The Nana

Alice Taylor

Publisher: Brandon

Summary

The Irish nana is a repository of family history, memory and lore. Sometimes, like the Italian nonna, she is also a 'walking cookbook', carrying the old knowledge of how things were best done.
Alice's own grandmothers, Nana Taylor and Nana Ballyduane, were the first generation after the Great Famine, born in the 1860s. These women taught their families the Irish traditions and habits of homemaking that survived for centuries, and are now almost gone.
Now Alice herself is a nana too, and this book takes us through three generations and almost a century and a half. She explores the old and the new, the 'then' and 'now', the nana of yesteryear and of today, with her characteristic empathy and love.

Available since: 10/03/2022.

Print length: 240 pages.

Other books that might interest you

Mary Cary Frequently Martha

Kate Langley Bosher

"My name is Mary Cary. I live in the Yorkburg Female Orphan Asylum. You may think nothing happens in an Orphan Asylum. It does. The orphans are sure enough children, and real much like the kind that have Mothers and Fathers; and that’s why I am going to write this story." So begins Mary’s diary, which she fills with her various doings and misadventures at the Asylum in Virginia and her sharp observations about life and human nature. She loathes Miss Bray, the head of the Asylum, who is not above telling bald-faced lies to the Board to further her own selfish ends. She loves Miss Katherine, the Asylum’s resident nurse, who has befriended Mary and serves as a gentle role model for the child. As for Martha, she is Mary’s "other self" who speaks out-and sometimes acts out-in spite of Mary’s better nature. When she unexpectedly discovers her family background, Mary writes a letter to her uncle that leads to some surprising results on the way to a happy ending. 
 
The Chicago Record-Herald of March 12, 1910 stated, "Let’s be glad for books like Mary Cary. It isn’t so much what Mary Cary does, however, as what she is, bless her! that warms the cockles of the chilliest, most snugly corseted heart." (Summary by Jan MacGillivray)

Show book

The Filthy Thirteen - From the...

Richard Killblane, Jake McNiece

The true story of the 101st Airborne Division’s most notorious squad of combat paratroopers—the inspiration for the classic WWII film, The Dirty Dozen.   Since World War II, the American public has learned of the exploits of the 101st Airborne Division, the paratroopers who led the Allied invasions into Nazi-held Europe. But within the ranks of the 101st, one unit attained truly legendary status. Known as the Filthy Thirteen, they were the real-life inspiration for The Dirty Dozen.   Primarily products of the Dustbowl and the Depression, the Filthy Thirteen became notorious within the elite Screaming Eagles for their hard drinking and savage fighting skills. From D-Day until the end of the war, the squad’s heart and soul—and its toughest member—was a half Native American soldier named Jake McNiece. McNiece made four combat jumps, was in the forefront of every fight in northern Europe, yet somehow never made the rank of PFC.  The Filthy Thirteen offers a vivid group portrait of hardscrabble guys whom any respectable person would be loath to meet in a dark alley: a brawling bunch whose saving grace was that they inflicted more damage on the Germans than on MPs, the English countryside, and their own officers.

Show book

Evan Thomas - Robert Kennedy:...

PBS NewsHour

Margaret Warner speaks with Evan Thomas, the author of a new book about the life of Robert F. Kennedy.

Show book

Donald Trump and me - My diaries...

Jim G. Sitch

So, you think you know Donald Trump? The outrageous showman, vainglorious TV media host and first President to be appointed without any political or military experience. Yes, that Donald Trump.

Jim G. Sitch’s diaries, compiled over four long years of the Donald Trump presidency, are hypnotic and scary throughout and a timely reminder of ‘what has been’ and what could well be again. President Trump was a self-taught ruler who, during his time in power, demonstrated his leadership capabilities by trying to tarnish the reputation of a dying American war hero, throwing paper towels at hurricane survivors and provoking Denmark to make Greenland a National Security Priority due to the President trying to buy it. Once you’ve read these diaries, which detail just what it was like to live under Donald Trump’s rule, you’ll seriously question whether there can ever again be another President like Donald Trump.

Show book

A Fraction Stronger - Finding...

Mark Berridge

"...a must-read for anyone facing physical, emotional, or mental barriers... A Fraction Stronger motivates both individuals and groups seeking inspiration and innovative direction." 5 Stars, Chanticleer Book Reviews
"A powerful and heartfelt motivational work." KIRKUS Reviews
The multiple award winning story of finding possibility after a life-changing accident through sheer self-determination, A Fraction Stronger shows us how to navigate our darkest moments by setting and achieving high aspirational goals. It provides a reassuring guide as we strive to find meaning after disruption or foster hope after devastation. It inspires us to tackle adversity or complex change through the irrepressible grit of one task, one step, at a time.
In a split second, Mark’s life came crashing down. His bicycle understeered through a corner, the impact wrenching him over the handlebars and catapulting him headfirst into a stormwater drain. A large piece of dislodged vertebra compressed his spinal cord, causing devastating nerve damage. Mark spent more than seven weeks in hospital and nine months in intensive rehabilitation. His dedication to regain mobility became an integral part of his new identity.
A Fraction Stronger shares practical insights to guide you through your impossible moments.
It’s not about the fall – it’s about how you choose to get up. The world is full of possibility if you choose to explore it. Mark found the power within to become a fraction stronger every day. And you can, too.
Mark’s career abruptly ended in March 2019, fracturing his identity and triggering a personal battle to find new meaning. Mark now writes and speaks about adversity sharing the attitude that supported his recovery to help others face a traumatic situation or to instigate productive change in their lives.

Show book

The Secrets of Grown-Ups - An...

Vera Caspary

Vera Caspary, the celebrated author of Laura, tells her own story in this captivating autobiography.   With a career that spanned from the 1920s through 1970s, one that produced over twenty novels, in addition to her many credits for film and theater, Caspary centered her life around a passion for writing. From her early experiences at an advertisement agency—where she developed a correspondence school and invented its “famed” instructor—to the struggles of being gray-listed in the McCarthy Era, Caspary constantly found a way to turn her creative needs into viable work.   Caspary recalls the rest of a full life, too, including her flirtation with communism, travels across Europe, and a marriage. Caspary’s skillful writing makes her incredible depictions of people, and the times in which they lived, jump off the page.

Show book