The Blackridge House - A Memoir

Julia Martin

Synopsis

A quest is never what you expect it to be.
Elizabeth Madeline Martin spends her days in a retirement home in Cape Town, watching the pigeons and squirrels on the branch of a tree outside her window. Bedridden, her memory fading, she can recall her early childhood spent in a small wood-and-iron house in Blackridge on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg. Though she remembers the place in detail – dogs, a mango tree, a stream – she has no idea of where exactly it is. 'My memory is full of blotches,' she tells her daughter Julia, 'like ink left about and knocked over.'
Julia resolves to find the Blackridge house: with her mother lonely and confused, would this, perhaps, bring some measure of closure? A journey begins that traverses family history, forgotten documents, old photographs, and the maps that stake out a country's troubled past – maps whose boundaries nature remains determined to resist. Kind strangers, willing to assist in the search, lead to unexpected discoveries of ancestors and wars and lullabies. Folded into this quest are the tender conversations between a daughter and a mother who does not have long to live. Taken as one, The Blackridge House is a meditation on belonging, of the stories we tell of home and family, of the precarious footprint of life.

Disponible depuis: 15/03/2019.

Longueur d'impression: 264 pages.

D'autres livres qui pourraient vous intéresser

Splashed! - A Life from Print to...

Tom Mangold

Tom Mangold is known to millions as the face of BBC TV's flagship current affairs programme Panorama and as its longest-serving reporter. Splashed! is the 'antidote to the conventional journalist's autobiography' - a compelling, hilarious and raucous revelation of the events that marked an extraordinary life in journalism.
Mangold describes his National Service in Germany, where he worked part-time as a smuggler, through his years in the 1950s on Fleet Street's most ruthless newspapers, a time when chequebook journalism ruled and shamelessness was a major skill. Recruited by the BBC, he spent forty years as a broadcaster, developing a reputation for war reporting and major investigations.
From world exclusives with fallen women in the red-top days to chaotic interviews with Presidents, Splashed! offers a rare glimpse of the personal triumphs and disasters of a life in reporting, together with fascinating revelations about the stories that made the headlines on Mangold's remarkable journey from print to Panorama.

Voir livre

Jim Morrison & the Doors: Rock...

Geoffrey Giuliano

The real Jim Morrison, fiery leader of the iconic Doors, is revealed in this hard-hitting, once-in-a-lifetime audiobook revelation. Perfect for the hardcore fan and casual music lover alike.

Voir livre

Precious Few Clues - The True...

Marla Bernard

A true crime account of the Kansas City police investigation of the murder of a three-year-old girl, whose brutalized body took four years to identify.   On an unseasonably warm April evening in 2001, the headless body of a tiny girl was found discarded in a makeshift dump site in the woods on the southeast side of Kansas City, Missouri. One long night turned into four long years for Sgt. David Bernard and the Kansas City Police Department’s 1020 Squad. They followed 1,500 leads, had a replica of the child’s head sculpted from her skull, and ultimately conducted the single most extensive area canvass in the KCPD's history. Erica Michelle Marie Green, aka “Precious Doe,” captured the hearts of not only the dedicated detectives who fought tirelessly to identify her and her killer but of an entire community.    Precious Few Clues is a candid and touching account of the painful impact that this brutal murder had on Sgt. Bernard, his family, and the KCPD’s 1020 squad. It chronicles the all too frequent story of child abuse, failed social services, a flawed court system, and battered women who sacrificed their own children to shield their abusive lovers, echoing the same preposterous explanations of “. . . but I love him.”

Voir livre

Gun to the Head

Keith Banks

From the bestselling author of Drugs, Guns amp; Lies, comes Keith's story of what it was really like to be a tactical police officer in the violent and corrupt eighties'Banks has told his story in a raw and honest autobiography. It is the best true crime book published in Australia in a decade.' - John Silvester, Crime Reporter for The Age on Drugs, Guns and LiesKeith Banks was a member of the Queensland Police Force when not everyone with a badge could be trusted.After serving as an undercover cop and declining an opportunity to participate in a lucrative and totally corrupt enterprise, Keith found himself sidelined from the Drug Squad. In 1984 he was transferred to the Taringa Criminal Investigation Branch as a Detective Senior Constable. That had its moments, but he wanted more. He missed the adrenaline charge of his days as an undercover cop. He discovered that rush again when, ultimately, he became one of the first fulltime members of the Tactical Response Group.It was challenging and dangerous work. He not only found himself facing off against some of Australia's most brutal criminals, but he also had to confront the demons of constantly living on the edge, of finding that fine line between good and bad where violence was normal.Raw and confronting, Gun to the Head exposes a world of policing that few have lived.'Banks has told his story in a raw and honest autobiography. It is the best true crime book published in Australia in a decade.' - John Silvester, Crime Reporter for The Age on Drugs, Guns and Lies

Voir livre

Simply Between Millions - From...

Rich Tola

"What an incredible story! I never wanted to put the book down. This book is witty, funny, charismatic, intriguing, inspirational and extremely heartfelt." - Sharon F. 
"Rich is the real deal. This book is about his journey through two worlds and the cast of characters who shaped and influenced him along the way. On the surface, is is a wildly entertaining book. On a deeper level, it makes you rethink what it means to be happy, successful, fulfilled, and ultimately at peace with your decisions." - George G. 
"The book was honest, very heartfelt and showed Rich's vulnerable side. It's fast paced and raw with passion for life and finding the rainbow!" - Megan T. 
"Think Big! Rich Tola never gives up! Says it like it is and doesn't hesitate to give back as much as he gets. Inspirational book on life never getting you down, even when you're down!" - Jeanie M. 
"Well written page turner. It's like peeking in the window of someone who's not afraid to live life to it's fullest, a fun, juicy story and very inspirational. I loved it!" - Bobbi S. 
"It was a fantastic read." - Dan B.

Voir livre

Beethoven for a Later Age -...

Edward Dusinberre

“A richly detailed portrayal of the intimate workings of a great string quartet . . . as revealed to us through the recollections of its first violinist.”—Philip Roth Edward Dusinberre, first violinist of the renowned Takács Quartet, offers a rare peek inside the workings of his ensemble, while providing an insightful history of Beethoven’s sixteen string quartets and their performance. Founded in Hungary in 1975 and now based in Boulder, Colorado, the Takács is one of the world’s preeminent string quartets, and performances of Beethoven have been at the center of their work together for over forty years. Using the history of both the Takács Quartet and the Beethoven quartets as a foundation, Beethoven for a Later Age provides a backstage look at the daily life of a quartet, showing the necessary creative tension between individual and group and how four people can at the same time forge a lasting artistic connection and enjoy making music together over decades. In an accessible style, suitable for novices and chamber music enthusiasts alike, Dusinberre illuminates the variety and contradictions of Beethoven’s quartets, which were composed against the turbulent backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars and their aftermath, and he brings the technical aspects of the music to life. “We are given intimate insight into the almost impossible-to-describe musical process of rehearsal and performance, the artistic and human interaction that links these modern musicians with their forebears and Beethoven himself.”—Garrick Ohlsson, pianist “This singular memoir . . . will be something between informative and revelatory to readers from musicians to music lovers.”—Jan Swafford, author of Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph

Voir livre