Search Results for: the siren

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The Siren

The Siren

A Good Morning America featured thriller, 2021 People magazine "Best Books of Summer" winner and a Good Housekeeping "Best Beach Read to Add to Your Summer Reading List"

From Katherine St. John, author of The Lion's Den, comes a "reading experience that’s as layered and decadent as a slice of tiramisu" about a Hollywood heartthrob, his co-star ex-wife, and a film set on an isolated island that will unearth long-buried secrets—and unravel years of lies (Emily Henry, NYT bestselling author of People We Meet on Vacation, New York Times Book Review).

In the midst of a sizzling hot summer, some of Hollywood's most notorious faces are assembled on the idyllic Caribbean island of St. Genesius to film The Siren, starring dangerously handsome megastar Cole Power playing opposite his ex-wife, Stella Rivers. The surefire blockbuster promises to entice audiences with its sultry storyline and intimately connected cast.

Three very different women arrive on set, each with her own motive. Stella, an infamously unstable actress, is struggling to reclaim the career she lost in the wake of multiple, very public breakdowns. Taylor, a fledgling producer, is anxious to work on a film she hopes will turn her career around after her last job ended in scandal. And Felicity, Stella's mysterious new assistant, harbors designs of her own that threaten to upend everyone's plans.

With a hurricane brewing offshore, each woman finds herself trapped on the island, united against a common enemy. But as deceptions come to light, misplaced trust may prove more perilous than the storm itself.

Includes a Reading Group Guide.
American Sirens

American Sirens

The extraordinary story of an unjustly forgotten group of Black men in Pittsburgh who became the first paramedics in America, saving lives and changing the course of emergency medicine around the world
 
Until the 1970s, if you suffered a medical crisis, your chances of survival were minimal. A 9-1-1 call might bring police or even the local funeral home. But that all changed with Freedom House EMS in Pittsburgh, a group of Black men who became America’s first paramedics and set the gold standard for emergency medicine around the world, only to have their story and their legacy erased—until now.

In American Sirens, acclaimed journalist and paramedic Kevin Hazzard tells the dramatic story of how a group of young, undereducated Black men forged a new frontier of healthcare. He follows a rich cast of characters that includes John Moon, an orphan who found his calling as a paramedic; Peter Safar, the Nobel Prize-nominated physician who invented CPR and realized his vision for a trained ambulance service; and Nancy Caroline, the idealistic young doctor who turned a scrappy team into an international leader. At every turn, Freedom House battled racism—from the community, the police, and the government. Their job was grueling, the rules made up as they went along, their mandate nearly impossible—and yet despite the long odds and fierce opposition, they succeeded spectacularly. Never-before revealed in full, this is a rich and troubling hidden history of the Black origins of America’s paramedics, a special band of dedicated essential workers, who stand ready to serve day and night on the line between life and death for every one of us. 
Simply Irresistible

Simply Irresistible

It’s said if you want to succeed, watch successful people and do what they do. Simply Irresistible is a humorous manual of case studies that show how the greatest sirens of history did what they did and got what they wanted, nearly all the time. Our role models-many of whom are still weaving their charms today- include Eva Peron, Greta Garbo, Coco Chanel, Nigella Lawson, Angelina Jolie, Edith Piaf, Lucretia Borgia, Anne Boleyn, Mata Hari, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Simply Irresistible gives practical, sexy, and sometimes downright outrageous advice on modern seduction. It exalts the siren archetypes of the Companion, Competitor, Goddess, Mother, and Sex Kitten. The cheeky histories of the iconic real-life women are paired with a fun array of quizzes, quotes, photos, tongue-in-cheek captions, and personal stories of triumph and tragedy. (Mata Hari and Anne Boleyn were, after all, both executed.) The wisdom of these famous sirens is fleshed out with the contributions of everyday, lesser known charismatic women. The conclusion? All women have an inner siren-the ability to bring men to their knees-just waiting to come out. Now they’ll know how.
Dangerous Deception

Dangerous Deception

From the world of Beautiful Creatures–a dangerous new tale of love and magic continues in the sequel to Dangerous Creatures.

After a disastrous car crash outside New York City, Ridley Duchannes–Dark Caster, Siren, and bona fide bad girl-has gone missing. Her wannabe rocker and quarter Incubus boyfriend, Wesley “Link” Lincoln, was driving, and when he comes to, Ridley is nowhere to be found. The only clue is the giant raven emblazoned on the hood of the truck that hit them, which can mean only one thing: Silas Ravenwood is back. And he has Ridley.

