Other books that might interest you

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  The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens...

  Jerry Torre, Tony Maietta

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  The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens is Jerry Torre's touching and at times haunting memoir about his teenage days as caretaker of Grey Gardens, the now-celebrated mansion chronicled in the iconic documentary Grey Gardens and two feature-length films. The book, co-written with film historian Tony Maietta, is a behind-the-scenes look at "Big Edie" and "Little Edie" and their bizarre and reclusive life of squalor amidst the tremendous wealth of East Hampton, the family bond that developed between Jerry and them, and the day everything was turned upside down forever with the arrival of documentary filmmakers Albert and David Maysles.What begins as a teenager coming upon what he assumed was an old, abandoned house takes on new dimensions when suddenly Edie appears on the porch draped in a shower curtain with an apron tied around her head. "You must be the Marble Faun," she tells the stunned Jerry. Rather than chasing him away as he at first feared, she invites Jerry to meet her mother upstairs. So begins a strange, unusually close friendship with the two women as Jerry takes on the task of volunteer gardener, often sleeping in their living room and staying out of mother-daughter arguments. The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens is Jerry's look back on the filming of Grey Gardens but also how the notoriety the movie achieved changed his life along with the Beales's.

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  Letters to Sam - A Grandfather's...

  Daniel Gottlieb

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  The author and radio host shares an inspiring collection of letters to his grandson about family, growing up, and living with disability. 
   
  When his grandson was born, Daniel Gottlieb began writing a series of letters for Sam to read later in life. He planned to cover everything from dealing with your parents and handling bullies to falling in love and coping with death. Ever since a car accident left Daniel quadriplegic, he knew not to take anything for granted. He wrote the letters in case he wasn’t around to see Sam reach adulthood. 
   
  Then, when Sam was only fourteen months old, he was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disability, a form of autism, and suddenly everything changed. Now the grandfather and grandson were bound by something more: a disability. And Daniel’s special understanding of what that means became invaluable. Letters to Sam is a lovingly written, emotionally gripping book that offers unique—and universal—insights into what it means to be human.

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  Time to Heal - Tales of a...

  Michael Dixon

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  Time to Heal; Tales of a Country Doctor  tells the story of the colourful life of a country doctor towards the end of his career. In turn shocking, sad and funny, they describe a doctor who feels poorly served by the conventional medicine of his time and finds new ways to relieve the suffering of his patients.
  This tale has a twist. Twenty-first-century General Practice and its patients have been betrayed by top-heavy regulation, performance management and a blame culture. Young doctors no longer want to enter General Practice. The author explores why and how pandemics might provide the answers.

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  Peaks and Troughs - In at the...

  Nick Perry

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  A memoir of two brothers using an unexpected inheritance to start an organic farm in 1970 Wales: “This is Bill Bryson with muck under the fingernails.” —Brian Morton Londoners Nick Perry and his brother Jack were stuck in a bit of a rut. Nick, in his early twenties with a wife of infant twins, had been jumping from job to job; Jack chauffeured passengers around for their uncle’s business. Then an aunt they barely remembered, to their complete surprise, left them a tidy sum of money. It didn’t take long to come up with an idea—buying a plot of farmland in North Wales. Little did they know what a different world they were entering, and what a challenge it would be to find a way to farm that was in harmony with the earth and the animals in their care. The neighbors have little sympathy as Nick deals with the elements and with his nagging self-doubt. But no matter how close to the edge he and his family come, he carries on—and in this war-hearted, humorous, and ultimately inspirational tale, he tells the full story of a young man’s attempt to run an organic farm in the unforgiving Welsh hills.

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  The Ungrateful Refugee - What...

  Dina Nayeri

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  What is it like to be a refugee? It is a question many of us do not give much thought to, and yet there are more than twenty-five million refugees in the world. Aged eight, Dina Nayeri fled Iran along with her mother and brother and lived in the crumbling shell of an Italian hotel-turned-refugee camp. Eventually, she was granted asylum in America. She settled in Oklahoma, then made her way to Princeton University. In this book, Nayeri weaves together her own vivid story with the stories of other refugees and asylum seekers in recent years, bringing us inside their daily lives and taking us through the different stages of their journeys, from escape to asylum to resettlement. In this book, a couple falls in love over the phone, women gather to prepare noodles that remind them of home, a closeted queer man tries to make his case truthfully as he seeks asylum, and a translator attempts to help new arrivals present their stories to officials. Nayeri confronts notions like “the swarm,” and, on the other hand, “good” immigrants. She calls attention to the harmful way in which Western governments privilege certain dangers over others. With surprising and provocative questions, The Ungrateful Refugee challenges us to rethink how we talk about the refugee crisis.

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  A Constant Alien

  Catherine Schell

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  Catherine Schell has lived a life more dramatic and colourful than any of her many acting roles. 
  Her story sweeps from her birth during an allied bombing raid in Budapest, to life under post-war Russian occupation, escape and life as a refugee in Austria, a strict convent school life in America, and on to Germany where she becomes an actress. 
  Whilst international fame would follow through roles in the James Bond and Pink Panther franchises, as well as the iconic role of Maya in popular sci-fi series Space: 1999, the story off camera is all together more human and real. An abusive husband, her father’s surrender to Alzheimer’s, her brother’s paranoid schizophrenia, and a dominant and passionate mother, all play their part in her tale. 
  Told engagingly and with warmth, there are highs and lows, laughter and tears, and lessons learnt as a survivor… in a life where she has been A Constant Alien.

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