The Lady and the Unicorn

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A seamless story

A rich tapestry

Descriptive and entertaining

seductive historical fiction

The Artist, The Weavers, The Gentry, The Lady, And The Unicorn

The Lady and the Unicorn
Tracy Chevalier
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452285453

Amazon.com

If you think you wouldn't raise your skirts for a rakish legend about the purifying powers of a unicorn's horn, then maybe you aren't a 15th-century serving girl under the sway of a velvet-tongued court painter of ill repute. In keeping with her bestselling Girl with a Pearl Earring, and its Edwardian-era follow-up, Falling Angels, Tracy Chevalier's tale of artistic creation and late-medieval amours, The Lady and the Unicorn is a subtle study in social power, and the conflicts between love and duty. Nicolas des Innocents has been commissioned by the Parisian nobleman Jean Le Viste to design a series of large tapestries for his great hall (in real life, the famous Lady and the Unicorn cycle, now in Paris's Musee National du Moyen-Age Thermes de Cluny). While Nicolas is measuring the walls, he meets a beautiful girl who turns out to be Jean Le Viste's daughter. Their passion is impossible for their world--so forbidden, given their class differences, that its only avenue of expression turns out to be those magnificent tapestries. The historical evidence on which this story is based is slight enough to allow the full play of Chevalier's imagination in this cleverly woven tale. --Regina Marler

Book Description

A tour de force of history and imagination, The Lady and the Unicorn is Tracy Chevalier's answer to the mystery behind one of the art world's great masterpieces—a set of bewitching medieval tapestries that hangs today in the Cluny Museum in Paris. They appear to portray the seduction of a unicorn, but the story behind their making is unknown—until now.

Paris, 1490. A shrewd French nobleman commissions six lavish tapestries celebrating his rising status at Court. He hires the charismatic, arrogant, sublimely talented Nicolas des Innocents to design them. Nicolas creates havoc among the women in the house—mother and daughter, servant, and lady-in-waiting—before taking his designs north to the Brussels workshop where the tapestries are to be woven. There, master weaver Georges de la Chapelle risks everything he has to finish the tapestries—his finest, most intricate work—on time for his exacting French client. The results change all their lives—lives that have been captured in the tapestries, for those who know where to look.

In The Lady and the Unicorn, Tracy Chevalier weaves fact and fiction into a beautiful, timeless, and intriguing literary tapestry—an extraordinary story exquisitely told.

Download Description

"Bewitching art experts and enthusiasts alike for centuries, the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries hang today in the Cluny Museum in Paris. In each, an elegant lady and a unicorn stand or sit on an island of grass surrounded by a rich background of animals and flowers. Little is known about them except that they were woven toward the end of the fifteenth century and bear the coat of arms of a wealthy family from Lyons. Tracy Chevalier takes readers back to the tapestries' creation, giving life to the men who designed and made them, as well as the wives, daughters, and servants who exercised subtle (and not so subtle) influences over their men. Like the many different strands of wool and silk that were woven together into one cloth, the lives and fates of these people entwine in complex patterns, crisscrossing as they seek desires sensual and spiritual, temporal and eternal. An extraordinary story exquisitely told, Tracy Chevalier's The Lady and the Unicorn weaves history and fiction into a beautiful, timeless, and intriguing literary tapestry that rivals in grace and grandeur the masterpiece that inspired it."

Customer Reviews:

A seamless story.......2007-09-27

I read this book a few months back and I still think of it, meaning it left an impression.

Like Girl with the Pearl Earring, the prose are absolutely tight and seemless, with very few snags to jar the reading.

Honestly, I find it irritating when a book changes between characters, because I get wrapped up in one. This book was an exception. Each character had a distinct voice and each wove into the others' lives, like, what else? A tapestry.

I felt for all of the characters and, like Girl with the Pearl Earring, this story created in me the feeling that there was some underlying power at work, something bigger than the characters. Nice.