Determined to find her, Link reunites with old friends John Breed and Liv Durand, his New York bandmates, and the mysterious Lennox Gates–who has his own reasons for tracking down Ridley. Together they travel through the Caster Tunnels and the Deep South to New Orleans, where they uncover the truth about the infamous Ravenwood labs and exactly what Silas has been doing within those walls. By the time Link and his friends reach Ridley, she is no longer the Siren they know and love. She’s something new. This time, love might not be enough to save them.

In this sequel to Dangerous Creatures, the bestselling spin-off of the #1 New York Times bestselling Beautiful Creatures novels, coauthors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl deliver an intoxicating blend of magic, suspense, and danger.

Dangerous Creatures

Dangerous Creatures

From the world of Beautiful Creatures--the instant New York Times bestselling tale of love and magic.

Ridley Duchannes is nobody’s heroine. She’s a Dark Caster, a Siren. She can make you do things. Anything. You can’t trust her, or yourself when she’s around. And she’ll be the first to tell you to stay away–especially if you’re going to do something as stupid as fall in love with her.

Lucky for Ridley, her wannabe rocker boyfriend, Wesley “Link” Lincoln, never listens to anyone. Link doesn’t care if Rid’s no good for him, and he takes her along when he leaves small-town Gatlin to follow his rock-star dream. He teams up with a ragtag group of Dark Casters, and when the band scores a gig at a hot Underground club, it looks like all of Link’s dreams are about to come true.

But New York City is a dangerous place for both Casters and Mortals, and soon Ridley realizes that Link’s bandmates are keeping secrets. With bad-boy club owner Lennox Gates on her heels, Rid is determined to find out the truth. What she discovers is worse than she could have imagined: Link has a price on his head that no Caster or Mortal can ever pay. With their lives on the line, what’s a Siren to do?

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthors of the Beautiful Creatures novels, are back to cast another magical spell. Their signature blend of mystery, suspense, and romance, with a healthy dose of wit and danger, will pull fans in and leave them begging for more.

Torn Away

Torn Away

Jersey Cameron has always loved a good storm. Watching the clouds roll in and the wind pick up. Smelling the electricity in the air. Dancing barefoot in the rain. She lives in the Midwest, after all, where the weather is sure to keep you guessing. Jersey knows what to do when the tornado sirens sound. But she never could have prepared for this.

When her town is devastated by a tornado, Jersey loses everything. As she struggles to overcome her grief, she’s sent to live with relatives she hardly knows — family who might as well be strangers. In an unfamiliar place, can Jersey discover that even on the darkest of days, there are some things no tornado can destroy?

In this powerful and poignant novel, acclaimed author Jennifer Brown delivers a story of love, loss, hope, and survival.
Penthouse Variations

Penthouse Variations

28 Flavors, No Vanilla

To find the limits of lovemaking, how far would you go-to Paris or the Caribbean, to miles above the earth, to your very own bedroom? Who would you invite-a threesome, a foursome, a whole houseful of eager erotic revelers? What props would you deploy-a wisp of knotted silk or a pair of high spiked heels, a stream of scented oil or a sheath of shiny black leather? From the pages of Penthouse Variations-for over two decades America’s boldest explorer of the most adventurous frontiers of the sexual revolution-come twenty-eight sometimes shocking, always exciting stories by people who dare to be different. They range from risque role players to sexy bi-sirens, from casual encounters to the delights of domination. And they just might inspire you to walk on your own wild side.
Trouble in Texas

Trouble in Texas

THERE’S A FOX IN THE HENHOUSE
Inheriting the most notorious house of ill repute in Texas can spell trouble for a girl’s reputation . . . especially when she’s Elizabeth Murphy, Bramble’s prim and proper librarian. Yet when she discovers a buck-naked cowboy handcuffed to a four-poster bed, she forgets all about the town gossips. Elizabeth has sworn off men, but the stranger’s kisses melt her resolve faster than ice cream on a hot summer day.
Waking up in Miss Hattie’s Henhouse isn’t how Brant Cates reckoned on getting to the bottom of his great-granddaddy’s murder. The plan was to solve the centuries-old crime, then get the heck out of Dodge. But after meeting Elizabeth and discovering that the buttoned-up beauty is a sexy siren in disguise, he just can’t pull himself away.
Now Brant needs Elizabeth to finally put his past to rest, but is she willing to risk her future on Bramble’s newest bad boy?
The Fireman's Wife

