Maggie has always been the white sheep of the Walsh family.Unlike her comically dysfunctional sisters,Rachel(heroine of Rachel's Holiday) and Claire (heroine of Watermelon), she married a decent man who adored her and found herself a solid career. Where Rachel was reckless and Claire dramatic, Maggie settled early for safety. Or so she believed until she discovers that her husband is having an affair and her boss is going to fire her. Suddenly, her perfectly organized life has become a perfect mess.
In addition to being queen consort of both Louis VII of France and Henry II of England, she was also the mother of Richard I the Lion-Heart and John of England.
The Phantom Heroine: Ghosts and Gender in Seventheenth-century Chinese Literature
The "phantom heroine"--in particular the fantasy of her resurrection through sex with a living man--is one of the most striking features of traditional Chinese literature. Even today the hypersexual female ghost continues to be a source of fascination in East Asian media, much like the sexually predatory vampire in American and European movies, TV, and novels. But while vampires can be of either gender, erotic Chinese ghosts are almost exclusively female. The significance of this gender asymmetry in Chinese literary history is the subject of Judith Zeitlin's elegantly written and meticulously researched new book.
Cora Downes was only a merchant's daughter. But when she saved a duke's son from drowning, her reward was entry into London high society. Then when she saved a highborn lady's poodles from disaster, she became belle of every ball. But nothing could save her from the threat of heartbreak--nothing, perhaps, except a most unlikely love.