Tiny Sunbirds Far Away

Author : Christie Watson
Publisher : Other Press, LLC
Page : 448 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2011-05-10
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781590514672

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Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson Pdf

Winner of the 2011 Costa First Novel Award When their mother catches their father with another woman, twelve year-old Blessing and her fourteen-year-old brother, Ezikiel, are forced to leave their comfortable home in Lagos for a village in the Niger Delta, to live with their mother’s family. Without running water or electricity, Warri is at first a nightmare for Blessing. Her mother is gone all day and works suspiciously late into the night to pay the children’s school fees. Her brother, once a promising student, seems to be falling increasingly under the influence of the local group of violent teenage boys calling themselves Freedom Fighters. Her grandfather, a kind if misguided man, is trying on Islam as his new religion of choice, and is even considering the possibility of bringing in a second wife. But Blessing’s grandmother, wise and practical, soon becomes a beloved mentor, teaching Blessing the ways of the midwife in rural Nigeria. Blessing is exposed to the horrors of genital mutilation and the devastation wrought on the environment by British and American oil companies. As Warri comes to feel like home, Blessing becomes increasingly aware of the threats to its safety, both from its unshakable but dangerous traditions and the relentless carelessness of the modern world. Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away is the witty and beautifully written story of one family’s attempt to survive a new life they could never have imagined, struggling to find a deeper sense of identity along the way.

Author : Christie Watson
Publisher : Other Press, LLC
Page : 449 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2011-05-10
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781590514665

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Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson Pdf

Winner of the 2011 Costa First Novel Award When their mother catches their father with another woman, twelve year-old Blessing and her fourteen-year-old brother, Ezikiel, are forced to leave their comfortable home in Lagos for a village in the Niger Delta, to live with their mother’s family. Without running water or electricity, Warri is at first a nightmare for Blessing. Her mother is gone all day and works suspiciously late into the night to pay the children’s school fees. Her brother, once a promising student, seems to be falling increasingly under the influence of the local group of violent teenage boys calling themselves Freedom Fighters. Her grandfather, a kind if misguided man, is trying on Islam as his new religion of choice, and is even considering the possibility of bringing in a second wife. But Blessing’s grandmother, wise and practical, soon becomes a beloved mentor, teaching Blessing the ways of the midwife in rural Nigeria. Blessing is exposed to the horrors of genital mutilation and the devastation wrought on the environment by British and American oil companies. As Warri comes to feel like home, Blessing becomes increasingly aware of the threats to its safety, both from its unshakable but dangerous traditions and the relentless carelessness of the modern world. Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away is the witty and beautifully written story of one family’s attempt to survive a new life they could never have imagined, struggling to find a deeper sense of identity along the way.

Author : Christie Watson
Publisher : Other Press, LLC
Page : 265 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2015-04-28
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781590517109

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Where Women Are Kings by Christie Watson Pdf

From the award-winning author of Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away, the story of a young boy who believes two things: that his Nigerian birth mother loves him like the world has never known love, and that he is a wizard Elijah, seven years old, is covered in scars and has a history of disruptive behavior. Taken away from his birth mother, a Nigerian immigrant in England, Elijah is moved from one foster parent to the next before finding a home with Nikki and her husband, Obi. Nikki believes that she and Obi are strong enough to accept Elijah’s difficulties—and that being white will not affect her ability to raise a black son. They care deeply for Elijah and, in spite of his demons, he begins to settle into this loving family. But as Nikki and Obi learn more about their child’s tragic past, they face challenges that threaten to rock the fragile peace they’ve established, challenges that could prove disastrous.

Author : Christie Watson
Publisher : Random House
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2018-05-03
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9781473549036

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The Language of Kindness by Christie Watson Pdf

'It made me cry. It made me think. It made me laugh' Adam Kay Christie Watson was a nurse for twenty years. Taking us from birth to death and from A&E to the mortuary, The Language of Kindness is an astounding account of a profession defined by acts of care, compassion and kindness. We watch Christie as she nurses a premature baby who has miraculously made it through the night, we stand by her side during her patient's agonising heart-lung transplant, and we hold our breath as she washes the hair of a child fatally injured in a fire, attempting to remove the toxic smell of smoke before the grieving family arrive. In our most extreme moments, when life is lived most intensely, Christie is with us. She is a guide, mentor and friend. And in these dark days of division and isolationism, she encourages us all to stretch out a hand. 'A powerful insight into the life of nurses' The Times, Books of the Year 'A remarkable book about life and death and so brilliantly written it makes you hold your breath' Ruby Wax

Author : Moira Young
Publisher : Penguin Group
Page : 466 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2011-06-07
Category : Young Adult Fiction
ISBN : 9780385671842

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Blood Red Road by Moira Young Pdf

