The Silver Women

The construction of the Panama Canal is typically viewed as a marvel of American ingenuity. What is less visible, and less understood, is the project’s dependence on the labor of Black migrant women. The Silver Women shifts the focus of this monumental endeavor to the West Indian women who travelled to Panama, inviting readers to place women’s intimate lives, choices, grief, and ambition at the center of the economic and geopolitical transformation created by the construction of the Panama Canal and U.S. imperial expansion. Joan Flores-Villalobos argues that Black West Indian women made the canal construction possible by providing the indispensable everyday labor of social reproduction. West Indian women built a provisioning economy that fed, housed, and cared for the segregated Black West Indian labor force, in effect subsidizing the construction effort and the racial calculus that separated pay in silver for Black workers and gold for white Americans. But while also subject to racial discrimination and segregation, West Indian women mostly worked outside the umbrella of U.S. canal authorities. They did not hold contracts, had little access to official services and wages, and received pay in both silver and gold. From this position, they found ways to skirt, and at times subvert, the legal, moral, and economic parameters imperial authorities sought to impose on the migrant workforce. West Indian women developed important strategies of claims-making, kinship, community building, and market adaptation that helped them navigate the contradictions and violence of U.S. empire. In the meantime, these strategies of social reproduction nurtured further West Indian migrations, linking Panama to places like Harlem and Santiago de Cuba. The Silver Women is thus a history of Black women’s labor of social reproduction as integral to U.S. imperial infrastructure, the global Caribbean diaspora, and women’s own survival.

The thrilling true story of the daring female aviators who helped the United States win World War II--only to be forgotten by the country they served. When Japanese planes executed a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Cornelia Fort was already in the air. At twenty-two, Cornelia had escaped Nashville's debutante scene for a fresh start as a flight instructor in Hawaii. She and her student were in the middle of their lesson when the bombs began to fall, and they barely made it back to ground that morning. Still, when the U.S. Army Air Forces put out a call for women pilots to aid the war effort, Cornelia was one of the first to respond. She became one of just over 1,100 women from across the nation to make it through the Army's rigorous selection process and earn her silver wings. In The Women with Silver Wings, historian Katherine Sharp Landdeck introduces us to these young women as they meet even-tempered, methodical Nancy Love and demanding visionary Jacqueline Cochran, the trailblazing pilots who first envisioned sending American women into the air, and whose rivalry would define the Women Airforce Service Pilots. For women like Cornelia, it was a chance to serve their country--and to prove that women aviators were just as skilled and able as men. While not authorized to serve in combat, the WASP helped train male pilots for service abroad and ferried bombers and pursuits across the country. Thirty-eight of them would not survive the war. But even taking into account these tragic losses, Love and Cochran's social experiment seemed to be a resounding success--until, with the tides of war turning and fewer male pilots needed in Europe, Congress clipped the women's wings. The program was disbanded, the women sent home. But the bonds they'd forged never failed, and over the next few decades, they came together to fight for recognition as the military veterans they were--and for their place in history.

The Soviet Union was the first country in the world to declare women equal to men. At the same time, cinema was emerging as the newest and most accessible form of popular entertainment, and as a powerful tool in propagandizing the Party line. This book looks at the interaction between these two phenomena: at the extent to which women's new status and roles were reflected and promoted on Soviet screens throughout the country's history. Part I, written by Lynne Attwood, provides an essential framework for readers unfamiliar with Soviet studies. It offers a lucid and lively account of the milestones in Soviet history, the importance of film within this history and the changing images and experiences of Soviet women within both cinema and society. In Parts II and III, women from the former Soviet Union - film critics, directors, camera-operators and script-writers - relate their own experiences in the film industry, and their responses to the images of women portrayed on screen. This crisply-written book, illustrated with evocative photographs from Soviet films, will provide readers with a real insight into the relationship between women and film in the Soviet Union.

'Dee MacDonald's books are so heart-warming. They make you laugh-out-loud one minute, and then have you crying the next... they're really emotional and tug at the heart strings but are fun, life-affirming reads!' Stardust Book Reviews Tess and Orla have been best friends throughout most of their adult lives. So when life gave them lemons and their loved ones let them down, they pooled their resources and bought a dressmakers shop on the corner of Penny Lane. And they've been doing just fine ever since. But one day, while studying her tired eyes and shapeless figure in the mirror, sixty-two-year-old Tess realised that she doesn't want her life to be just fine anymore. She wants it to be extraordinary. For as long as she can remember she's put everyone else first. Now she wants to rediscover herself - and experience the kind of whirlwind adventure that will have the power make her smile when she's confined to the armchair of a retirement home. With the encouragement of fun-loving and quirky Orla, Tess joins an over-the-hill dating agency and the two friends book a singles cruise around the Mediterranean. And that's when their adventure of a lifetime really begins... A totally uplifting, heart-warming, hilarious page turner about embracing the moment, learning to love again and the joy of second chances. Perfect for fans of The Kicking the Bucket List and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. What readers are saying about Dee MacDonald: 'OMG!... It made me howl with laughter and it made me sob my heart out... I absolutely adored every single step... had my jaw dropping!!... one of my favourite books of the year.' My Chestnut Reading Tree, 5 stars '5 Fabulously FUN Stars... such a delightful and fun book from first page to last!... An absolutely perfect summer read that I would strongly recommend to all!' Audio Killed the Bookmark, 5 stars 'I was laughing out loud... totally did not see the ending coming! WOWSERS! 5 stars for me!' Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars 'Made me laugh and cry and laugh again, especially at the end. That was a little bit of genius!... beautifully written and the characters are lovingly drawn to make them come alive. I absolutely loved the ending, that really had me chuckling...' Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars 'This is an adventure with a difference!... absolutely brilliant... I felt quite emotional... very touching and extremely poignant.... A thought-provoking, energetic, promising, and huggable read... another delightful treat from Dee MacDonald!' The Writing Garnet 'Delightful!... a wonderful summertime story!.. the fun begins NOW!... hilarious... love this story about strong women!!' Escape With a Book, 5 stars

