The Sunday Times Bestseller from the Winner of the Booker PrizeShe will change the way you see the world . . . 'I'll remember Elizabeth Finch when most other characters I've met this year have faded' The TimesElizabeth Finch was a teacher, a thinker, an inspiration. Neil is just one of many who fell under her spell during his time in her class. Tasked with unpacking her notebooks after her death, Neil encounters once again Elizabeth's astonishing ideas on the past and on how to make sense of the present.But Elizabeth was much more than a scholar. Her secrets are waiting to be revealed . . . and will change Neil's view of the world forever.'Enthralling . . . A connoisseur and master of irony himself, [Barnes] fills this book with instances of its exhilarating power' Sunday Times'A lyrical, thoughtful and intriguing exploration of love, grief and the collective myths of history' Booklist
Elizabeth and Her German Garden is a novel by Elizabeth von Arnim, first published in 1898; it was very popular and frequently reprinted during the early years of the 20th century. The story is a year's diary written by the protagonist Elizabeth about her experiences learning gardening and interacting with her friends. It includes commentary on the beauty of nature and on society, but is primarily humorous due to Elizabeth's frequent mistakes and her idiosyncratic outlook on life. She looked down upon the frivolous fashions of her time writing "I believe all needlework and dressmaking is of the devil, designed to keep women from study." The book is the first in a series about the same character. It is noteworthy for being published without a named author. Molesley lends a copy of this book to Anna on the 2nd episode of the 2nd season of Downton Abbey. In the novel The Shellseekers (1988) by Rosamunde Pilcher, Sophie reads Elizabeth von Arnim's "Elizabeth and her German Garden". In chapter 9 ("Sophie"), Sophie says to Penelope: " ...] I always go back to it. It comforts me. Soothes me. It reminds me of a world that once existed and will exist again when the war has finished." In the novel The Gurnsey Potato Peel Pie and Literary Society, it is referred to by Elizabeth as having been the topic of discussion at the society meeting that she pretended had taken place on the night of the roast pork dinner. May 7th.--I love my garden. I am writing in it now in the late afternoon loveliness, much interrupted by the mosquitoes and the temptation to look at all the glories of the new green leaves washed half an hour ago in a cold shower. Two owls are perched near me, and are carrying on a long conversation that I enjoy as much as any warbling of nightingales.
Elizabeth von Arnim (31 August 1866 - 9 February 1941), born Mary Annette Beauchamp, was an Australian-born British novelist. By marriage she became Gr fin (Countess) von Arnim-Schlagenthin, and by a second marriage, Countess Russell. Although known in her early life as Mary, after the publication of her first book, she was known to her readers, eventually to her friends, and finally even to her family as Elizabeth 1] and she is now invariably referred to as Elizabeth von Arnim. She also wrote under the pen name Alice Cholmondeley.She was born at her family's holiday home in Kirribilli Point, Australia. When she was three years old, the family returned to England where she was raised. Her parents were Henry Herron Beauchamp (1825-1907), merchant, and her mother Elizabeth (Louey) Weiss Lassetter (1836-1919). Arnim had four brothers, a sister, and a cousin from New Zealand, Kathleen Beauchamp, who later married John Middleton Murry and wrote under the pen name Katherine Mansfield
Elizabeth (Betsy) Fry (21 May 1780 - 12 October 1845), n e Gurney, was an English prison reformer, social reformer and, as a Quaker, a Christian philanthropist. She has sometimes been referred to as the "angel of prisons". Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to make the treatment of prisoners more humane, and she was supported in her efforts by the reigning monarch. Since 2001, she has been depicted on the Bank of England 5 note Elizabeth (Betsy) Gurney was born in Gurney Court, off Magdalen Street, Norwich, Norfolk, England into a prominent Quaker family, the Gurneys. Her childhood family home was Earlham Hall which is now part of the University of East Anglia. 1] Her father, John Gurney (1749-1809), was a partner in Gurney's Bank. Her mother, Catherine, was a member of the Barclay family who were among the founders of Barclays Bank. Her mother died when Elizabeth was twelve years old. As one of the oldest girls in the family, Elizabeth was partly responsible for the care and education of the younger children, including her brother Joseph John Gurney, a philanthropist. One of her sisters was Louisa Gurney Hoare (1784-1836), a writer on education.