A rich tapestry.......2007-07-30

Tracy Chevalier has a solid formula for success--choose a period, populate it with both familiar and fictional characters, and tell a story that mixes historical fact with a fictional narrative that is, nonetheless, meticulously researched (the bibliographies in the backs of her books are extensive). The formula worked beautifully in Girl With a Pearl Earring, and perhaps even better in Falling Angels, but not so well in The Virgin Blue, where you can sort of feel her finding her footing. The Lady and the Unicorn, though, remains my favorite of all of her books. It might not be as heartbreaking as Falling Angels or as subtle as Girl With a Pearl Earring, but it's deliciously naughty, contains rich period detail (who knew 15th century tapestry weaving could be so fascinating?), and is full of complex characters that you can't help rooting for, even when they behave despicably. I still find myself re-reading it occasionally. And, as with the famous painting she based her other book on, I won't ever look at the unicorn tapestries in quite the same way again.

Descriptive and entertaining.......2007-03-31

Far raunchier than The Girl with the Pearl Earring...with the key character in the book being a Parisian artist whose main hobby is seducing women (or should that be farming?!) ;-)
Chevalier tells a good story though and I enjoyed the way each character had their own chapters where we heard their take on things.
Chevalier's particular talent is for bringing the sights and smells of her settings alive to the reader, therefore she was the ideal author to describe a tapestry relating to the five senses. I felt I could see and smell the places described, from the fragrant lily of the valley in Aliénor's garden to the early warning smell of Jacques Le Boeuf!!
In addition, the colour plates depicting the tapestry were very useful to refer to throughout the story.

I found this book interesting historically, artistically and in the very human way we conduct our relationships. The author has surely suceeded in making us look at the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries with new eyes and a little romance.

seductive historical fiction .......2007-03-19

Nicolas des Innocents, renowned at the court as a miniaturist, painter of tiny portraits of ladies, is commissioned by nobleman Jean le Viste to complete what at first seems to him a daunting and colossal task: tapestries depicting the battle of Nancy to cover all of the walls of the Grande Salle of the le Viste mansion, a room no fewer than twelve paces long and six wide.

Nicolas stands in awe, pondering the sheer enormity of the task, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead, when he suddenly catches a glimpse of Claude...Jean le Viste's daughter...

Chevalier masterfully weaves fictitious threads to create a seductive and alluring tale based on sensible suppositions concerning "The Lady and the Unicorn", a famous set of tapestries woven towards the end of the fifteenth century.

Pure magic, sheer elegance dotted here and there with tiny specks of vulgarity, just so to evoke the spirit of the era. A magnificent set of characters, a carefully thought-out plot, the book itself flows effortlessly and makes for an addictive read.

The Artist, The Weavers, The Gentry, The Lady, And The Unicorn.......2007-01-29

When Tracy Chevalier writes (or perhaps a better word is "composes") one of her novels, her extensive research into the period lets her deliver a story that is impeccably accurate in terms of the feel of the era, from the grandest down to the most intimate and trivial of matters. That's what Tracy Chevalier does best. Where she slides a bit in her plotlines is in her capacity to really maintain a full head of steam from start to finish, and every time I've read her books, I've found it an effort to get through certain chapters, even as I greatly enjoyed others.

The Lady and the Unicorn is Chevalier's imaginative, historically-sound re-telling of the creation of the lovely fifteenth-century "Lady and the Unicorn" tapestries that today hang in Paris' Musée National du Moyen-Age. Creating a back-story to replace the great unknown behind this most glorious of late-Medieval textile art, Chevalier tells us of the lusty, womanizing artist, ironically named Nicolas Des Innocents, hired by the callous social climber Jean Le Viste to design for his home a tapestry of the brutal Battle of Nancy, in which the French triumphed over the forces of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. However Le Viste's wife, the would-be nun, Genevieve de Nanterre, persuades the artist that a more fitting subject might be one that depicted the classic Medieval ideal, a virgin seducing (to its death) a unicorn.

The novel shifts through Nicolas' design for the tapestry, followed by its painstaking creation by a family of Flemish weavers. During the two years of this massive artwork's creation, the reader follows the lives of a half-dozen central characters, from Nicolas and Genevieve, to the blind daughter of a master Brussels weaver, to the vibrantly beautiful Le Viste daughter, Claude, whom Innocents' portrait in cloth depicts for us to this very day. Chevalier does a fine job of explaining how the great tapestries of the era were produced, and she is to be congratulated for her unflinchingly realistic take on Medieval sexual morality, which was far different in so many ways from that of our own times: in some ways more restrictive, in others shockingly licentious, with children being at times a far from treasured "consequence" of momentary passion.