The Fireman's Wife

Susan Farren didn’t plan on marrying a fireman. Having herself spent several years as a paramedic, she knew too well the dangers of the emergency profession. But as fate would have it, she met Dan — and everything changed. Suddenly she was married to a man who had wanted to be a fireman ever since he was a child, and she found herself faced with the sacrifices and struggles that accompany this challenging career. Being a fireman’s wife meant relocating her family, living without her husband for days at a time, and wondering every time she heard a siren if he would make it home safely. Ultimately, it also meant receiving the phone call every fireman’s wife fears may come: the news that her husband had been in an accident.Susan speaks on behalf of thousands of firemen’s wives nationwide — the women who hold down the fort while their husbands are on the job. Their sacrifice is our gain, and for the first time, this book tells their story.
A Gatlin Wedding

A Gatlin Wedding

Does it always come down to Destiny? The Wheel of Fate? Who’s behind that Wheel? What kind of idiot is doing the driving around here?

The day has finally arrived: Mitchell Wate and Lillian English are getting married. Everyone has come together–Ethan and Lena, John and Liv, even Link is back in town–and there’s enough pie to make Amma proud. But despite the joyous occasion, Ethan can’t help but worry that something feels…off.

When Siren-turned-Hybrid Caster Ridley blows into town unannounced, Ethan’s suspicions are confirmed. And it’s worse than he imagined: Silas Ravenwood is coming for them, and no one in Gatlin is safe. Has the Wheel of Fate finally caught up to them, or can the Casters and Mortals come together to stop it in its tracks?

#1 New York Times bestselling authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl reveal Gatlin’s destiny in this not-to-be missed final installment of Beautiful Creatures: The Untold Stories.

Word Count: ~13,000 words
The Sweetest Kind of Fate

The Sweetest Kind of Fate

GREAT. I’ve somehow found myself tangled up with a siren, a mermaid, and a homicidal wicked witch who once tried to strangle me to death. Way to go, Amber!

Amber Sand, legendary matchmaker, couldn’t be more surprised when her archnemesis, Ivy, asks for her help. Ivy’s sister, Iris, is getting married, and Ivy wants to prove her sister is making a huge mistake. But as Amber looks into Iris’s eyes, there doesn’t seem to be a problem — Iris has clearly found her match.

It seems happily-ever-after is in the cards, but when Iris seeks out a dangerous, life-altering spell, it’s up to Amber and Ivy to set aside their rivalry and save the day.

As Iris puts everything on the line for love, Amber continues to wrestle with her own romantic future. Her boyfriend, Charlie, is still destined for another, and no matter how hard she clings to him, fear over their inevitable breakup shakes her belief system to the core.

Because the Fates are never wrong-right?

Trace Elements of Random Tea Parties

Trace Elements of Random Tea Parties

“Buckle up, doll,” urges the narrator of Trace Elements, “I promise I’ll try not to tangle your quinceañera dress.”
So begins the adventure of Leticia Marisol Estrella Torez, who moves north to Los Angeles in an attempt to break from her past: from starched dresses and sleek, tight braids; from Nana, the traditional grandmother who raised her; and also from the seductive Weeping Woman—the siren of Mexican folklore said to fly through the skies at night to steal troublesome children and who embodies, in many ways, Leti’s first love. As Leti immerses herself in the post-queer hipster scene in Los Angeles, navigating the twisting road of her own shifting gender and falling deep into “papaya lush blush” love, she rediscovers the strength and meaning of la familia. A striking debut novel in the tradition of Michelle Tea and Sarah Schulman, Trace Elements spins a crazy-beautiful narrative that turns tradition on its head while laying flowers at its feet.
The Italian Girls

The Italian Girls

She began to turn the pages of the paper more quickly, searching for the details about the war, the scandal, the trial… She thought back to those days at the end, when trust in Italy was in short supply. Betrayal was everywhere and the world went mad.

Italy, 2019: Each morning Livia Moretti drinks espresso in her favorite café in Florence. The tourists simply walk on by. They don’t know of her role in saving this beautiful city during the dark days of World War II. Days that now seem long gone. But in the morning newspaper one day, Livia sees a familiar name—Isabella Bellucci. And she’s jolted back to the past.

