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Pubblicato per la prima volta a New York nel 1925 e diventato subito un bestseller internazionale, questo libro è il racconto in prima persona della vita di Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto, la figlia minore di un samurai di alto rango, che vive sulla sua pelle il passaggio tra il Giappone feudale del XIX secolo e la potente modernità americana del primo Novecento. Nata nella città di Nagaoka, nel nord del paese, Etsu riceve una rigida educazione, improntata ai principi dei nobili guerrieri samurai, ma il destino ha in serbo per lei tutt'altro: in seguito alla morte improvvisa del padre, la ragazza viene promessa in sposa a Matsuo, un amico del fratello, che vive negli Stati Uniti. Sarà solo l'inizio del suo viaggio nel Nuovo Mondo e dentro se stessa, un viaggio ricco di momenti belli e difficili come solo la vita sa essere. Forte della sua identità e delle sue convinzioni, tra i ricordi magici dell'infanzia in Giappone e l'incontro dirompente con la realtà occidentale, che la sospinge verso nuovi orizzonti, la giovane donna cresce, impara e ama con coraggio. Più di un memoir, più di una saga familiare, la vicenda di Etsu, leggera e forte come un fiore di ciliegio nel vento, è una bellissima storia di formazione al femminile che non smette di appassionare e commuovere.

Destiny's Daughter by Frances Altman highlights events in the life of Mary Edwards Walker, maverick suffragist, Civil War doctor and only woman Medal of Honor recipient. Follow in her steps, as Walker pursues a dream to become one of America's first female physicians in a society of opposition. She was swept up in unfolding events that never could have been predicted, serving under fire in the Civil War, imprisoned at Castle Thunder; championing women's dress reform and lecturing on temperance, smoking and women's abuse. She found camaraderie among soldiers on the battlefield, in Congressional hallways, and patrons of colorful Dime Museums. She charmed generals, presidents, a Queen, and newsmen. She persevered as a strong, opinioned woman who rebutted suffragist leaders but influenced the Postal Service to make changes. Walker urged women to become independent and to support themselves in a chosen occupation. She recognized her value, turning protesting into a marketing tool for women's rights. Destiny's Daughter is a creative chronology emphasizing a woman's personality resilience and achievements. Her philosophy and actions parallel the goals of many women today. She still makes a notable model to admire and follow.

DeScriPtionWhen she was nine years old, Savitri was married to thirteen-year-oldJyotirao Phule. Savitri yearned to be able to go to school, to read books.Jyotiba wanted his wife to be educated as well, and so he taught her. Soon,she learnt not just to read and write, but also trained as a teacher. Together,Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule started schools where girls and boys, Dalitchildren, and those who had been shunned from schools till then could geteducated. They fought against caste atrocities. They made sure that womenlearnt of their rights to exist with dignity.Savitribai Phule became one of India's first woman teachers and femalereformers. She faced incredible opposition to her work when people attackedher not just with words but even with stones and dung. But nothing could stopher.This is the enduring story of a woman who looked at age-old injustices andprejudice in the eye, and overcame them with courage and the power oflearning.

Elsa Valmidiano's The Beginning of Leaving is a hybrid collection of journalistic prose and lyrical essays, weaving a personal examination of how leaving not only reflects a picture of immigration and the diaspora, but how migration through generations compels any individual to honor the Motherland we left behind, and acknowledge whose land we now inhabit and have adopted as our own. In these essays, leaving is not simply a finite act but a process of resistance, reconciliation, and release-from a Motherland, a childhood, War, a body, a mindset, a painful past, or shame. Within this collection is a reflective and immersive travelogue as well as bildungsroman of a woman who is the daughter of Filipino immigrants. As she travels from her ancestral barrios in the Philippines, to the suburbs of LA, to the High Desert of California, and finally to the Australian Outback in Murujuga, themes of heartbreak, family, trauma, and race are intimately interwoven inside discussions surrounding gender expectations, as well as Motherland values versus adopted homeland values.

