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From the Members
Johanna Jones Keiser
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan is a well-researched novel about Frank Lloyd Wright and his love story with Mamah Cheney. We learn much about what shaped Wright's architectural career.
From the book’s cover:
In 1903, an attraction developed between Mamah Borthwick Cheney and the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In time the clandestine lovers, each married with children, embarked on a course that would rock Chicago society and forever change their lives.
In this groundbreaking historical novel, fact and fiction blend together. While scholars have treated Mamah to a footnote in the life of America's greatest architect, author Nancy Horan gives full light to their dramatic love story and illuminates Cheney's profound influence on Wright.
Drawing on years of research, Horan weaves little-known facts into a compelling narrative, vividly portraying the conflicts and struggles of a woman forced to choose between the roles of mother, wife, lover, and intellectual.
Horan's Mamah is a woman seeking to find her own voice, her own creative calling in the world and her unforgettable journey, marked by choices that reshape her choices of love and responsibility, leading to this novel’s stunning conclusion.
Roger Roberts
Neighbors from Hell? by Mike Parker (also writes the Wales editions in the “Rough Guides” travel books series)
Tells of the current situation within Cymru in regards to the English coming in buying property, covering the landscape and historical sites with wall-to-wall conifers, the creation of "English" week-end get-a-ways where the English govern local workers and FORBID Cymreag, the windmills which supply England with cheap electric, etc.
For instance, the English claim they are "helping" the Cymreig by bringing tourist money into Cymru through the establishment of English owned and operated tourist businesses. The locals receive low wages, are seldom given management positions, and are fired if they speak in that "horrible" native tongue in the presence of the visiting English.
As for the narrow-gauge railroads throughout Cymru, the author notes that one of these tourist attractions was recently granted a 10.6 MILLION pounds yearly budget, generated from tax money, but the English Parliament claims there is no money, or plans, to build a major roadway between north and south Cymru. The author also notes that the majority of Cymreig have never visited the other end of their own country but there are major roads that provide easy east-west access for the English...
It's a very fast read but still an eye opener. I'm willing to share my copy - contact me at rcrai4705[at]usa[dot]net.
From the WSCO e-mailbox
Sir David: The Life and Loves of a Welsh Knight by Dr. Garner Scott Odell is the story of Sir David Mathew of Glamorgan County, Wales, a real person who lived from 1400 to 1484.
Set in Wales and England during the turbulent years of the Wars of the Roses, this is the story of the life and loves of a giant Welsh knight. Sir David finds himself torn between his devotion to his beloved Wales and his pledge to serve as a warrior knight for the English House of York. David and his wife, Wellian, have a strong and loving relationship and twelve children.
This compelling 15th century story points to the universal themes of life and love that span throughout the centuries and its look at old England, the countryside, its politics, hardships of travel, man-to-man battles, manor life, and lack of modern technology gives the reader a clear view into an era long past.
Note from the author: It can be purchased from http://www.amazon.com or http://www.borders.com but if purchased from me directly I will give a discount and autograph it for the buyer. With shipping and handling the soft-back edition is $25.00 US and the hard-back edition is $30.00 US. I will accept payment either in an international money order, PayPal, or negotiating the payment with the buyer. Contact: Garner Scott Odell, 3338 E. Menlo Avenue, Fresno, CA 93710, USA, ggodell[at]sbcglobal[dot]net.
Salvage by Gee Williams is a literary thriller set in coastal West Wales and in Chester (North Wales’ unofficial capital). There’s a body, a priceless diamond ring and a tangled set of relationships resulting in betrayal.
A short break at a shoreline cottage is an ideal place to struggle with your demons. For Elly and Martin it is the chance to forget their hasty exit from Paradise following classroom scandal. But she makes a life-changing find on the tideline, a diamond dress-ring with finger bones still attached.
Scroll back a few months to Martin’s place of work - a Chester hospital - we meet new nurse Hayley. Young, gorgeous; she is a player, and totally turned off by the ward surgeon, Richard Congreve. Until she catches a whiff of something expensive in his Jag and is ensnared by a gift so desirable it may prove fatal.
Ranging between Wales, the north of England and Goa, this is a novel about possession, betrayal, and how much we can afford to lose. Available from: http://www.alcemi.eu and http://www.amazon.co.uk.