Italy, 1942: As an Italian Resistance fighter, Livia monitors radio transmissions and decodes messages that could have the power to safeguard her country and those closest to her. Until the day her life intersects with movie star Isabella Bellucci. A siren of the silver screen, Isabella has cultivated the right connections to ensure her rise to stardom. But when Rome falls to the Nazis, Isabella must make a devastating choice.

As war ravages Europe, Isabella and Livia’s lives are forever entwined as they risk everything to protect the ones they love.
Letters to Penthouse xxxiv

Letters to Penthouse xxxiv

Today’s woman loves sex–and she loves it her way. She sees what she wants and goes for it, especially when it comes to the hottest bedroom partners. Nothing is off limits, whether a man or another woman, whether one-on-one or in combinations of two or even more.

In these sizzling, uncensored Letters to Penthouse, vixens and virgins, bankers and bikers, hookers and hikers set their sights on pleasure at its most raw and most satisfying. And whether at the pool or around the pool table, at the strip club or inside the office, on a tropical paradise or among the comforts of home, they will not be denied.
The Orphan Sisters

The Orphan Sisters

This USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller is a heartbreaking and unforgettable WWII story of two orphaned young sisters — perfect for fans of Natasha Lester, Heather Morris, and Pam Jenoff.

1929: Four-year-old Etty and eight-year-old Dorothy are abandoned at Blakely Hall orphanage by their mother, never to see her again. With no other family to speak of, the sisters worship their beloved mother-and they are confused and heartbroken to be deserted by her when they need her the most.

1940: Etty and Dorothy are finally released from the confines of Blakely Hall-but their freedom comes when the country is in the grip of World War II and its terrors. Amid a devastating backdrop of screaming air-raid sirens and cold nights huddled in shelters, the sisters are desperate to put their broken childhoods behind them.

But trouble lies ahead. Dorothy must bid good-bye to her devoted husband when he’s sent to war, and Etty must nurse a broken heart as she falls in love with the one man she can never be with.

Etty and Dorothy survived the orphanage with the help of each other and neither sister can forget the awful betrayal of their mother, which has haunted them their whole lives. But when a shocking secret about their painful childhood comes to light, will the sisters ever be the same again?
You Can Stop Humming Now

You Can Stop Humming Now

For readers of Atul Gawande and Jerome Groopman, a book of beautifully crafted stories about what life is like for patients kept alive by modern medical technology.

Modern medicine is a world that glimmers with new technology and cutting-edge research. To the public eye, medical stories often begin with sirens and flashing lights and culminate in survival or death. But these are only the most visible narratives. As a critical care doctor treating people at their sickest, Daniela Lamas is fascinated by a different story: what comes after for those whose lives are extended by days, months, or years as a result of our treatments and technologies?

You Can Stop Humming Now, Lamas explores the complex answers to this question through intimate accounts of patients and their families. A grandfather whose failing heart has been replaced by a battery-operated pump; a salesman who found himself a kidney donor on social media; a college student who survived a near fatal overdose and returned home, alive but not the same; and a young woman navigating an adulthood she never thought she’d live to see — these moving narratives paint a detailed picture of the fragile border between sickness and health.

Riveting, gorgeously told, and deeply personal, You Can Stop Humming Now is a compassionate, uncompromising look at the choices and realities that many of us, and our families, may one day face.

“Gripping, soaring, inspiring.”-Atul Gawande, author of Being Mortal
The Lion's Den

The Lion's Den

Sex, betrayal, and intrigue: A dream vacation on a luxurious yacht turns deadly in this pulse-pounding beach read "chock full of delicious characters who flaunt their sins . . . like the latest Birkin bag" (Adriana Trigiani).
 
Belle likes to think herself immune to the dizzying effects of fabulous wealth. But when her best friend, Summer, invites her on a glamorous getaway to the Mediterranean aboard her billionaire boyfriend's yacht, the only sensible answer is yes. Belle hopes the trip will be a much-needed break from her stalled acting career and uniquely humiliating waitressing job, but once she's aboard the luxurious Lion's Den, it soon becomes clear this jet-setting holiday is not as advertised.

Belle's dream vacation quickly devolves into a nightmare as she and the handful of other girls Summer invited are treated more like prisoners than guests by their controlling host—and in one terrifying moment, Belle comes to see Summer for who she truly is: a vicious gold digger who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

Belle realizes she's going to have to keep her wits about her—and her own big secret closely hidden—if she wants to make it off the yacht alive.
 
