Italy, 1456. The Renaissance is in glorious bloom. A Carmelite monk, the great artist Fra Filippo Lippi acts as chaplain to the nuns of the Convent Santa Margherita. It is here that he encounters the greatest temptation of his life, beautiful Lucrezia Buti, who has been driven to holy orders more by poverty than piety. In Lucrezia’s flawless face Lippi sees the inspiration for countless Madonnas and he brings the young woman to his studio to serve as his model. But as painter and muse are united in an exhilarating whirl of artistic discovery, a passionate love develops, one that threatens to destroy them both even as it fuels some of Lippi’s greatest work.
read more
The spellbinding epic set in twelfth-century England, The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of the lives entwined in the building of the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known—and a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state, and brother against brother.
read more
Rare-book theft is even more widespread than fine-art theft. Most thieves, of course, steal for profit. John Charles Gilkey steals purely for the love of books. In an attempt to understand him better, journalist Allison Hoover Bartlett plunged herself into the world of book lust and discovered just how dangerous it can be.
Gilkey is an obsessed, unrepentant book thief who has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of rare books from book fairs, stores, and libraries around the country. Ken Sanders is the self-appointed “bibliodick” (book dealer with a penchant for detective work) driven to catch him.
read more
Kit Hargrove is trying to reinvent herself. Following her divorce, she is shedding the skin of her former life as the wife of a Wall Street high-roller and embracing both a new home and a new job as assistant to world famous novelist Robert McClore, all the while remaining close to her children and friends in the affluent Connecticut town of Highfield. Her transition seems to be going well until a series of events dramatically reminds her that nothing is ever quite as it seems. Kit’s friend Charlie and her husband lose everything as they become victims of the recession,
read more
Nancy writes medical newsletters for a living, but she’s begun to write a novel. Her book is based loosely on an important decision her father made in his youth, one that shaped his character from that point on, and also influenced his daughter as she made decisions about the course of her own life. This isn’t just a story she wants to write; it’s a story she must write, to honor her father and to work through her grief over his death.
So when she’s asked to join a writing group consisting of several prominent authors,
read more
The Flower of Chinese Buddhism illuminates the development and role of Buddhism in Chinese society, with the introduction of Buddhism into China by traders and monks traveling along the Silk Route. The author examines the career and achievements of Kumarajiva, famed for his philosophical treaties and translations that form the core of much Buddhist literature. Special emphasis is given to faith in the Lotus Sutra, affording the uninitiated reader a useful and accessible introduction to the school of Buddhism that was to become influential in Japan and the inspiration for the teachings of the 13th-century Buddhist reformer Nichiren.
read more