'This gripping memoir conveys the courage and cost of telling a truer story' GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE DAY'A memoir of an extraordinary life, which takes in the past 50 years of Xinjiang's history ... fascinating' THE TIMES'Revelatory' SUNDAY TELEGRAPHA powerful and urgent memoir by Uyghur activist Gulchehra Hoja - a remarkable woman who went from being a beloved star on Chinese children's TV to a journalist whose reporting on the oppression of her people led to her entire extended family being imprisoned.In 2018, twenty-four members of Gulchehra Hoja's family, including her elderly parents, were arrested by the Chinese state. Gulchehra had been forced to leave her family behind when she fled to a new life in the United States, and the arrests were an act of retaliation against her investigations for Radio Free Asia into the plight of the Uyghur people. For the Uyghurs, this kind of oppression is not unusual. In her stunning memoir, Gulchehra shares her story: an account of life under Chinese rule in East Turkestan, and her journey to becoming a spokesperson against genocide. The grandchild of a musician and the daughter of an archaeologist, Gulchehra grew up with Uyghur culture and history running through her veins. She showed her gifts early on as a dancer, actress and storyteller, and she became a major television star. But she began to understand what China was doing to her people, as well as her own complicity as a journalist. As her growing fame and political awakening coincided, she made it her mission to expose the crimes Beijing is committing against its own citizens. Filled with the beauty of East Turkestan and its people, A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs is the story of a woman who has been willing to risk her own life to expose the truth.'Essential reading' FINANCIAL TIMES'A deeply moving page turner' MICHAEL PORTILLO'Pulses with energy and beauty, making us care about what is being erased at mass scale by telling a deeply personal tale' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

An expatriate son's intimate memoir and tribute to his mother The Good Lord Willing and the Creek Don't Rise: Pentimento Memories of Mom and Me traces the trials, tribulations, and unbreakable bond of two Pacific Northwest characters. Kay Schlinkman grows up on the banks of the Columbia River in the 1930s and 1940s. She overcomes a small logging town's ostracism in the late 1950s for her divorce, excommunication by the Catholic Church for remarrying, severe criticism and rejection for defending her son's refusal to go to war, and the burden of paying off her second husband's gambling debts. In her forties, she becomes a licensed pilot and flies two summers as a forest fire spotter. After a second divorce in her fifties, she takes night classes to become qualified as a legal secretary and continues to work until she's seventy-eight.After an idyllic childhood in the redwoods and a rebellious adolescence following his parents' divorce, Robert Norris enters the Air Force, becomes a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, is court-martialed and goes to military prison, embraces the counterculture upon release, wanders the world in search of his identity, and eventually lands in Japan, where he finds his niche as a university professor, spends two years as the dean of students, and retires as professor emeritus.Despite their separation by the expanse of the Pacific Ocean, Robert and Kay maintain a lifelong commitment of love, respect, and support that enriches both their lives. Kay visits Japan eight times. Robert, his wife, and Kay journey to Ireland to trace her father's roots. The Good Lord Willing provides a heart-warming example of how far a mother and son can go in maintaining their bond against great odds. A must read for all mothers and sons, and for those who've wondered what the road less traveled would've been like, had they taken that first step.

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERWinner of the Florida Book Awards Gold MedalNew York Times bestselling author and master of nonfiction spy thrillers Larry Loftis writes the first major biography of Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch watchmaker who saved the lives of hundreds of Jews during WWII—at the cost of losing her family and being sent to a concentration camp, only to survive, forgive her captors, and live the rest of her life as a Christian missionary.The Watchmaker’s Daughter is one of the greatest stories of World War II that readers haven’t heard: the remarkable and inspiring life story of Corrie ten Boom—a groundbreaking, female Dutch watchmaker, whose family unselfishly transformed their house into a hiding place straight out of a spy novel to shelter Jews and refugees from the Nazis during Gestapo raids. Even though the Nazis knew what the ten Booms were up to, they were never able to find those sheltered within the house when they raided it.Corrie stopped at nothing to face down the evils of her time and overcame unbelievable obstacles and odds. She persevered despite the loss of most of her family and relied on her faith to survive the horrors of a notorious concentration camp. But even more remarkable than her heroism and survival was Corrie’s attitude when she was released. Miraculously, she was able to eschew bitterness and embrace forgiveness as she ministered to people in need around the globe. Corrie’s ability to forgive is just one of the myriad lessons that her life story holds for readers today.Reminiscent of Schindler’s List and featuring a journey of faith and forgiveness not unlike Unbroken, The Watchmaker’s Daughter is destined to become a classic work of World War II nonfiction.