Includes a Reading Group Guide, exclusive epilogue, and sneak peak of Katherine St. John's next book, The Siren.
The Olive and the Caper

The Olive and the Caper

This is the year “It’s Greek to me” becomes the happy answer to what’s for dinner. My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the upcoming epic Troy, the 2004 Summer Olympics returning to Athens–and now, yet another reason to embrace all things Greek: The Olive and the Caper, Susanna Hoffman’s 700-plus-page serendipity of recipes and adventure.

In Corfu, Ms. Hoffman and a taverna owner cook shrimp fresh from the trap–and for us she offers the boldly-flavored Shrimp with Fennel, Green Olives, Red Onion, and White Wine. She gathers wild greens and herbs with neighbors, inspiring Big Beans with Thyme and Parsley, and Field Greens and Ouzo Pie. She learns the secret to chewy country bread from the baker on Santorini and translates it for American kitchens. Including 325 recipes developed in collaboration with Victoria Wise (her co-author on The Well-Filled Tortilla Cookbook, with over 258,000 copies in print), The Olive and the Caper celebrates all things Greek: Chicken Neo-Avgolemeno. Fall-off-the-bone Lamb Shanks seasoned with garlic, thyme, cinnamon and coriander. Siren-like sweets, from world-renowned Baklava to uniquely Greek preserves: Rose Petal, Cherry and Grappa, Apricot and Metaxa.

In addition, it opens with a sixteen-page full-color section and has dozens of lively essays throughout the book–about the origins of Greek food, about village life, history, language, customs–making this a lively adventure in reading as well as cooking.
The TCM Trivia and Puzzle Collection Gift Set

The TCM Trivia and Puzzle Collection Gift Set

Revisit the glamour of Hollywood’s golden age with this online-exclusive gift set featuring classic trivia and a double-sided puzzle—perfect for movie lovers everywhere—from Turner Classic Movies.

Calling all film lovers! Bask in the glow of the silver screen with the ultimate puzzle and movie bundle. First, challenge your classic film knowledge with TCM’s trivia deck, featuring more than 400 questions perfect for quizzing yourself or throwing a party with friends. Then, experience the creative challenge of a 500-piece double-sided puzzle featuring on one side Hollywood’s Leading Ladies and on the other Hollywood’s Leading Men.

Host a trivia night with friends or enjoy a cozy night in—either way, the possibilities are endless with TCM’s tribute to Hollywood’s golden age. 

This silver screen bundle is the gold standard! It includes:

  • Trivia Deck: 104 full-color 3×5 cards filled with questions (4 per card), packed in a box with magnetic closure to keep trivia night tidy. Features a vast range of behind-the-scenes topics from the silent era to modern times.
  • Double-Sided 500-Piece Puzzle: This reversible 16×20 puzzle is twice as nice! Featuring leading ladies on one side, and leading men on the other.
  • Paperback companion book: Discover behind-the-scenes brilliance and cinematic screen sirens with essential stats and key films for every star featured in the puzzle.
The Fairest Kind of Love

The Fairest Kind of Love

“Amber! I never even thought of that! Maybe she can tell you your match.”Whoa. Now that’s interesting.

Amber Sand has spent half her life solidifying other people’s happily-ever-afters. As a matchmaker, she has the ability to look into anyone’s eyes and see their perfect match. But lately, her powers have been on the fritz, and not only is she totally unsure whether her matches are true, she can’t see anyone in the eyes of her boyfriend Charlie Blitzman. With Amber and her friends graduating high school and about to take off for various colleges, Amber is hoping to have one last carefree summer-but she’s also dying to find a way to fix her powers, and learn, for better or worse, if she and Charlie are truly meant to be.

So when an online matchmaker named Madame Lamour comes to Chicago, Amber sets out to talk to her and find out who her match is once and for all. Of course, when it comes to the magical community, nothing’s ever that easy, and Amber soon finds herself caught up in a breathless showdown that involves a fairy family feud and a magical-creature auction — and requires teaming up with a certain siren nemesis. Can Amber and her friends save the day one more time before setting off for their new lives? And will Amber ever learn whether Charlie is her one true love?

With tons of laugh-out-loud moments, appearances by all your favorite characters, and one totally tearful reveal, you won’t want to miss a single swoony moment of this romantic conclusion to the Windy City Magic trilogy.

