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A long walk from Gaza / by ʻAṭāwinah, Asmá,author.; Hartman, Michelle,translator.; Nasrallah, Caline,translator.; translation of:ʻAṭāwinah, Asmá.Sura mafquda.English.;
"In the tradition of Palestinian women writers, Asma Al-Atawna has gifted us a novel that is both personal and political, that exposes both the occupation and the patriarchy. A Long Walk from Gaza is a coming-of-age story that follows its teenage protagonist through her battles with a strict and abusive father, the exhilaration of her first crush, confrontations with occupation soldiers, and the heartbreak of leaving her home Gaza for a new life in Europe. Beginning in Europe and working backward to her own birth and early childhood, Al-Atawna's creative narration mirrors the traumas of her life and her people. A Long Walk from Gaza not only exposes the harshness of both male authority and the stifling of the dreams of girls in parallel with the devastating conditions Palestinians endure under a brutal Israeli occupation, but also the challenges of fleeing these for a cold, alienating life in Europe. Al-Atawna lays these bare within a story that also showcases moments of humor, joy, and the human capacity to survive and thrive at all costs. She skillfully weaves together the challenges of growing up in occupied Palestine while exposing the many intersections of violence, patriarchy, and growing up in a society that offers girls little to no compassion. Her teenage protagonist's feminist point of view is fresh and honest, powerfully conveying the heartbreaking truths of her life. At heart, A Long Walk from Gaza is a tale of freedom. Each of the characters is psychically wounded by their circumstances and each resists in their own way. Gaza comes to life in Al-Atawna's novel, showing a rich and diverse society-its flaws along with its beauty, showing us worlds, which are being destroyed and some of which no longer exist today"--
Subjects: Bildungsromans.; Novels.; Interpersonal relations; Male domination (Social structure); Military occupation; Palestinian Arabs; Women;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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After the Romanovs : Russian exiles in Paris from the Belle Époque through revolution and war / by Rappaport, Helen,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."From Helen Rappaport, the New York Times bestselling author of The Romanov Sisters comes After the Romanovs, the story of the Russian aristocrats, artists, and intellectuals who sought freedom and refuge in the City of Light. Paris has always been a city of cultural excellence, fine wine and food and the latest fashions. But it has also been a place of refuge for those fleeing persecution, never more so than before and after the Russian Revolution and the fall of the Romanov dynasty. For years, Russian aristocrats had enjoyed all Belle Époque Paris had to offer, spending lavishly when they visited. It was a place of artistic experimentation such as Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. But the brutality of the Bolshevik takeover forced Russians of all types to flee their homeland, sometimes leaving with only the clothes on their backs. Arriving in Paris, former princes could be seen driving taxicabs, while their wives who could sew worked for the fashion houses, their unique Russian style serving as inspiration for designers like Coco Chanel. Talented intellectuals, artists, poets, philosophers and writers struggled in exile, eking out a living at menial jobs. Some, like Bunin, Chagall and Stravinsky, encountered great success in the same Paris that welcomed Americans like Fitzgerald and Hemingway. Political activists sought to overthrow the Bolshevik regime from afar, while double agents plotted espionage and assassination from both sides. Others became trapped in a cycle of poverty and their all-consuming homesickness for Russia, the homeland they had been forced to abandon. This is their story"--
Subjects: Exiles; Political refugees; Russians; Russians; Russians; Russians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The Strangers [electronic resource] : by vermette, katherena.aut; cloudLibrary;
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE ATWOOD GIBSON WRITERS' TRUST PRIZE FOR FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022/2023 FIRST NATION COMMUNITIES READ AWARD, 2022 MANITOBA BOOK AWARDS’ CAROL SHIELDS WINNIPEG BOOK AWARD, MARGARET LAURENCE AWARD FOR FICTION, AND MCNALLY ROBINSON BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE A GLOBE & MAIL BEST BOOK From the bestselling author of The Break comes a staggering intergenerational saga that explores how connected we are, even when we’re no longer together—even when we’re forced apart. Cedar has nearly forgotten what her family looks like. Phoenix has nearly forgotten what freedom feels like. And Elsie has nearly given up hope. Nearly. After time spent in foster homes, Cedar goes to live with her estranged father. Although she grapples with the pain of being separated from her mother, Elsie, and sister, Phoenix, she’s hoping for a new chapter in her life, only to find herself once again in a strange house surrounded by strangers. From a youth detention centre, Phoenix gives birth to a baby she’ll never get to raise and tries to forgive herself for all the harm she’s caused (while wondering if she even should). Elsie, struggling with addiction and determined to turn her life around, is buoyed by the idea of being reunited with her daughters and strives to be someone they can depend on, unlike her own distant mother. These are the Strangers, each haunted in her own way. Between flickering moments of warmth and support, the women diverge and reconnect, fighting to survive in a fractured system that pretends to offer success but expects them to fail. Facing the distinct blade of racism from those they trusted most, they urge one another to move through the darkness, all the while wondering if they’ll ever emerge safely on the other side.  A breathtaking companion to her bestselling debut The Break, vermette’s The Strangers brings readers into the dynamic world of the Stranger family, the strength of their bond, the shared pain in their past, and the light that beckons from the horizon. This is a searing exploration of race, class, inherited trauma, and matrilineal bonds that—despite everything—refuse to be broken.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Literary; Contemporary Women; Native American & Aboriginal;