From the author of the National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf and the WINNER of the 2015 Man Booker Prize for A Brief History of Seven Killings "An undeniable success.” — The New York Times Book Review A true triumph of voice and storytelling, The Book of Night Women rings with both profound authenticity and a distinctly contemporary energy. It is the story of Lilith, born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar plantation at the end of the eighteenth century. Even at her birth, the slave women around her recognize a dark power that they- and she-will come to both revere and fear. The Night Women, as they call themselves, have long been plotting a slave revolt, and as Lilith comes of age they see her as the key to their plans. But when she begins to understand her own feelings, desires, and identity, Lilith starts to push at the edges of what is imaginable for the life of a slave woman, and risks becoming the conspiracy's weak link. But the real revelation of the book-the secret to the stirring imagery and insistent prose-is Marlon James himself, a young writer at once breath­takingly daring and wholly in command of his craft.

For fans of Radium Girls and history and WWII buffs, The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line takes you inside the lives and experiences of 15 unknown women heroes from the Greatest Generation, the women who served, fought, struggled, and made things happen during WWII—in and out of uniform—for theirs is a legacy destined to embolden generations of women to come. From daring spies to audacious pilots, from innovative scientists to indomitable resistance fighters, these extraordinary women stepped out of line and into history, forever altering the world's landscape. This page-turning narrative, crafted with meticulous historical accuracy by retired U.S. Army Major General Mari K. Eder, provides a fresh perspective on the integral roles that women played during WWII. Liane B. Russell fled Austria with nothing and later became a renowned U.S. scientist whose research on the effects of radiation on embryos made a difference to thousands of lives. Gena Turgel was a prisoner who worked in the hospital at Bergen-Belsen and cared for the young Anne Frank, who was dying of typhus. Gena survived and went on to write a memoir and spent her life educating children about the Holocaust. Ida and Louise Cook were British sisters who repeatedly smuggled out jewelry and furs and served as sponsors for refugees, and they also established temporary housing for immigrant families in London. Whether you're a history enthusiast, a lover of powerful women's stories, or an avid reader of WWII nonfiction, The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line is a must-read and a poignant testament to the forgotten women who stepped up when the world needed them most.

A fascinating feminist counterpoint to the established area of Russian theatre populated by male artists such as Stanislavsky, Chekov and Meyerhold. Schuler focuses upon the extraordinary lives and work of eight Russian actresses.

Becca Thornton, divorced, middle-aged, and barely out of the closet, discovers that life can still hold some strange surprises, when she discovers that her body is changing; menopause turns her into a werewolf. Apparently she is not the only one, as a number of women in her town of Wolf's Point seem to have had the same experience. As the newest member of the pack, Becca learns her nights are not spent only protecting the town and running through the woods howling at the moon. There are werewolf hunters in town and they've got Becca in their sights.

A Paranormal Women’s Fiction (PWF) that’ll have you walking on air! Luella Campbell is having the weirdest day ever. Getting fired from her job at the sunscreen factory for no good reason is bad enough, but when a mysterious dog brings a tempest into her former workplace, Luella’s life is completely upended by the sudden gift of wild and windy magical powers. With the help of her ride-or-die best friends, her motorcycle-riding mother, and a romantic blast from the past, Luella must find a way to make ends meet while unlocking the mysteries of her newfound magic... and the secrets hidden in the picturesque town of Sparkle Beach. Sometimes, an empty nest means it’s your turn to fly. For fans of paranormal women’s fiction, paranormal cozy mystery, cozy fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, magic, witches, friendship, family, animal familiars, and love!

Bestselling author Marisa Silver takes Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother photograph as inspiration for a story of two women—one famous and one forgotten—and their remarkable chance encounter. In 1936, a young mother resting by the side of the road in central California is spontaneously photographed by a woman documenting migrant laborers in search of work. Few personal details are exchanged and neither woman has any way of knowing that they have produced one of the most iconic images of the Great Depression. In present day, Walker Dodge, a professor of cultural history, stumbles upon a family secret embedded in the now-famous picture. In luminous prose, Silver creates an extraordinary tale from a brief event in history and its repercussions throughout the decades that follow—a reminder that a great photograph captures the essence of a moment yet only scratches the surface of a life.