Overall The Lady and the Unicorn is a well-told story set in the carefully-realized world of northwestern Europe at the end of the Middle Ages. It has a number of memorable scenes and moments, and wraps up nicely with a hint of irony and black humor amid all the celebratory relief at the collective accomplishments of so many. Where Chevalier went wrong was in not reproducing the tapestries for us to see either in an appendix or as a centerpiece in her book. Seeing what she was describing would have made a difference in following which figure appeared in which panel. Still, photographs of the tapestries may be found online, at the author's website, as well as several other places, and I'd recommend a reader seek them there.

All in all, this is a book worth reading, and one which should do Tracy Chevalier proud.

The Unicorn From The Stars And Other Plays

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The Unicorn From The Stars And Other Plays
William Butler Yeats , and Lady Gregory
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

A mystical play of a dreamer's rough contacts with reality.

Average customer rating:

What Else Could We Expect From a Book Published in 1983...?
A captivating story full of Johansen quality romance.

The Lady & the Unicorn
Iris Johansen
Manufacturer: Loveswept
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0553216260
Release Date: 1983-12-01

Customer Reviews:

What Else Could We Expect From a Book Published in 1983...?.......2005-08-11

* Spoiler Alert* Corporate raider, Rafe Santine ('Santine')came up from a bad situation to become the 'satorial[ly] elegan[t]' man he is today: Born a bastard (today, I think we would say 'illegitimate'), abandoned by a mother with more important things on her mind than raising her son into a man, Santine had little more than the foster system and his own drive and God-given ingenuity to serve as his foundation. At sixteen, Santine began working at the construction company that would be the first company he would own-and all by the age of twenty three! And so, when game warden and curator of a wild-animal reserve near Sandiego, Janna Cannon makes her fateful entrée into his life, while he may have developed into a `legend[ary]' and `self-made billionaire wielding more power than many heads of state', Santine is noticeably less developed in the emotional department; The male lead of THE LADY AND THE UNICORN often acts the part of a spoiled and petulant child-thinking everything should be his way all the time. A supreme narcissist, readers will agree that is about time Santine had a reason to think about someone other than himself. Janna is supposed to be that reason.

Johansen wants the reader to accept that Janna's need to save some of the endangered species and other wild animals would make her willing to accept an indecent proposal from a giant of a man with harsh, rugged features, who cool as a cucumber proclaims that he'd like to keep her as a pet: "I said that I'd never had a pet. Well I've decided to acquire one for the next month or so. My own wild thing to keep me amused until I can return to San Franci[s]co." A bargain is struck-a grant of Santine's land in return for Janna's cooperation. And so, using this rather unbelievable and yet interesting device, Johansen's contrivance keeps the leads together and a romance...of sorts...is set to unravel.

The story is really a play on Beauty and the Beast to this reviewer's mind. The 1983 setting allows for a hero that is more dominant and cavalier with the heroine's needs than is popularly described today. Accordingly, the heroine accepts this rough treatment with eternal serenity and grace-also unlikely to see a female lead written this way today. Also, there are a few uncomfortable moments, such as when Santine declares: `I've been on the verge of raping you since I looked up and saw you shimmering in the lamplight like a sexy ghost' and his determination to call Janna an `earth mother' in several (maybe all) of the love scenes or `Pocahontas' because of her Native American heritage.... If you can get past the fact that THE LADY AND THE UNICORN is NOT politically correct, then you'll be okay. And Santine's revelation regarding the meaning of the title alone is worth reading THE LADY AND THE UNICORN.

It Is What It Is: Love It or Hate It.

A captivating story full of Johansen quality romance........1998-09-28

This is a wonderful romance, with a strong heroine. Janna Cannon would do whatever it takes to ensure Rafe Santine donated a huge chunk of land to her wildlife refuge for endangered animals. Santine's price: for Janna to become his "pet". A great romance about how only by letting a wild thing free can one ever truly own it. I love all of Iris Johansen's romances, but this one is one of my personal favorites.