Elizabeth Harrison (September 1, 1849 - October 31, 1927) was an American educator. She was the founder and first president of what is today National Louis University. Harrison was a pioneer in creating professional standards for early childhood teachers and in promoting early childhood education After encountering the early kindergarten movement in Chicago in the 1870s, Harrison sought training in St. Louis and New York. She then taught kindergarten in Iowa and Chicago. In 1886, she founded a training school for kindergarten teachers in Chicago. Intrigued by the ideas used by a German woman working at her school, Harrison decided to find out more. She tracked these ideas back to the Pestalozzi-Fr bel-Haus in Berlin and in 1889 she traveled there to study. On her return she renamed her institution the Chicago Kindergarten Training College.Harrison's school became an innovative college of education. She was president of the college until her retirement in 1920. It is now part of National Louis University.
There was one book, Walk of Life, published by Zoya Schmuter, MD, back in 2012, a collection of stories and essays covering travel experiences, various places of life, and unusual adventures. The new book is essentially continuation of that previous by offering a various stories, including travel to Italy and Israel, emigration from Nazi Germany and Soviet Union, and even adventure of the semi-wild cat Habib. Elizabeth story, the longest, describes the friendship of the author with Holocaust survivor, 103 years old woman escaping young from Nazi Germany, her life in Germany before WWII and after emigration. The author presents comparison of the young years of the Jewish woman in Germany with the author own childhood in the Soviet Union during and after the war. From Tuscany to Rome is a travel story with unique Untour company, that describes two weeks' vacation in Italy, staying in local apartments and observing places and live of this old and vibrant country. A River Cruise on Danube is the description of visits to some Eastern European countries (Chech, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia) which awake the author feelings about participation of these countries in WWII. Habib is a touchy and loving story of a semi-wild cat and his relationship with his masters, the author's family, deeply in love with their animals.
The narrator, Miss Greatorex, is invited to join a party of friends who meet on a weekly basis 'round the sofa' in Mrs Dawson's house. When Mrs Dawson mentions her cousin Lady Ludlow, Miss Greatorex wants to find out more about her and the storytelling begins.Round the Sofa is not really a story. It is a vehicle to contain short stories. The narrator is invited to the home of a sickly invalid for weekly gatherings where each person in the circle takes turns telling a story. Round the Sofa is not really a story. It is a vehicle to contain short stories. The narrator is invited to the home of a sickly invalid for weekly gatherings where each person in the circle takes turns telling a story. The first short story is "My Lady Ludlow" which I'd already read, but listening to it here gives context to who the narrator is and helps to give context to the story. The next story is "An Accursed Race" which is really and academic history of a persecuted people called the Cagots. I have no idea who these people are and still don't after reading this story except that they lived in Europe and were ill treated in similar ways to Jews or other minorities. The third story is "The Doom of the Griffiths". A curse follows that Griffiths family in which the son of the 8th generation is supposed to kill his father. The way in which the curse is realized is well told. The fourth story is "Half a Life-Time Ago" is the story of Susan who in her youth has a chance for love, but must give it up to care for her family. She ends up old and lonely, but has amassed riches which ultimately bless others. The fifth story is "The Poor Clare" which tells the story of a supposed witch. The narrator discovers her history and the origin of a curse she places. The story explores how bitterness can canker our soul, but forgiveness can liberate. The final story is "The Half-Brothers" tells of two brothers - one who is loved and spoiled and the other who is misunderstood and poorly treated. It tells of an act of selfless love. Overall, I enjoyed the stories. Some are better than others, but Gaskell proves that she is incredible at writing characters who are believable and situations that tug at one's emotions Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, (n e Stevenson, 29 September 1810 - 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society, including the very poor, and are of interest to social historians as well as lovers of literature. Her first novel, Mary Barton, was published in 1848. Gaskell's The Life of Charlotte Bront , published in 1857, was the first biography about Bront . Some of Gaskell's best known novels are Cranford (1851-53), North and South (1854-55), and Wives and Daughters (1865).Gaskell was born Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson on 29 September 1810 at 93 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea. She was the youngest of eight children; only she and her brother John survived infancy. Her father, William Stevenson, was a Scottish Unitarian minister at Failsworth, Lancashire, but resigned his orders on conscientious grounds and moved to London in 1806 with the intention of going to India after he was appointed private secretary to the Earl of Lauderdale, who was to become Governor General of India. That position did not materialise, however, and instead Stevenson was nominated Keeper of the Treasury Records. His wife, Elizabeth Holland, came from a family from the English Midlands that was connected with other prominent Unitarian families, including the Wedgwoods, the Martineaus, the Turners and the Darwins. When she died 13 months after giving birth to her youngest daughter, 1] she left a bewildered husband who saw no alternative for Elizabeth but to be sent to live with her mother's sister, Hannah Lumb, in Knutsford, Cheshire...
