Biography & Autobiography : Women

Superbly told, with the poet's gift for language and observation, Angelou's autobiography of her childhood in Arkansas - a world of which most Americans are ignorant. From the Hardcover edition. more...

Price: $17.00

The Story of My Life , first published in 1903, is Helen Keller's autobiography detailing her early life, especially her experiences with Annie Sullivan. Portions of it were adapted by William Gibson for a 1957 Playhouse 90 production, a 1959 Broadway play, a 1962 Hollywood feature film, and a 2005 Indian film. Keller was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The story of how Keller's teacher, Annie Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become known worldwide through the dramatic depictions of the play and film The Miracle Worker. A prolific author, Keller was well traveled and was outspoken in her opposition to war. She campaigned for women's suffrage, workers' rights, and socialism, as well as many other progressive causes... more...

Price: $4.99

"...a torrent of vividly recalled memories [that] reads with the sort of artless verve that can come only from one who's been unshackled from a lifetime of repression." - Vogue. Zainab Salbi was eleven years old when her father was chosen to be Saddam Hussein's personal pilot and her family's life was grafted onto his. Her mother, the beautiful Alia, taught her daughter the skills she needed to survive. A plastic smile. Saying yes. Burying in boxes in her mind the horrors she glimpsed around her. "Learn to erase your memories," she instructed. "He can read eyes.". In this richly visual memoir, Salbi describes tyranny as she saw it - through the eyes of a privileged child, a rebellious teenager, a violated wife, and ultimately a public figure fighting to overcome the skill that once kept her alive: silence. Between Two Worlds is a riveting quest for truth that deepens our understanding of the universal themes of power, fear, sexual subjugation, and the question one generation asks the one before it: How could you have let this happen to us?. more...

Price: $14.00

In Eye of My Heart , twenty-seven smart, gutsy writers explode myths and stereotypes and tell the whole crazy, complicated truth about being a grandmother in today's world. Among the contributors:. Anne Roiphe learns—the hard way—to keep her mouth shut and her opinions to herself. Elizabeth Berg marvels at witnessing her child give birth to her child. Beverly Donofrio makes amends for her shortcomings as a teenage mother. Judith Viorst exposes the high-stakes competition for Most Fabulous Grandchild. Jill Nelson grapples with mother-daughter tensions triggered by the birth of her grandson. Judith Guest confesses her failed attempt to emulate her own saintly grandmother. Bharati Mukherjee transcends her strict Hindu upbringing to embrace her adopted Chinese grand-daughters. Lynn Lauber finds joy in grandmotherhood that she missed out on as a mother. Sallie Tisdale pays a high price—financially and emotionally—for her fast-growing brood of grandkids. Ellen Gilchrist reveals how grandparenthood has eased her fear of death. Molly Giles is spurned by her toddler granddaughter during a trip to Paris. Susan Shreve finally accepts that she's the grandmother, not the mother. Roxana Robinson realizes, with relief, that she doesn't have to worry so much anymore. Abigail Thomas plots her escape when she can't bear to bake one more cake. Letty Cottin Pogrebin longs to leave a lasting impression on her grandchildren. Mary Pipher explores the primal role of grandmothers in a fast-changing world. In this groundbreaking collection, you will encounter the real stories that usually go untold. Free of platitudes and clichés, the essays in Eye of My Heart are linked by a common thread: a love for grandchildren that knows no bounds, despite inescapable obstacles and limitations. more...

Price: $24.99

From 1942 to 1944, twelve thousand children passed through the Theresienstadt internment camp, near Prague, on their way to Auschwitz. Only a few hundred of them survived the war. In The Girls of Room 28 , ten of these children — mothers and grandmothers today in their seventies — tell us how they did it. more...

Price: $26.00