The Lady and the Unicorn (Mystery Streams)

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The Lady and the Unicorn (Mystery Streams)
Gottfried Buttner
Manufacturer: Hawthorn Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1869890523

Book Description

In the richly illustrated book, the Gottfried Büttner discusses the symbolism and true significance behind the beautiful but enigmatic tapestries of the Cluny Museum in Paris. Every work of art is rooted in culture and history, and their interpretation can provide valuable insights into universal human nature.

Book Description

The legendary medieval tapestry THE LADY AND THE UNICORN is Sutherland Lyall's starting point for this journey into the world of mythology and mystery which has been woven around them yth of the unicorn and the lady. We learn that the unicorn is a symbol for power and the lady may be a mother, nistress, or virgin. With an abundant collection of documents from a number of international museums, Lyall's writing is an exciting exploration, a lively new examination of old subjects. Who knows--perhaps he has finally solved the mystery of the Lady and the Unicorn!

The Lady and the Unicorn: A Tale of the Tapestries

Average customer rating:

Ok story, Mediocre illustrations

The Lady and the Unicorn: A Tale of the Tapestries
Kathleen McCormick Price
Manufacturer: Greene Bark Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1880851164

Customer Reviews:

Ok story, Mediocre illustrations.......2000-07-08

As a child, I loved unicorns, and I loved Medieval and Renaissance art. Naturally I've always like the unicorn tapestries. I used to have a print of one of the tapestries hanging in my bedroom. When I saw this book, I just had to get it. I was, however, a little disappointed. The story (a made up story about the characters pictured in the tapestries) is ok, but a bit contrived. The illustrations, however, I don't really like. They are simple, washed out paintings that don't go at all with the style of the tapestries (which are also pictured in the book). I personally think that a book that takes place in a certain time period should be illsustrated in that time period. The illustrations here have nothing in common with the tapestries and are of an inferior quality. I did, however, read this story to my third grade students when we were talking about Medieval and Renaissance art. They did seem to enjoy it.

Average customer rating:

Anglo-India of Yesterday

The lady and the unicorn
Rumer Godden
Manufacturer: P. Davies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 0432060006

Customer Reviews:

Anglo-India of Yesterday.......2003-12-23

The Lady and the Unicorn is complex tapestry, its threads made up of many different colours, literally and figuratively. As usual with Rumer Godden, the story spins along with complex characters and plot-lines, providing a surface layer under which lie deeper observations of human nature and relationships. In this tale, she describes with powerful sharpness and perception the conflicts of being Anglo-Indian in Calcutta during the latter days of the Raj. In addition she creates a romantic mystery, caught up with the traditions of the original 15th century Lady and the Unicorn tapestries. The period setting is carefully drawn with meticulous details of description, and specific linguistic nuances drawn through conversations. The run-down dancing academy reflects Rumer Godden's own experience when she herself ran a dancing school in Calcutta in her younger days. This book is one of Rumer's earliest novels and it is a great pity it is so difficult now to find. This novel established her special style, her playing with time lines and her understanding of her characters who are such real human beings with all the follies and foibles, weaknesses and strengths making them so alive.
I so enjoyed this book, borrowed from a library more than 20 years ago, but have never seen it since.

Catalogue of the Lady Ludlow Collection of English Porcelain

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Catalogue of the Lady Ludlow Collection of English Porcelain
Unicorn Press
Manufacturer: Unicorn Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0906290880

Book Description

One of the greatest assemblages of 18th Century English Porcelain.

