I promised that I would one day write a book & tell the world about the home for unmarried mothers. I have at last kept my promise. In Ireland 1951 the young June Goulding took up a position as midwife in a home for unmarried mothers run by the Sacred Heart nuns. What she witnessed there was to haunt her for the next fifty years. It was a place of secrets lies & cruelty. A place where women picked grass by hand & tarred roads whilst heavily pregnant. Where they were denied any contact with the outside world; denied basic medical treatment & abused for their sins; where after the birth they were forced into hard labour in the convent for three years. But worst of all was that the young women were expected to raise their babies during these three years so that they could then be sold
- given up for adoption in exchange for a donation to the nuns. Shocked by the nuns inhumane treatment of the frightened young women June risked her job to bring some light into their dark lives. Junes memoir tells the story of twelve womens experiences in this home & of the hardships they endured but also the kindness she offered them & the hope she was able to bring.
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Light Lifting" is a suite of darkly urban unflinching elegies. The seven stories each encompass a keenly observed immersive world rooted firmly in the real life of work & family. They are elemental stories of work & its bonds of tragedy & tragedy barely averted but also of beauty & love & moments of pure transcendence." ...

It is December in Belfast Christmas is approaching & three sets of people are about to make their way to Amsterdam. Alan a university art teacher goes on a pilgrimage to the city of his youth with troubled teenage son Jack; middle-aged couple Marion & Richard take a break from running their garden centre to celebrate Marions birthday; & Karen a single mother struggling to make ends meet joins her daughters hen party. As these people brush against each other in the squares museums & parks of Amsterdam their lives are transfigured as they encounter the complexities of love in a city that challenges what has gone before. ...

Konowa Swift Dragon was once commander of the Iron Elves the legendary Elven regiment of the human army of the Calahrian Empire. Now recalled from exile & disgrace he is second-in-command of the reconstituted regiment -- a motley band of misfits who are elves in name alone. Konowa's destiny is to stand against the looming threat of the Shadow Monarch whose destructive ambitions have called down an alien power from the stars & riven the land with all manner of ancient evils. The same Shadow Monarch whose tainted mark he bears... His quest leads Konowa deep into the desert wastes: the burning lands to which the original Iron Elves were banished. There he & his current companions must face trials beyond their imagining to learn how to defeat the Shadow Monarch for all time. ...

Deserves to be inhaled greedily in a single sitting Independent on Sunday On a cold but dazzling November morning George prepares to visit Sarah a prisoner & the woman he loves. As he goes about the business of the day he relives the catastrophic events of exactly two years ago that have both bound them together & kept them apart. Told in Georges plain words but growing deeper with each revelation The Light of Day is a hauntingly tense yet tender story about discovering the hidden forces inside all of us & the power of such discovery to change everything. A masterful combination of character & atmosphere Observer Splendid superb. An intense meditation. A writer of immense gifts Washington Post A profoundly artful beautifully weighted resonant & humane literary novel Daily Telegraph ...