This fast-paced YA debut novel has it all: smart, savvy characters making their way through an eerily dystopian society, with all the requisite action, adventure and romance characteristic of the genre vividly and at times, chillingly, portrayed. In a wild and lawless future, where life is cheap and survival is hard, eighteen-year-old Saba lives with her father, her twin brother Lugh, her young sister Emmi and her pet crow Nero. Theirs is a hard and lonely life. The family resides in a secluded shed, their nearest neighbour living many miles away and the lake, their only source of water and main provider of food, gradually dying from the lack of rain. But Saba's father refuses to leave the place where he buried his beloved wife, Allis, nine years ago. Allis died giving birth to Emmi, and Saba has never forgiven her sister for their mother's death. But while she despises Emmi, Saba adores her twin brother Lugh. Golden-haired and blue-eyed, loving and good, he seems the complete opposite to dark-haired Saba, who is full of anger and driven by a ruthless survival instinct. To Saba, Lugh is her light and she is his shadow, he is the day, she is the nighttime, he is beautiful, she is ugly, he is good, she is bad. So Saba's small world is brutally torn apart, when a group of armed riders arrives five day's after the twin's eighteenth birthday snatch Lugh away. Saba's rage is so wild, that she manages to drive the men away, but not before they have captured Lugh and killed their father. And here begins Saba's epic quest to rescue Lugh, during which she is tested by trials she could not have imagined, and one that takes the reader on breathtaking ride full or romance, physical adventure and unforgettably vivid characters, making this a truly sensational YA debut novel.

Author : Andrea Eames
Publisher : Random House
Page : 308 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2011-02-10
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781409041177

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The Cry of the Go-Away Bird by Andrea Eames Pdf

Elise loves the farm that is her home. There is always tea in the silver teapot, gin and tonics are served on the veranda and her days are spent listening to stories of spirits and charms told by her nanny, Beauty. As a young white girl growing up in Zimbabwe, her life is idyllic. However, this dream-world of her childhood cannot last. As Elise gets older, her eyes are opened to the complexities of adult life, both through the arrival of her step-father, and through her growing understanding of the tensions in Zimbabwean society. As the privileged existence of the white farmers begins to crumble into anarchy and farm invasions begin, Elise is forced to confront difficult choices and the ancient unforgiving ghosts of the past.

Author : Jan Notzon
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
Page : 235 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2011-12-05
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781465394125

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The Dogs...Barking by Jan Notzon Pdf

The Dogs, Barking is the story of a boy growing up on the Mexican border in Texas who, as he grows into a man, battles with the demons his upbringing has instilled in him. First, he must navigate the wild-eyed, rebellious temptations of university life in the sixties and then the raw power of the concrete jungle of New York as he desperately pursues an acting career he hopes will quiet the fiends that torment him. To his astonishment, he finds the answer in the home he had abandoned and the lonely howl of the dogs that once serenaded him to sleep.

Author : Christie Watson
Publisher : Random House
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2020-09-17
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9781473566903

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The Courage to Care by Christie Watson Pdf

'An inspiring book for our challenging times' Olivia Coleman Nurses have never been more important. We benefit from their expertise in our hospitals and beyond: in our schools, on our streets, in prisons, hospices and care homes. When we feel most alone, nurses remind us that we are not alone at all. In The Courage to Care bestselling author Christie Watson reveals the remarkable extent of nurses' work: - A community mental-health nurse choreographs support for a man suffering from severe depression - A teen with stab wounds is treated by the critical-care team; his school nurse visits and he drops the bravado - A pregnant woman loses frightening amounts of blood following a car accident; it is a military nurse who synchronises the emergency department into immaculate order and focus. Christie makes a further discovery: that, time and again, it is patients and their families - including her own - who show exceptional strength in the most challenging times. We are all deserving of compassion, and as we share in each other's suffering, Christie Watson shows us how we can find courage too. The courage to care. 'Let's be thankful for wonderful nurses - and writers - like Christie Watson' Jacqueline Wilson 'Christie Watson writes with the fullness of her heart to give us insight into the world of patients and nursing, inspiring us to recognise it is how we treat people, how we speak and respond to them, as well as what we do, that heals' Julia Samuel

Author : Megan Hunter
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 86 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2017-11-07
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780735235038

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The End We Start From by Megan Hunter Pdf

**NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING JODIE COMER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, AND WRITTEN BY ALICE BIRCH (NORMAL PEOPLE)** “The End We Start From by Megan Hunter is a short, concentrated book—a shot of distilled story, like the pulp of a tale boiled to a thick spiced paste. . . . With passages from mythology interspersed with its imagined future, the book is engrossing, compelling and finally hopeful.” —Naomi Alderman, author of The Power “The End We Start From is a beautifully spare, haunting meditation on the persistence of life after catastrophe. I loved it.” —Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven Longlisted for the 2018 Aspen Words Literary Prize Finalist for the Barnes & Noble 2017 Discover Great New Writers Award An indelible and elemental debut—a lyrical vision of the strangeness and beauty of new motherhood, and a tale of endurance in the face of unimaginable change. In the midst of a mysterious environmental crisis, as London is submerged below flood waters, a woman gives birth to her first child, Z. Days later, the family is forced to leave their home in search of safety. As they move from place to place, shelter to shelter, their journey traces both fear and wonder as Z's small fists grasp at the things he sees, as he grows and stretches, thriving and content against all the odds. This is a story of new motherhood in a terrifying setting: a familiar world made dangerous and unstable, its people forced to become refugees. Startlingly beautiful, Megan Hunter's The End We Start From is a gripping novel that paints an imagined future as realistic as it is frightening. And yet, though the country is falling apart around them, this family's world—of new life and new hope—sings with love.

Author : Kate De Goldi
Publisher : Bonnier Publishing Fiction Ltd.
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2011-03-01
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 9781848774728

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The 10pm Question by Kate De Goldi Pdf

Twelve-year-old Frankie Parsons has a head full of questions. Only Ma takes him seriously, but unfortunately she is the cause of the most worrying question of all, the one Frankie can never bring himself to ask. Then a new girl arrives at school with questions of her own, questions that make Frankie's carefully controlled world begin to unravel . . .

Author : Christie Watson
Publisher : Quercus Books
Page : 467 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : Adultery
ISBN : 1849163758

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Tiny Sunbirds Far Away by Christie Watson Pdf

WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD. 'Everything changed after Mama found Father lying on top of another woman.' Blessing and her brother Ezikiel adore their larger-than-life father, their glamorous mother and their comfortable life in Lagos. But all that changes when their father leaves them for another woman. Their mother is fired from her job at the Royal Imperial Hotel - only married women can work there - and soon they have to quit their air-conditioned apartment to go and live with their grandparents in a compound in the Niger Delta. Adapting to life with a poor countryside family is a shock beyond measure after their privileged upbringing in Lagos. Told in Blessing's own beguiling voice, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away shows how some families can survive almost anything. At times hilarious, always poignant, occasionally tragic, it is peopled with characters you will never forget. 'This is not a bleak book: there is humour and love, especially in the growing relationship between Blessing and her grandmother, a traditional midwife. Absorbing and passionate' Guardian

Author : Diana Evans
Publisher : Bond Street Books
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2018-06-19
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780385692137

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Ordinary People by Diana Evans Pdf

"You can take a leap, do something off the wall, something reckless. It's your last chance, and most people miss it." South London, 2008. Two couples find themselves at a moment of reckoning, on the brink of acceptance or revolution. Melissa has a new baby and doesn't want to let it change her but, in the crooked walls of a narrow Victorian terrace, she begins to disappear. Michael, growing daily more accustomed to his commute, still loves Melissa but can't quite get close enough to her to stay faithful. Meanwhile out in the suburbs, Stephanie is happy with Damian and their three children, but the death of Damian's father has thrown him into crisis—or is it something, or some-one, else? Are they all just in the wrong place? Are any of them prepared to take the leap? Set against the backdrop of Barack Obama's historic election victory, Ordinary People is an intimate, immersive study of identity and parenthood, sex and grief, friendship and ageing, and the fragile architecture of love. With its distinctive prose and irresistible soundtrack, it is the story of our lives, and those moments that threaten to unravel us.

Author : Nicole Conn
Publisher : Bella Books
Page : 373 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 1995-01-01
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781642472981

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Passion's Shadow by Nicole Conn Pdf

Lindsay Brennan is a Portland architect whose devotion to her work takes the place of other things in her life. Sondra Pinchot, an interior designer, has always depended on the comfort of alcohol. And Samantha, Sondra’s dutiful daughter, is trapped in an affair that’s become nothing but a habit. Now fate brings the three women together and their private addictions give way to deeper passions. But sometimes love can be an addiction too. Originally published by Simon & Schuster 1995.

Author : Isabella Lucy Bird
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 538 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 1892
Category : China
ISBN : COLUMBIA:0035549360

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The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither by Isabella Lucy Bird Pdf

Author : Stef Penney
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2008-03-04
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781416571308

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The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney Pdf

When her teenage son disappears in the aftermath of a brutal murder, a determined mother sets out from her snow-covered nineteenth-century settlement to find him, an effort that is hampered by vigilante groups and the harrowing forces of nature. A first novel. Winner of the 2006 Costa Book of the Year. Reprint. 100,000 first printing.