The French for Love

Author: Fiona Valpy
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781909490093
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Book Description
Like a glass of wine in the French afternoon sunshine - The French for Love is the perfect summer escape. Fans of Katie Fforde, Carole Matthews, Kate Forster or Erica James - and everyone who enjoyed Nick Alexander's The French House - will love Fiona Valpy. Gina has lost her perfect job, her boyfriend and her favourite aunt all within the space of a few months. So when she inherits her aunt's ramshackle French house, Gina decides to pack her bags for the Bordeaux countryside - swapping the miserable English weather for blue skies, sunshine, great wine and a fresh start. What she hasn't factored in is a hole in the roof, the most embarrassing language faux pas, and discovering family secrets that she was never supposed to know. Suddenly feeling a long way from home, Gina will have to rely on new found friends, her own hard work and Cedric - her charming, mysterious and tres handsome new stonemason. But whilst desire needs no translation, love is a different matter. Can Gina overcome the language barrier to make her French dream come true?

The Last Storytellers

Author: Richard Hamilton
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857720155
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 254

Book Description
Marrakech is the heart and lifeblood of Morocco's ancient storytelling tradition. For nearly a thousand years, storytellers have gathered in the Jemaa el Fna, the legendary square of the city, to recount ancient folktales and fables to rapt audiences. But this unique chain of oral tradition that has passed seamlessly from generation to generation is teetering on the brink of extinction. The competing distractions of television, movies and the internet have drawn the crowds away from the storytellers and few have the desire to learn the stories and continue their legacy. Richard Hamilton has witnessed at first hand the death throes of this rich and captivating tradition and, in the labyrinth of the Marrakech medina, has tracked down the last few remaining storytellers, recording stories that are replete with the mysteries and beauty of the Maghreb.

Casablanca and Other Stories

Author: Edgar Brau
Publisher: MSU Press
ISBN: 1628954272
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 170

Book Description
Edgar Brau, one of the most exciting South American writers to emerge in the past twenty years, debuts his first English-language collection with the publication of Casablanca and Other Stories. The fiction of Edgar Brau draws not only upon the rich literary heritage of his native Argentina but also upon the body of work that has now rightly been formed into a South American canon, embracing those such as Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Marquez, and Isabelle Allende. He brings a unique perspective to his narratives—narratives forged in the political and social upheaval that has been modern South America. Employing a fantasy-like aspect that goes beyond magical realism, his work is reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe in his use of atmosphere as an additional character. These short stories signal a new era, much as the publication of Jorge Luis Borges’ Labyrinths in 1962 heralded a coming-of-age for his generation. Translated by Donald A. Yates, Andrea Labinger, and Joanne M. Yates, this collection includes stories from two of Edgar Brau’s collections—El poema y otras historias and Tres cuentos—to bring to a fresh audience the very best new work of a major Argentinean author.

Destination Casablanca

Author: Meredith Hindley
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1610394062
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 693

Book Description
This rollicking and panoramic history of Casablanca during the Second World War sheds light on the city as a key hub for European and American powers, and a place where spies, soldiers, and political agents exchanged secrets and vied for control. In November 1942, as a part of Operation Torch, 33,000 American soldiers sailed undetected across the Atlantic and stormed the beaches of French Morocco. Seventy-four hours later, the Americans controlled the country and one of the most valuable wartime ports: Casablanca. In the years preceding, Casablanca had evolved from an exotic travel destination to a key military target after France's surrender to Germany. Jewish refugees from Europe poured in, hoping to obtain visas and passage to the United States and beyond. Nazi agents and collaborators infiltrated the city in search of power and loyalty. The resistance was not far behind, as shopkeepers, celebrities, former French Foreign Legionnaires, and disgruntled bureaucrats formed a network of Allied spies. But once in American hands, Casablanca became a crucial logistical hub in the fight against Germany -- and the site of Roosevelt and Churchill's demand for "unconditional surrender." Rife with rogue soldiers, power grabs, and diplomatic intrigue, Destination Casablanca is the riveting and untold story of this glamorous city--memorialized in the classic film that was rush-released in 1942 to capitalize on the drama that was unfolding in North Africa at the heart of World War II.

We'll Always Have Casablanca: The Legend and Afterlife of Hollywood's Most Beloved Film

Author: Noah Isenberg
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393243133
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description
A Los Angeles Times bestseller A New York Times Book Review “Editor’s Choice” Selection “Even the die-hardest Casablanca fan will find in this delightful book new ways to love the movie they were certain they could never love more.” —Sam Wasson, best-selling author of Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. Casablanca is “not one movie,” Umberto Eco once quipped; “it is ‘movies.’” Film historian Noah Isenberg’s We’ll Always Have Casablanca offers a rich account of the film’s origins, the myths and realities behind its production, and the reasons it remains so revered today, over seventy-five years after its premiere.