The Fantasy Worlds of Peter Beagle: Lila the Werewolf; The Last Unicorn; Come, Lady Death; A Fine and Private Place

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The Fantasy Worlds of Peter Beagle: Lila the Werewolf; The Last Unicorn; Come, Lady Death; A Fine and Private Place
Peter Beagle
Manufacturer: Viking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PCC2JK

Book Description

It is 1323, and Baldwin Furnshill and Bailiff Simon Puttock have been granted leave to go on pilgrimage, each seeking solace after the recent traumatic events in Gidleigh. Together, they travel across Europe to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, but danger is never far away. Foreign travel is perilous—outlaws and robbers threaten at all times, not to mention the risks of political unrest and a recent spate of attacks on pilgrims. But it seems an even greater menace hangs over the city of Santiago. A beautiful young girl is found raped and murdered on the hillside, her broken body leaving no doubt that she is the victim of the most brutal of killers. Among the first to arrive at the scene, Baldwin and Simon lend their investigative skills to the ensuing inquiry headed by the local pesquisidore. With so many keen minds on the case, it can only be a matter of time until the culprit is found. But they are reckoning with the unexpected appearance of a face from Baldwin’s past—a face that looks set to threaten not only the investigation, but Baldwin’s very future.

Customer Reviews:

Not a Penance to Read this One........2004-11-12

It is summer 1323, Sir Baldwin and Simon are about to leave on a pilgrimage. They are going to travel across Europe to Santiago de Compostela. Foreign travel is dangerous even for well armed men, and attacks on pilgrims are common place, but an even greater menace hangs over the city of Santiago.
For those who have not ready any of Michael Jecks medieval novels I can recommend them heartily. This novel takes Simon and Sir Baldwin away from their West Country environment but loses nothing of its mystery and suspense. If you like medieval mysteries, these are as good as any around.

Fast-paced and highly recommended.......2003-09-11

Watch for this engrossing historical novel/mystery in November: it comes steeped in the atmosphere and flavor of the Middle Ages and tells of a former knight Templar Sir Furnshill and Puttock, his sleuth sidekick. With a tone of Holmes set in medieval times, the two investigate a Spanish murder during a pilgrimage while facing a threat from the past. Fast-paced and highly recommended.

Average customer rating:

The Templar's Penance
Michael Jecks
Manufacturer: Headline Book Publishing Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000WOZ7M0

Average customer rating:

A wonderful journey

Intimately honest about three tough subjects

A Writer, A Dog, and the Open Road

Driving toward inner peace in a "bubble of white noise"

A Great Ride Through Tough Questions

Driving by Moonlight: A Journey Through Love, War, and Infertility
Kristin Henderson
Manufacturer: Seal Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1580050980

Book Description

After 9/11, Kristin Henderson’s husband, a Lutheran Marine chaplain, is shipped out to Afghanistan, and Henderson, a Quaker, finds herself alone, and her own faith and belief in pacifism sorely tested. Together with her German shepherd, Rosie, Henderson sets off on a cross-country journey in her 1978 Corvette, exploring a changed country and her own altered emotional landscape. From the whispering Iowan corn fields and the simple fortitude of her Quaker kin, to the desolation of a snow-swept lodge in the Rocky Mountains and the quiet gifts of strangers, Henderson seeks guidance and searches for answers on the road. She muses on her life as a military wife, on the unexpected divergence in faith that tested her marriage, and details, with honesty and fierce bravery, the devastating battle with infertility that nearly tore it apart. In this intelligent meditation on how life—like topographical boundaries—resists strict borders, and on the freedom that comes with letting go, Kristin Henderson gives us an ultimately hopeful and affirming memoir.

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful journey.......2003-12-19

The first time I read something written by Kristin was in the Washington Post Sunday Magazine almost a year ago. I was drawn in by the subject matter and stayed because I really liked how and what she wrote. Since then I've become a huge fan, even going so far as to send my father-in-law to one of her readings for an autographed copy of this book.

I knew a bit about Kristen's personal history from her article in the Washington Post Sunday Magazine about her chaplain husband (available on her website at www.kristinhenderson.com) and this book tells us even more.

I loved this book! Kristin takes (what I think are) enormous risks - opening up and telling the world about her relationships with her family, her struggles with infertility, Rosie and the Vette.

Do yourself a favor and get then read this book! And get a copy for someone you love.

Intimately honest about three tough subjects.......2003-12-09

I sat down and read this book cover to cover. Though I have not had to go through a battle with infertility, this book was deeply meaningful to me. So many questions that I deal with daily as a wife, mother, and human being. Where does God fit into my life? What is this uncontrolable urge to have (or not to have!) children? Did I want them for the right reasons--and now that I have them, do I really want them? How does it make sense on a cosmic level for someone who wants a child more than anything and cannot have one while there are so many people who frankly should not have them have kids with ease? I really appreciated the author's honesty---she said so many things that few people would have the guts too, especially about marriage. Very thought provoking, comforting and unsettling at the same time. Well worth a read for anyone!