Our Last Goodbye

Our Last Goodbye

From the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Orphan Sisterscomes a poignant and heart-wrenching WWII story of family, secrets, and a love to survive the impossible — for readers of Natasha Lester and Pam Jenoff!

England, 1943: When twenty-five-year-old May Robinson’s mother is tragically killed one foggy night, May is heartbroken and terrified. She isn’t sure she has the strength to harbor the secret they have kept for so many years-the secret her mother devoted her life to hiding. The secret that would tear their broken family even further apart.

Instead, May vows to make her mother proud by training to be a nurse at Edgemoor General Hospital in South Shields. Surrounded by wailing air-raid sirens and the eternal drone of enemy planes, May tends wounded, ashen-faced soldiers. Working tirelessly alongside her is kindhearted Richard Bentley. May is immediately drawn to his sparkling brown eyes and the way he makes her laugh.

Among the death and despair, May and Richard become beacons of hope for each other-but May wonders why he isn’t fighting in the war like the thousands of other brave young men. Yet May, longing to escape her past, has kept her own secret hidden from Richard. As the peril and uncertainty around them grows, she finds herself asking: How well do they really know each other? And with the war coming closer to home, May cannot keep her shocking truth from coming to light . . .
Midnight on Strange Street

Midnight on Strange Street

A tight-knit group of friends discovers their powers…

AVERY MILLER is looking for a fresh start, away from all the bomb sirens and talk of war in Los Angeles. She expects to find a haven in Callaway, Texas, where the cool new substance “glow” was first discovered. What she doesn’t count on is making friends with glowboard skaters Dani, Bastian, and Lola, AKA the Sardines?

DANI HIRSCH, captain of the Sardines, knows for a fact they’re the best glowboarding team in Texas — if only they could prove it. Nothing will distract Dani from leading the team to victory at this summer’s big race. Not even food explosions in the school cafeteria, or a mysterious midnight message, or the appearance of secretive government workers in Callaway?

BASTIAN GIL is sick of the bullies who tease him for being a Sardine, for being different. Sure, he and his twin sister Lola can share thoughts. That’s just twin telepathy, though — nothing too weird, right? But when Bastian finds he can do even stranger things, he starts to wonder if maybe he really is different from the other kids at school?

LOLA GIL wants life to go back to normal, to a time before big glowboard races and government investigations. But the more the Sardines discover about themselves — like how they can share thoughts and move objects with their minds — the more Lola begins to fear there was never anything normal about her. In fact, she and the Sardines might be dangerous?

When the Sardines receive an ominous, otherworldly message, they must decide if they’ll use their newfound powers to stop an impending disaster — one that could have more to do with the war, their bullies, and glowboarding than they can possibly imagine.
By the Rivers of Water

By the Rivers of Water

In early November 1834, an aristocratic young couple from Savannah and South Carolina sailed from New York and began a strange seventeen year odyssey in West Africa. Leighton and Jane Wilson sailed along what was for them an exotic coastline, visited cities and villages, and sometimes ventured up great rivers and followed ancient paths. Along the way they encountered not only many diverse landscapes, peoples, and cultures, but also many individuals on their own odysseys — including Paul Sansay, a former slave from Savannah; Mworeh Mah, a brilliant Grebo leader, and his beautiful daughter, Mary Clealand, at Cape Palmas; and King Glass and the wise and humorous Toko in Gabon. Leighton and Jane Wilson had freed their inherited slaves, and were to become the most influential American missionaries in West Africa during the first half of the nineteenth century. While Jane established schools, Leighton fought the international slave trade and the imperialism of colonization. He translated portions of the Bible into Grebo and Mpongwe and thereby helped to lay the foundation for the emergence of an indigenous African Christianity.

The Wilsons returned to New York because of ill health, but their odyssey was not over. Living in the booming American metropolis, the Wilsons welcomed into their handsome home visitors from around the world as they worked for the rapidly expanding Protestant mission movement. As the Civil War approached, however, they heard the siren voice of their Southern homeland calling from deep within their memories. They sought to resist its seductions, but the call became more insistent and, finally, irresistible. In spite of their years of fighting slavery, they gave themselves to a history and a people committed to maintaining slavery and its deep oppression — both an act of deep love for a place and people, and the desertion of a moral vision.

A sweeping transatlantic story of good intentions and bitter consequences, By the Rivers of Water reveals two distant worlds linked by deep faiths.
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