If you could leave your true love one final gift, what would it be? This intense, moment-by-moment chronicle begins with the officer's words, "She is deceased." For the next thirteen days following the fatal automobile accident of his wife, renowned thought-leader Dr. Seana Lowe Steffen, the author draws on nearly forty years of study and training with gurus and meditation teachers to discover ecstatic love, save fractured relationships, and glimpse a greater arc and purpose for being alive. The Final Gift of the Beloved: Her Disappearance--13 Days is the story of one man's sudden, astonishing brush with devastation and the Divine under the most heartbreaking of circumstances. A love story disguised as a tragedy, Steffen weaves extraordinarily poignant and powerful experiences with honesty and revelations that will change lives. Along with intense pain and emotion, prepare yourself for great beauty and transcendent insight, for nothing is as it appears.

These letters between the pioneering environmentalist and her beloved friend reveal “a vibrant, caring woman behind the scientist” (Los Angeles Times). “Rachel Carson, author of The Silent Spring, has been celebrated as the pioneer of the modern environmental movement. Although she wrote no autobiography, she did leave letters, and those she exchanged—sometimes daily—with Dorothy Freeman, some 750 of which are collected here, are perhaps more satisfying than an account of her own life. In 1953, Carson became Freeman's summer neighbor on Southport Island, ME. The two discovered a shared love for the natural world—their descriptions of the arrival of spring or the song of a hermit thrush are lyrical—but their friendship quickly blossomed, as each realized she had found in the other a kindred spirit. To read this collection is like eavesdropping on an extended conversation that mixes the mundane events of the two women's family lives with details of Carson’s research and writing and, later, her breast cancer. . . . Few who read these letters will forget these remarkable women and their even more remarkable bond.” —Publishers Weekly “Darting, fresh, sensuous, pleasingly elliptical at times, these letters also serve to tether the increasingly deified Carson firmly to earth—just where she’d want to be.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “It is not often that a collection of letters reveals character, emotional depth, personality, indeed intellect and talent, as well as a full biography might; these letters do all that.” —The New York Times Book Review “Provides insight into the creative process and a look into the daily lives of two intelligent, perceptive women whose family responsibilities were, at times, almost crushing.” —Library Journal “Dotted with vivid observations of the natural world and perceptive commentary on friendship, family, fame, and life itself, Always, Rachel will appeal to readers interested in biography and women’s studies as well as those drawn to nature writing and the history of the environmental movement.” —Booklist Online

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Toni Morrison’s Beloved is a spellbinding and dazzlingly innovative portrait of a woman haunted by the past. Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has borne the unthinkable and not gone mad, yet she is still held captive by memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. Meanwhile Sethe’s house has long been troubled by the angry, destructive ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Sethe works at beating back the past, but it makes itself heard and felt incessantly in her memory and in the lives of those around her. When a mysterious teenage girl arrives, calling herself Beloved, Sethe’s terrible secret explodes into the present. Combining the visionary power of legend with the unassailable truth of history, Morrison’s unforgettable novel is one of the great and enduring works of American literature.

In Divine Marriage from Eden to the End of Days, André Villeneuve explores the mystery of God’s love in the Bible and ancient Jewish tradition. Scripture portrays the covenant between God and his people as a divine-human marriage spanning through all of human history. For the ancient Jewish interpreters, God married humanity at the dawn of creation in the Garden of Eden; but the union was broken by human sin. The Lord restored the relationship when he betrothed Israel at Mount Sinai; yet the covenant was wounded again with the transgression of the golden calf. The nuptial bond was healed anew, commemorated, and reenacted through liturgical worship in Israel’s tabernacle and temple. This worship in God’s “nuptial chamber,” in turn, anticipated the ultimate fulfillment of the divine-human marriage in the messianic age at the end of history. The first part of the book explores the marriage through Israel’s biblical history in light of ancient Jewish exegesis. The second part unveils the marriage in the ancient interpretation of the Song of Songs and in wisdom literature. The third part reveals how the same symbolism is taken up in the New Testament and applied to the marriage between Christ and the Church.

The author and psychotherapist shares her journey of illness and recovery in this inspiring guide to living your life to the fullest. In I Will Not Die an Unlived Life, Dawna Markova recounts her incredible journey from being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness to finding deeper meaning in her life. Along the way, she guides readers toward discovering their own sense of value and purpose. When we feel lost, Markova points out, we can either continue to live habitual lives and resign our strength—or we can choose to follow our passions. Many of us have times of feeling stagnant and sapped of energy. Rather than judging these moments negatively, Dr. Markova reframes them as periods of rest for our passions. In doing so, she challenges us to slow down and stay in touch with ourselves. Poetic and inspiring, I Will Not Die an Unlived Life is a powerful reminder that it is never too late to live your life.

In 130 of the Common Era Hadrian, the Emperor of all Rome, lost his Beloved to the muddy waters of the Nile. The loss of Antinous changed the emperor and the once sensible man was now dark, dangerous and consumed by guilt and obsession; guilt for the death of the youth and obsession with making that youth a god. The eight years that followed Antinous's death saw Hadrian feed that obsession with temples and sculptures of his Beloved as well as patronage of the cult that grew out of the story of the tragic youth. Despite the many beauties in his empire eager to satisfy his needs, those distractions paled in the morning light leaving a deeper sense of desolation in Hadrian's life. Wandering the roads of that empire his thoughts always found their way to the memory of the blue-black curls, the sensuous mouth, the body more godlike than mortal. Even when surrounded by the power of his legions and the adoration of his minions, his life remained a journey alone.

The standout memoir from BBC broadcaster and podcast founder, Rachel Bland, who captured the nation's hearts with her cancer journey.