A Writer, A Dog, and the Open Road.......2003-12-01

After September 11, 2001, Kristin Henderson's husband, a Lutheran minister and Marine chaplain, shipped out to Afghanistan. And Kristin, a pacifist Quaker, climbed into her Corvette with her German shepherd and embarked on a 10,000-mile journey through a country that seemed forever changed. This memoir details that cross-country journey; more importantly, it explores the author's simultaneous journey of self-discovery.

Henderson deftly weaves together the strands of her road trip with those of her internal one. As she drives the highways and backroads of America and Canada, she sees signs everywhere of people's grief, shock, and anger over the terrorist attacks, and she reflects on her Quaker beliefs, questioning whether those beliefs can be reconciled with her thirst for vengeance. As she fears for her husband's safety and breathlessly awaits his too-infrequent e-mails, she recalls the strain placed on her marriage by the conflicts between her own religious questing and his rock-solid faith.

Most memorably, she traces the couple's years-long struggle with infertility and the painful, heart-wrenching process of trying to get pregnant.

This is Henderson's first published book, but you'd never know it from the eloquence of her writing and the complexity of emotion it conveys. She's often hilariously funny -- as when she compares religions to cars; or when she describes the renovation of her Washington, D.C., rowhouse's only bathroom; or when she tells of the eccentric characters encountered at a mountaintop lodge in Montana. But she can also bring a reader to tears with her discussion of a foreign-born teen who is assaulted for looking different; and, of course, her descriptions of infertility treatments and the psychological trauma that accompanies them.

The author envies her dog Rosie's ability to live in the moment and accept whatever turns up next along the road. As a reader, I found myself envying Rosie as well, but for a different reason: I wished I could have been along on that journey, with so likeable and interesting a tour guide as Henderson at the wheel. Reading her book is the next best thing.

Driving toward inner peace in a "bubble of white noise".......2003-11-01

I live three miles from the Pentagon, less than an hour's walk on a sunny fall afternoon. Sixties liberal that I am though, I saw it only as a destination for peace marches. But when I woke up the morning of Sept. 12, 2001, with smoke still seeping through my open windows from the terrorist attack the day before, my perceptions had undergone a sea change. "The military is there to protect us," it dawned on me, "and someone's just blown a hole in that protection."

With my former convictions in disarray, it's no wonder I was drawn to this memoir in which the author suffered a similar shock to her pacifist beliefs. "Does being a pacifist mean...it's wrong even to defend yourself?" she asks. "On TV, I saw that huge plane magically pushing its way into and through a New York skyscraper, metamorphosing along the way into a blooming poppy of fire. I watched tiny, fragile human figures standing at those broken windows a hundred floors up, someone's daughter, someone's son, all peering down and hoping against hope, not knowing there was no hope. Every time I see them, recall them, I want to seize something, anything, on the other side of the world and smash the hell out of it. I know I won't be satisfied until I see whole towns on the other side of the world destroyed. I horrify myself. I want to run away from myself."

Henderson does "run away." Once she has hugged her Marine chaplain husband goodby, as he ships out for Afghanistan days after September 11, she sets off to drive across the country in a '78 Corvette with only her German shepherd to keep her company. But though she leaves the scenes of carnage behind, she can't escape from her churning emotions, her fear for her husband, or the contradictions that beset her mind. The conflict between her normal pacifism and her instinctual desire for vengeance is not the only discord in Henderson's life: She's a Quaker pacifist married to a Lutheran pastor and Marine chaplain. She parts ways with her husband as well on the subject of religious beliefs -- her growing rejection of the belief that Jesus was God incarnate. Most poignantly, her desire to have a baby increases with every tick of her biological clock, while her husband -- afraid he would follow in his father's footsteps and be an inadequate parent -- doesn't want children at all.

