Biography & Autobiography : Women

In Persia in 1924, when a child still had to worry about hostile camels in the bazaar and a nanny might spin stories at her pillow until her eyes fell shut, the extraordinary and irresistible Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian was born. From the enchanted basement storeroom where she played as a girl to the penthouse high above New York City where she would someday live, this is the delightful and inspiring story of her life as an artist, a wife and mother, a collector, and an Iranian. Born an adventurer and a tomboy, Monir describes a childhood spent getting into scrapes and dreaming up improbable destinies. We see the mischievous girl become a spirited young woman defiant of tradition: traveling to America during World War II; training as an artist; escaping a disastrous marriage; and learning to support herself and her baby before Abolbashar Farmanfarmaian, an Iranian of royal descent, whisks her back to Tehran for her second wedding. Home again and happily married, Monir discovers the neglected folk arts of far-flung regions and explores her own creative impulse, in which traditional Iranian forms reveal surprisingly modern possibilities. She throws marvelous parties, plays Twister with the shah, and delights in road trips in the decades before the rise of radical fundamentalism forces her to leave everything behind and begin a new life in New York. An enchanting love story, a compelling portrait of the creative spirit, and a celebration of the warmth and grace of Iranian culture, A Mirror Garden is also a genuine fairy tale whose exuberant heroine has never needed rescuing—for by embracing experience, she has always charmed her own life. more...

Price: $17.95

Moyra Caldecott reveals the many levels of her own life as a writer and the extraordinary events and experiences that have inspired her life and writing. more...

Price: $5.99

In this striking autobiography, Puah Rakovksy (1865-1955) tells of her experiences as a Jewish woman in later 19th- and early 20th-century Poland who broke with her traditional upbringing to become a professional educator, Zionist activist, and feminist leader. Her passionate account offers unprecedented entree into the life experience of East European Jewry in a period of massive social change. more...

Price: $15.95

My Shattered Generation is the true story of a woman caught up in terrible, shocking events beyond her control. The author has written a detailed account of her life growing up in ‘the bush’ in a contented and secure family. She goes on to describe her travels and adventures, working as a farmhand, cook, barmaid and fisherman when she leaves her secluded environment. more...

Price: $5.25

Jane Ganahl is one of millions of single people out there looking for love at midlife, and she’s (more or less) happy (damn it!). Jane Ganahl is forty-nine, single, and loving it—mostly. In Naked on the Page, Ganahl chronicles the highs, lows, and in-betweens of dating at midlife, along with the professional and personal changes that come fast and furious as she heads toward her fiftieth birthday. Writer of the popular “Single Minded” column for the San Francisco Chronicle, Ganahl employs keen insight and lively wit as she recounts the events of one tumultuous year in her life. Smart, funny, and always honest, Naked on the Page proves that there’s still plenty of life—and love—after youth is gone. more...

Price: $14.00