“Not Just Jane restores seven of England’s most fascinating and subversive literary voices to their rightful places in history. Shelley DeWees tells each woman writer’s story with wit; passion; and an astute understanding of the society in which she lived and wrote.â€â€”Dr. Amanda Foreman; New York Times bestselling author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire Jane Austen and the Brontës endure as British literature’s leading ladies (and for good reason)—but were these reclusive parsons’ daughters really the only writing women of their day? A feminist history of literary Britain; this witty; fascinating nonfiction debut explores the extraordinary lives and work of seven long-forgotten authoresses; and asks: Why did their considerable fame and influence; and a vibrant culture of female creativity; fade away? And what are we missing because of it?You’ve likely read at least one Jane Austen novel (or at least seen a film one). Chances are you’ve also read Jane Eyre; if you were an exceptionally moody teenager; you might have even read Wuthering Heights. English majors might add George Eliot or Virginia Woolf to this list…but then the trail ends. Were there truly so few women writing anything of note during late 18th and 19th century Britain?In Not Just Jane; Shelley DeWees weaves history; biography; and critical analysis into a rip-roaring narrative of the nation’s fabulous; yet mostly forgotten; female literary heritage. As the country; and women’s roles within it; evolved; so did the publishing industry; driving legions of ladies to pick up their pens and hit the parchment. Focusing on the creative contributions and personal stories of seven astonishing women; among them pioneers of detective fiction and the modern fantasy novel; DeWees assembles a riveting; intimate; and ruthlessly unromanticized portrait of female life—and the literary landscape—during this era. In doing so; she comes closer to understanding how a society could forget so many of these women; who all enjoyed success; critical acclaim; and a fair amount of notoriety during their time; and realizes why; now more than ever; it’s vital that we remember.Rediscover Charlotte Turner Smith; Helen Maria Williams; Mary Robinson; Catherine Crowe; Sara Coleridge; Dinah Mulock Craik; and Mary Elizabeth Braddon.
#636725 in Books Barry Dan 2016-05-17 2016-05-17Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x 1.13 x 6.00l; .0 #File Name: 0062372130352 pagesThe Boys in the Bunkhouse Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Willie Levi told his super that his leg hurtBy J. C. SchaapWillie Levi complained one day about a pain in his leg; in his knee; complained to his supervisor at the packing plant where Willie shackled live turkeys; upside down; into hangers that would carry them to the kill floor. Willie Levi told his super that his leg hurt; hurt bad; but the super told him to keep working because he wouldn’t have Willie slacking off; so he followed orders; kept working; kept on and kept on; just as he had for years; for decades.Willie Levi is a looming presence in Dan Barry’s Boys in the Bunkhouse; he's a man gifted to talk to turkeys; a “turkey whisperer;†Barry calls him; because something in his voice calmed those birds as he delivered them to their deaths.But Willie hurt his knee; he said; so when the whole story broke—how several dozen developmentally disabled adult men from Texas were working for scratch in an Iowa turkey plant; living in unimaginable filth; the social workers who freed Willie and his friends from the grievous exploitation they’d suffered asked him if he had any medical problems. Willie pointed at his leg; said it hurt. Immediately; someone took him to an urgent care facility in nearby Muscatine; where the diagnosis was simple but painful—Willie Levi had a broken kneecap he’d lived and worked with for far too long.That Willie Levi story is one of hundreds New York Times reporter Dan Barry relates in a heart-rending compendium of stories; all of them concerning the “boys;†a bus full of men sent up north to Iowa from Texas to work packing plant jobs no one reading these words would do; men intellectually disabled; who lived in squalor unimaginable in rural Iowa.Countless characters people these stories; not simply “the boys from the bunkhouse†either; although most of them; like Willie; are here. There are heroes; men and women—reporters and social workers—who went out of their way to free the men from their 21st century slavery. Some you'll meet are heroes; some are certainly not. Some didn’t care; didn’t act; kept their mouth shut when they should have spoken.But there are no snarling villains. Dan Barry’s marvelous reporting doesn’t indict the plant or Louis Rich; doesn’t even damn T. H. Johnson; the Texas entrepreneur once universally applauded for creating jobs for men thought otherwise unemployable. For some time; what Johnson was up to created sterling benefits for the boys—jobs; spending money; a place in life.Neither does Barry lay a glove on Atalissa; the tiny dying Iowa town where people brought the boys into their love and care; danced with them and gave them a place in town celebrations; took them to church.The story is surprising in many ways. You’ll be amazed at what Atalissa gave; but saddened to realize that all that giving was never enough. The Boys in the Bunkhouse is not simply an indictment of the horrors of life on a kill floor or some broadside against rural provincialism; its primary concern is examining our own longstanding instinct to look past people we’d rather not see.The Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland is a marvelous read. When you close the cover and put it down; it won't simply stay on the shelf; it's a sad reminder of Jesus's words that “the poor you have with you always.â€Nations and cultures can be judged; a friend of mine used to say; not by their GNP; but by how compassionately they care for their own less fortunate. Dan Barry’s wonderful book is a moving reminder of something so sadly easy to forget—what it really should mean to be human.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. This book is heartbreaking; but important to read.By RandieMany parts of this book will make you cry. You will feel sadness for the boys; regret for the treatment of the disabled; and anger over the ineptitude of the government.By the end of this book; I had a new sense of how important close friendships and community ties are. If only people in the town had thought to visit inside the bunkhouse or ask the boys how things were going at work.I think this is one of the most compelling books I have ever read.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. SlaveryBy Susan KI can not believe it took so long for these men to get help. All the money in the world will not give back the life's that they lost. I also think that jail time should of been served from a lot of these individuals who committed these abuses on these poor souls. Shame on those companies and their families including Kraft!! I recommend this book. It will leave you speechless.