While Driving by Moonlight is a "road" book, it is much more than that. The story of Henderson's trip is vivid, funny and at times harrowing (as she nearly becomes trapped in a sudden blizzard). The family, friends and strangers she encounters along her way are memorable characters, well portrayed in her hands. But her story is not just that of her journey from one coast to another, but of her journey through life. Fortunately for the reader, the author not only weaves her trip and her life complications together adroitly, but she seems utterly lacking in pretensions and leavens her serious themes with delicious humor. I couldn't stop laughing when she told how she and her dubious husband decided to renovate their only bathroom -- without the help of a plumber. (A perfect start to Sunday during the time the bathroom was ripped out was to pick up the paper from the doorstep, drive to the nearest museum and settle down in the still empty rest room.) Though I read mostly fiction, I found this memoir as engrossing as any novel.

While I originally picked up the book because the author mirrored the reactions I'd had after September 11, I found myself becoming more engrossed in Henderson's life, in particular her struggle (sadly unsuccessful) to become pregnant, which meant fighting to convince her reluctant husband to agree to each round of infertility treatment, and finally to in vitro fertilization, or as Henderson describes it, "a final Hail Mary roll of the dice."

Henderson ends with as many contradictions as she started. Planning the trip "gave me the illusion that I controlled my life," she writes, an illusion of which she was quickly disabused as weather closes the road in front of her. But the act of driving itself, immersed in the white noise of the Corvette's engine has become a form of "centering prayer" and she is learning to live -- as all of us must -- with uncertainty. Meanwhile she drives on. Darkness falls and her headlights show nothing but the side of the road. But tomorrow, "the moon will slowly begin opening like an eye, widening to reflect the Light and illuminate the darkness before slowly closing again. Way opens, way closes, and then way opens again, circling around and around as I drive on, the moon and the starry patchwork of constellations all turning and tinkling in the solar wind."

I felt enlightened and enriched for having read this beautifully written and honest account of another woman's struggle to come to terms with the contradictions in her life.

A Great Ride Through Tough Questions.......2003-10-31

This beautifully written, funny, wrenching and ultimately heartening memoir of a road trip in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 is a rare find. Author Kristin Henderson certainly succeeds in bringing back that time of fear and confusion but what got me was her exploration of connections between the human urges to war and procreation. At the time her husband shipped out to Afghanistan, Henderson was struggling to come to terms with infertility--losing her dream of being a mother and the physical presence of her husband at the same time. Her road trip allowed her the time and solitude to sort through the pain and emotional confusion of all this while, as she says, giving her the illusion of forward motion. We are the lucky beneficiaries of this 'escape plan' as Henderson alternates her experiences on the road--often hooty, always interesting--with recollections of divisions in her self and her marriage over religion, and of the medical and emotional trials of fertility treatment. Reading this wonderful book, I sensed that Henderson, with her trusty dog Rosie at her side, would find the peace she was looking for and I was happy to be along for the vicarious ride.

Hank the Cowdog 23: Moonlight Madness (Hank the Cowdog)

Average customer rating:

Hank the Cowdog 23: Moonlight Madness (Hank the Cowdog)
John R. Erickson
Manufacturer: Viking Juvenile
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Action & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Humorous | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

Dogs In The Moonlight
Jay Lake
Manufacturer: Prime Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Short Stories | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1930997566

MOONLGT/DOG/HORSE/VOLT (Moonlight Editions)

Average customer rating:

MOONLGT/DOG/HORSE/VOLT (Moonlight Editions)
Random House
Manufacturer: Schocken
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

The Secrets of Moonlight Mountain (The Crista Chronicles, No 1)

Average customer rating:

The Secrets of Moonlight Mountain (The Crista Chronicles, No 1)
Mark Littleton
Manufacturer: Harvest House Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0890819602

Average customer rating:

Young Dogs in the Moonlight
Jeff Walker
Manufacturer: Eastern Washington University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0899240062

Tiny Stories for Tiny Readers ( Lizzies Birthday Party, Going To Seaside, Jennys Penny, The Little Grave,Monks, Italian Fruit-Sellers, Moonlight Walk ETC

Average customer rating:

Tiny Stories for Tiny Readers ( Lizzies Birthday Party, Going To Seaside, Jennys Penny, The Little Grave,Monks, Italian Fruit-Sellers, Moonlight Walk ETC
BLANK Endpapers FOXING, Half Title Page Pencil Christmas 1883, B/W Frontispiece Dog Seated with Hat, Illustrated B/W By E. Stevens, Harrison Weir ETC NO Author Listed
Manufacturer: E. P. Dutton,NY,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JD4J0A

Average customer rating:

Great quick reference

Very Informative, Smartly Written

Buy this Book!