The Anatomy of Story

Author: John Truby
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 1429923709
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 405

Book Description
John Truby is one of the most respected and sought-after story consultants in the film industry, and his students have gone on to pen some of Hollywood's most successful films, including Sleepless in Seattle, Scream, and Shrek. The Anatomy of Story is his long-awaited first book, and it shares all of his secrets for writing a compelling script. Based on the lessons in his award-winning class, Great Screenwriting, The Anatomy of Story draws on a broad range of philosophy and mythology, offering fresh techniques and insightful anecdotes alongside Truby's own unique approach for how to build an effective, multifaceted narrative. Truby's method for constructing a story is at once insightful and practical, focusing on the hero's moral and emotional growth. As a result, writers will dig deep within and explore their own values and worldviews in order to create an effective story. Writers will come away with an extremely precise set of tools to work with—specific, useful techniques to make the audience care about their characters, and that make their characters grow in meaningful ways. They will construct a surprising plot that is unique to their particular concept, and they will learn how to express a moral vision that can genuinely move an audience. The foundations of story that Truby lays out are so fundamental they are applicable—and essential—to all writers, from novelists and short-story writers to journalists, memoirists, and writers of narrative non-fiction.

The Butcher of Casablanca

Author: Abdelilah Hamdouchi
Publisher: American University in Cairo Press
ISBN: 1617979813
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Book Description
A serial killer taunts Casablanca’s most famous detective, Hanash, in this nail-biting Moroccan noir, a follow-up to Bled Dry A series of gruesome murders shakes the city of Casablanca. The killer knows exactly how the police will pursue him and how to obliterate evidence that could lead them to identify his victims. Fear spreads throughout the city as rumors abound that a serial killer is on the loose. Detective Hanash, despite his reputation, has hit a dead end. But he knows the killer will make a mistake, and it is up to him and his team to hunt down and capture this brutal criminal. Then comes the most audacious homicide yet: the victim is found on the first day of the Eid holiday, directly outside the police headquarters in the center of town. Is the killer taunting the police and its famous detective? And could this be the crime that contains the clue that Hanash has been waiting for?

Sea of Memories

Author: Fiona Valpy
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
ISBN: 9781542046657
Category : France
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
When Kendra first visits her ailing grandmother, Ella has only one request: that Kendra write her story down, before she forgets... In 1937, seventeen-year-old Ella's life changes forever when she is sent to spend the summer on the beautiful Île de Ré and meets the charismatic, creative Christophe. They spend the summer together, exploring the island's sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters, and, for the first time in her life, Ella feels truly free. But the outbreak of war casts everything in a new light. Ella is forced to return to Scotland, where she volunteers for the war effort alongside the dashing Angus. In this new world, Ella feels herself drifting further and further from who she was on the Île de Ré. Can she ever find her way back? And does she want to? From the windswept Île de Ré to the rugged hills of Scotland, Sea of Memories is a spellbinding journey about the power of memory, love and second chances.

The Beekeeper's Promise

Author: Fiona Valpy
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
ISBN: 9781542047036
Category : France
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
1938. Eliane Martin tends beehives in the garden of the beautiful Chateau Bellevue. She meets Mathieu Dubosq and falls in love for the first time, daring to hope that a happy future awaits. But France's eastern border is darkening under the clouds of war, and Eliane is separated from Mathieu in the chaos of German occupation. She makes the decision to join the Resistance and fight for France's liberty. In 2017, when Abi Howes takes a summer job at the Chateau Bellevue, she finds herself drawn to the woman's story. -- adapted from back cover

The Storyteller of Casablanca

Author: Fiona Valpy
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
ISBN: 9781542032100
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
In this evocative tale from the bestselling author of The Dressmaker's Gift, a strange new city offers a young girl hope. Can it also offer a lost soul a second chance? Morocco, 1941. With France having fallen to Nazi occupation, twelve-year-old Jewish girl Josie has fled with her family to Casablanca, where they await safe passage to America. Life here is as intense as the sun, every sight, smell and sound overwhelming to the senses in a city filled with extraordinary characters. It's a world away from the trouble back home--and Josie loves it. Seventy years later, another new arrival in the intoxicating port city, Zoe, is struggling--with her marriage, her baby daughter and her new life as an expat in an unfamiliar place. But when she discovers a small wooden box and a diary from the 1940s beneath the floorboards of her daughter's bedroom, Zoe enters the inner world of young Josie, who once looked out on the same view of the Atlantic Ocean, but who knew a very different Casablanca. It's not long before Zoe begins to see her adopted city through Josie's eyes. But can a new perspective help her turn tragedy into hope, and find the comfort she needs to heal her broken heart?