© 2021., Penguin Canada,
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The Strangers [electronic resource] : by vermette, katherena.aut; Washburn, Michaela.nrt; cloudLibrary;
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE ATWOOD GIBSON WRITERS' TRUST PRIZE FOR FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022/2023 FIRST NATION COMMUNITIES READ AWARD, 2022 MANITOBA BOOK AWARDS’ CAROL SHIELDS WINNIPEG BOOK AWARD, MARGARET LAURENCE AWARD FOR FICTION, AND MCNALLY ROBINSON BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE A GLOBE & MAIL BEST BOOK From the bestselling author of The Break comes a staggering intergenerational saga that explores how connected we are, even when we’re no longer together—even when we’re forced apart. Cedar has nearly forgotten what her family looks like. Phoenix has nearly forgotten what freedom feels like. And Elsie has nearly given up hope. Nearly. After time spent in foster homes, Cedar goes to live with her estranged father. Although she grapples with the pain of being separated from her mother, Elsie, and sister, Phoenix, she’s hoping for a new chapter in her life, only to find herself once again in a strange house surrounded by strangers. From a youth detention centre, Phoenix gives birth to a baby she’ll never get to raise and tries to forgive herself for all the harm she’s caused (while wondering if she even should). Elsie, struggling with addiction and determined to turn her life around, is buoyed by the idea of being reunited with her daughters and strives to be someone they can depend on, unlike her own distant mother. These are the Strangers, each haunted in her own way. Between flickering moments of warmth and support, the women diverge and reconnect, fighting to survive in a fractured system that pretends to offer success but expects them to fail. Facing the distinct blade of racism from those they trusted most, they urge one another to move through the darkness, all the while wondering if they’ll ever emerge safely on the other side.  A breathtaking companion to her bestselling debut The Break, vermette’s The Strangers brings readers into the dynamic world of the Stranger family, the strength of their bond, the shared pain in their past, and the light that beckons from the horizon. This is a searing exploration of race, class, inherited trauma, and matrilineal bonds that—despite everything—refuse to be broken.
Subjects: Audiobooks.; Literary; Contemporary Women; Native American & Aboriginal;
© 2021., Penguin Random House,
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End of the rope : mountains, marriage and motherhood / by Redford, Jan,author.;
"In the tradition of Cheryl Strayed's Wild comes the story of a young climber's struggle to make her own way in the mountains and in life. As a fourteen-year-old tomboy languishing in small-town Ontario in an alcohol-afflicted family, Jan is thirsting for adventure and freedom. After climbing a hundred-foot rock face, alone and without any equipment, she decides she will be a mountain climber when she grows up. Though it's a highly improbable goal, by twenty she's a cocky, nomadic, tobacco-chewing climber with a magnetic attraction to the wrong men and misadventures. She gradually develops as a climber, with the intention of becoming one of a few female mountain guides. After a series of doomed romances, Jan falls in love with an affable, hardcore Banff climber, Dan. Dreaming of a life together, maybe even kids, she enrolls in university with plans to become a teacher. But her world falls apart when Dan is killed in an avalanche. Two days after Dan's memorial, she grieves in the arms of another extreme alpinist, Grant. Not long after, she discovers she's pregnant. Terrified of being alone, she accepts a grudging offer of marriage and abandons her education and climbing. In spite of paralyzing unhappiness, they buy a house in the mountains, have a second baby, and slip into their parents' rigid roles: Grant, the provider, working in the bush as a logger; Jan, the housewife and mother. While she clings to her dream of university and autonomy, he pursues his dream of scaling mountains--dreams that pit them against each other. As her marriage unravels, Jan realizes she has to transform herself into the kind of person who can seize her dream, just like she transformed herself into a climber. It takes years and many small acts of courage, but finally, her need to grow surpasses her need to feel safe. She packs up her young children and drives off to the city, for perhaps the biggest adventure of her life: university and single motherhood. Combining driving narrative and sardonic humour with white-knuckled descriptions of life and death in the mountains, Jan Redford is paving the way for a new breed of memoir writers. She shows the immense determination required to follow your dream, even when your world is crumbling around you, and the bravery it takes to lead, not follow--in the mountains and in life."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Redford, Jan; Redford, Jan; Redford, Jan.; Self-actualization (Psychology); Women mountaineers; Women authors, Canadian (English);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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