I love this book!

some good, some bad

Natural Family Living: The Mothering Magazine Guide to Parenting
Peggy O'Mara
Manufacturer: Atria
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Family Health | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
Motherhood | Family Relationships | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Mothering Magazine's Having a Baby, Naturally: The Mothering Magazine Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth

The Natural Child: Parenting from the Heart

Attachment Parenting: Instinctive Care for Your Baby and Young Child

The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two (Revised and Updated Edition)

Good Nights: The Happy Parents' Guide to the Family Bed (and a Peaceful Night's Sleep!)

Accessories:

Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers

Braun IRT 4020 ThermoScan Ear Thermometer

ASIN: 0671027441

Book Description

For more than two decades, Mothering Magazine has been the source for sound alternatives to mainstream parenting. Now Peggy O'Mara, editor and publisher of Mothering Magazine, brings her knowledge and compassion to a compendium of never-before-published parenting wisdom -- and presents, in one convenient volume, a genuinely natural approach to raising our children.

Natural Family Living

The Mothering Magazine Guide to Parenting

An internationally renowned advocate of natural parenting, Peggy O'Mara covers a vast range of timeless and contemporary issues in detail and with authority -- from the practical to the philosophical, from preconception to adolescence:

* Embracing a conscious, conscientious pregnancy

* Natural childbirth, homebirth, and midwifery

* Breastfeeding

* Attachment parenting

* Healthful eating for the whole family -- and balanced attitudes toward food and diet

* Alternative health care for children, including homeopathy, bodywork, herbal remedies, and aromatherapy

* Family matters: from discipline issues to home entertainment

* Uses and abuses of television, computers, and video games

* Approaches to sexuality

* Home schooling and alternative education.

This groundbreaking book helps parents make informed choices on cutting-edge

issues as they strive to create a whole, healthy family environment. Illustrated with photos, and featuring enlightening interviews, Natural Family Living is the only guide authorized by the world's most savvy parenting publication.

Customer Reviews:

Great quick reference.......2007-05-18

I really like the book! It is a great quick reference as well as "natural" parenting in "a nutshell". It gives the reader a good overviews on different topics and if somebody wants more in depth information, she/he can read get the books that The Mothering Magazine recommends. Even though I have Dr. Sears' book on breastfeeding, I learned something new in this book. I highly recommend it for any parent, specially if you don't want to be a "mainstream" parent!

Very Informative, Smartly Written.......2004-08-29

Great information, great resources.

Even on the issues I don't agree with, I have to respect where the book is coming from, as it is clear that there is a great deal of research, and thought and experience behind every aspect of this book.

This is not just some parent's musings on family life. There is valuable infomation, and research and evidence are provided.

Buy this Book!.......2004-04-11

If you are a parent buy this book. I was fortunate to receive it as a new mother wanting to follow my own instincts but unsure amongst a sea of different views. This book empowered me to know and understand that my instincts, to carry my baby with me as much as possible and not let her cry, were right. As in reading all books I did not use all of the suggestions but chose those that worked for me and my baby and that instinctively I felt were right. The information in this book is well researched and gives the reader an alternative option.
I cannot thank Pamela Anderson enough!

I love this book!.......2004-02-25

I have two parenting books I thoroughly enjoy, and this is one of them (Dr. Sears "The Baby Book" is the other). I am trying very hard to be a great attachment parent, and so far, I agree with everything I've read in this book. Great overviews on a wide variety of topics.

some good, some bad.......2003-07-12

There is a lot of good information in this book, but beware, if you embrace Judeo-Christian values, it may not be for you. Also I found it very strange that a book with the title Natural Family Living doesn't mention one word about Natural Family Planning (using no artificial contraceptives). What's up with that?!

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