Laura Brennan

Born to over achieving parents during the conservative and bourgeois Victorian period, in 1854, Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde would become one of Ireland’s finest poets and playwrights. The moulding of the real Oscar Wilde was shaped by his formative years, education and experiences, but he would continue to evolve and change as a poet, aesthete, a playwright, political thinker, essayist, husband, father, lover and even while he was prisoner. He was a complex and sometimes contradictory man, and was in many ways, ahead of the times in which he lived in. His professional successes including The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Ernest and A Woman of No Importance, to name but a few, are some of the most quoted works in modern times. But it is his personal life and the Victorian scandal that he caused in 1895 that Wilde is most remembered for today. Just after his second son was born, Wilde started to explore his sexuality. This new personal liberation and happiness would lead to meeting Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas. At the height of his success, Wilde’s life and the lives of his wife and children changed forever after a libel suit that lead to criminal charges and then to prison. Wilde’s time as a prisoner and his life after prison were filled with physical and mental illness, sadness, tragedy and loneliness that all contributed to his death in 1900. The real Oscar Wilde can be found in the legacy of work that he left behind, the lives of his two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan, and how his story had become important to the modern LGBTQ communities well into the twenty-first century.

Elizabeth I is arguably one of the greatest monarchs that ever lived. Against an uncertain political and religious backdrop of post-reformation Europe, she ruled at the conception of social modernisation, living in the shadow of the infamy of her parents' reputations and striving to prove herself an equal to the monarchs who had gone before her. This book seeks to explore some of the key events of her life, both before and after she ascended the English throne in late 1558\. By looking at the history of these selected events, as well as investigating the influence of various people in her life, this book sets out to explain Elizabeth’s decisions, both as a queen and as a woman. Amongst the events examined are the death of her mother, the role and fates of her step-mothers, the fate of Lady Jane Grey and the subsequent behaviour and reign of her half sister Mary Tudor, along with the death of Amy Dudley, the return of Mary Queen of Scots to Scotland, the Papal Bull and the Spanish Armada.

James II & VII was not born to be a king. As the Duke of York he grew up in a Britain divided by civil wars and witnessed big events in British history including the Battle of Edgehill (1642). After the execution of his father Charles I at the hands of the Parliamentarians, James soldiered in Europe until his brother, Charles II was restored to the crowns of Britain. Under his brother's reign, James converted to Catholicism and subsequently became the heart of several political storms until 1681. Upon inheriting the throne from his brother Charles II, in 1685, James struggled to balance his personal faith and the evolving politics of the time, upsetting courtiers, his parliament and his subjects eventually leading to the Glorious Revolution and him losing his throne in 1688. This book examines the politics and events of James' life, both before and during his reign, to explain why he was unable to maintain the thrones of Britain, as well as the last few years of his life in exile, how he tried to regain the throne and his sad death. Often overlooked as just a king who ruled for less than four years, James II & VII was an accidental but key historical figure in the shaping of British history. The events at the end of his reign were the first steps in creating a better constitution and democratic Britain.

Elizabeth I is arguably one of the greatest monarchs and women of English history. Against an uncertain political and religious backdrop of post-reformation Europe she ruled at the conception of social modernisation, living in the shadow of the infamy of her parents reputations and striving to prove herself an equal to the monarchs who had gone before her. This book seeks to explore some of the key events of her life both before and after she ascended to the English throne in late 1558\. By looking at the history of these selected events, as well as investigating the influence of various people in her life, this book sets out to explain Elizabeth's decisions, both as a queen and as a woman. Amongst the events examined are the death of her mother, the role and fates of her subsequent step-mothers, the fate of Lady Jane Grey and the subsequent behaviour and reign of her half sister Mary Tudor, along with the death of Amy Dudley, the return of Mary Queen of Scots to Scotland, the Papal Bull and the Spanish Amanda.

According to the World Health Organization, 10 million people a year face a diagnosis of dementia. For many families, there's no easy way to talk to young children about what is happening to the adults they love. But not knowing the reason behind the erratic and sometimes unsettling behavior can be frustrating and frightening to little ones."Nana Speaks Nanese" is a warm and caring picture book that tackles the confusing changes in behavior brought on by dementia. The story reminds children of the connection they still share with their loved one while also providing parents with strategies to talk about the disease in a reassuring way that young children can understand.At heart is the belief that while words may be forgotten, feelings -- especially feelings of love -- are remembered.