- The Sutras have a power & a timelessness about them which demonstrate the accuracy with which they pinpoint the basic truths of human evolution from subservience to personality clamours to the serene freedom of the soul. Most human problems today originate in selfish desire; the prostitution of the feeling nature to self-centred physical appetites. This is also brought out clearly in the teaching of the Lord Buddha the treading of the Noble Eight-Fold path providing the only way out of the maze: Right Values; Right Speech; Right Mode of Living; Right Thinking; Right Expression; Right Conduct; Right Effort; Right Rapture or True Happiness". These are attributes of the soul. Patanjali explores exhaustively the means the techniques & the mental posture which create the connecting thread between the form- centred personality & these stages towards spiritual achievement & soul fusion. The four parts of the book develop: 1. The Problem of Union (51 sutras). 2. The Steps to Union (55 sutras). 3. Union Achieved & Its Results (55 sutras). 4. Illumination (34 sutras). Many different training techniques have been available over the centuries depending on the condition of human consciousness & the phase of spiritual growth to be accomplished. Each " Yoga" has had its place fulfilled its function & become an absorbed part of human experience. In this book the factor of mind in meeting present-day needs is again given prominence as the agent of the soul & the key to personality release. These Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are based on Raja Yoga the "kingly science of the soul": " Through the science of Raja Yoga the mind will be known as the instrument of the soul & the means whereby the brain of the aspirant becomes illuminated & knowledge gained of those matters which concern the realm of the soul." The soul is concerned with the working out of planetary purpose & plan; so again we find that mental training & the self-achievement of the individual lead to cooperation & service on a scale far more comprehensive & of far greater evolutionary significance than merely the individual effects on the life of the disciple. Sutra 31 of Part IV rings out like a bell & a clarion call to those who venture on the path of union with the soul. " When through the removal of hindrances & the purification of the sheaths the totality of knowledge becomes available naught further remains for the man to do." The books of Alice A. Bailey written in cooperation with a Tibetan teacher between 1919-1949 constitute a continuation of the Ageless Wisdom--a body of esoteric teaching handed down from ancient times in a form which is always suitable to each period. Intended to precede & condition the coming era the Alice A. Bailey writings offer an unparalleled spiritual approach to such subjects as the teaching on Shamballa & the Path of spiritual evolution; the spiritual Hierarchy; the new discipleship & training in meditation as a form of service; the teaching on the seven rays & the new psychology of the soul; the teaching on esoteric astrology; & the new world religion which emphasizes the common thread of truth linking all the major world faiths. Many translations have been made from the original Sanskrit of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. They have become well loved well used & well applied by many in all parts of the world & of all religious beliefs." ...

When Detective Dave Robicheaux's daughter Alafair declares her intention to interview a convicted serial killer called Asa Surette in his Kansas prison cell he does all he can to dissuade her. Dave has always encouraged her ambitions as a writer but as a father he doesn't want her to be exposed to a man so nakedly evil. & his fears seem well founded when Alafair is visibly shocked by the encounter. Two years later the horror Surette evoked is all but forgotten as Dave his wife Molly & Alafair are vacationing amidst the natural beauty of Montana. But evil it seems has followed them into this wild paradise. Someone is stalking Alafair & Dave begins to suspect that it's Surette
- even though he officially died when the prison truck he was being transported in collided with an oil tanker. Is Alafair now the target of one of the most depraved serial killers ever to have been caught or has she unwittingly crossed paths with a murderous psychopath closer to home?
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Light on Lucrezia" is the compelling story of a beautiful woman caught up in a tortuous web of fear & love. Born into Romes notorious Borgia family Lucrezias life so far has been colored by violence & betrayal. Now married for the second time at just eighteen she hopes for happiness with her handsome husband Alfonso. But faced with brutal murder shes soon torn between her love for her husband & her devotion to her brother Cesare..." ...

The definitive work by B.K.S. Iyengar the world s most respected yoga teacher. B.K.S. Iyengar has devoted his life to the practice & study of yoga. It was B.K.S. Iyengar s unique teaching style bringing precision & clarity to the practice as well as a mindset of yoga for all which has made it into the worldwide phenomenon it is today. Light on Yoga is widely called the bible of yoga & has served as the source book for generations of yoga students around the world. It is the classic text for all serious students of yoga. * B.K.S. Iyengar s own photo-illustrated step-by-step guides to every yoga routine. * Week-by-week development plan
- with a total of 300 weeks to allow gradual progression from novice to advanced technique. * B.K.S. Iyengar s unique & inspired guide to Pranayama
- yoga breathing techniques. * B.K.S. Iyengar s yoga philosophy for life & an introduction to the spiritual aspects of yoga. * Yoga sequences & asanas to help heal a range of specific illnesses & conditions.

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THE book to own if you want to understand lighting! Light Science & Magic provides so much more than just set examples for photographers to follow. This international bestseller provides photographers with a comprehensive theory of the nature & principles of light to allow individual photographers to use lighting to express their own creativity. It will show you how to light the most difficult subjects such as surfaces metal glass liquids extremes (black-on-black & white-on-white) & people. With more information specific for digital photographers a brand new chapter on equipment much more information on location lighting & more on photographing people this brand new fourth edition will make it clear why this is one of the only recommended books by www.strobist.com. ...