, that camaraderie, that persistence in the face of political defeat and personal despair so needed in our time as in theirs.” —Howard Zinn “Fascinating …With marvelous clarity and depth, Candace Falk illuminates for us an Emma Goldman shaped by her time yet presaging in her life the situation and conflicts of women in our time.” —Tillie Olsen One of the most famous political activists of all time, Emma Goldman was also infamous for her radical anarchist views and her “scandalous” personal life. In public, Goldman was a firebrand, confidently agitating for labor reform, anarchism, birth control, and women’s independence. But behind closed doors she was more vulnerable, especially when it came to the love of her life. Reissued on the sesquicentennial of Emma Goldman's birth, Love, Anarchy, & Emma Goldman is an account of Goldman’s legendary career as a political activist. But it is more than that—it is the only biography of Emma Goldman. The flow of her life and words is at its core. Here, Candace Falk offers an intimate look at how Goldman’s passion for social reform dovetailed with her passion for one man: Chicago activist, hobo king, and red-light district gynecologist Ben Reitman. This takes us into the heart of their tumultuous love affair, finding that even as Goldman lectured on free love, she confronted her own intense jealousy. As director of the Emma Goldman papers, Falk had access to over 40,000 writings by Goldman—including her private letters and notes—and she draws upon these archives to give us a rare insight into this brilliant, complex woman’s thoughts. The result is both a riveting love story and a primer on an exciting, explosive era in American politics and intellectual life.
Love, Amy: The Selected Letters of Amy Clampitt
by Amy ClampittThis extraordinary collection of letters sheds light on one of the most important postwar American poets and on a creative woman's life from the 1950s onward. Amy Clampitt was an American original, a literary woman from a Quaker family in rural Iowa who came to New York after college and lived in Manhattan for almost forty years before she found success (or before it found her) at the age of 63 with the publication of The Kingfisher. Her letters from 1950 until her death in 1994 are a testimony to her fiercely independent spirit and her quest for various kinds of truth-religious, spiritual, political, and artistic.Written in clear, limpid prose, Clampitt's letters illuminate the habits of imagination she would later use to such effect in her poetry. She offers, with wit and intelligence, an intimate and personal portrait of life as an independent woman recently arrived in New York City. She recounts her struggle to find a place for herself in the world of literature as well as the excitement of living in Manhattan. In other letters she describes a religious conversion (and then a gradual religious disillusionment) and her work as a political activist. Clampitt also reveals her passionate interest in and fascination with the world around her. She conveys her delight in a variety of day-to-day experiences and sights, reporting on trips to Europe, the books she has read, and her walks in nature. After struggling as a novelist, Clampitt turned to poetry in her fifties and was eventually published in the New Yorker. In the last decade of her life she appeared like a meteor on the national literary scene, lionized and honored. In letters to Helen Vendler, Mary Jo Salter, and others, she discusses her poetry as well as her surprise at her newfound success and the long overdue satisfaction she obviously felt, along with gratitude, for her recognition.