The lives, loves, adventures and trailblazing musical careers of four extraordinary women from a stunning debut biographer. <BR><BR>'Fabulous.' Sunday Times 'A rare gift.' Financial Times 'Passionate ... Vivid ... Timely.' Telegraph 'Readable and inspiring.' Guardian 'Compelling ... Ambitious ... Poignant.' Spectator 'Magnificent.' Kate Mosse 'Riveting.' Antonia Fraser 'A breath of fresh air.' Kate Molleson 'Fascinating.' Alexandra Harris 'Wonderful.' Claire Tomalin 'Splendid.' Miranda Seymour 'Remarkable.' Fiona Maddocks 'Pioneering.' Andrew Motion 'Brilliant' Helen Pankhurst <BR>Ethel Smyth (b.1858): Famed for her operas, this trailblazing queer Victorian composer was a larger-than-life socialite, intrepid traveller and committed Suffragette.<BR><BR>Rebecca Clarke (b.1886): This talented violist and Pre-Raphaelite beauty was one of the first women ever hired by a professional orchestra, later celebrated for her modernist experimentation.<BR><BR>Dorothy Howell (b.1898): A prodigy who shot to fame at the 1919 Proms, her reputation as the 'English Strauss' never dented her modesty; on retirement, she tended Elgar's grave alone.<BR><BR>Doreen Carwithen (b.1922): One of Britain's first woman film composers who scored Elizabeth II's coronation film, her success hid a 20-year affair with her married composition tutor. In their time, these women were celebrities. They composed some of the century's most popular music and pioneered creative careers; but today, they are ghostly presences, surviving only as muses and footnotes to male contemporaries like Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Britten - until now. Leah Broad's magnificent group biography resurrects these forgotten voices, recounting lives of rebellion, heartbreak and ambition, and celebrating their musical masterpieces. Lighting up a panoramic sweep of British history over two World Wars, Quartet revolutionises the canon forever.

A wildly hilarious and irreverent memoir of a globe-trotting life lived meal-to-meal by one of our most influential and respected food criticsAs the son of a diplomat growing up in places like Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan, Adam Platt didn’t have the chance to become a picky eater. Living, traveling, and eating in some of the most far-flung locations around the world, he developed an eclectic palate and a nuanced understanding of cultures and cuisines that led to some revelations which would prove important in his future career as a food critic. In Tokyo, for instance—“a kind of paradise for nose-to-tail cooking”—he learned that “if you’re interested in telling a story, a hair-raisingly bad meal is much better than a good one."From dim sum in Hong Kong to giant platters of Peking duck in Beijing, fresh-baked croissants in Paris and pierogi on the snowy streets of Moscow, Platt takes us around the world, re-tracing the steps of a unique, and lifelong, culinary education. Providing a glimpse into a life that has intertwined food and travel in exciting and unexpected ways, The Book of Eating is a delightful and sumptuous trip that is also the culinary coming-of-age of a voracious eater and his eventual ascension to become, as he puts it, “a professional glutton.”

Rebecca Clarke had a solid career as a banker in her hometown of Hong Kong, but she gave it up to go to England and built her own business instead, providing care for kids from Hong Kong and China who were at school in the UK, far from their families. She married an Englishman and had two sons, making a success of the difficult shift from one culture and world to another. Her story provides inspiration for the hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers who have moved or are planning to move to England to remake their lives. Born in 1949 as the youngest of nine children, Rebecca grew up with parents from Fujian Province who believed that girls are less important than boys. She took that as a challenge and grew up with a strong will to fight for equality, and a determined certainty that where there is a will, there must be a way. She rejected her father's suggestion of becoming a teacher and instead found a job in an American bank, before moving on to become a Vice President of an Asian bank. Then came England.¿¿¿¿¿Rebecca's story is a model in so many ways to people looking to remake their lives in a foreign land, learning to respect and love the new while still cherishing and celebrating her cultural roots.

Water is fluid, soft, yielding. But water will wear away rock...what is soft is strong. - Lao Tzu In 1920s Detroit, King Ying stands on a box to iron clothes in her parent's laundry business and endures taunts of Ching-Ching Chinaman on the playground. She dreams of a home and the elegance of her Jane Arden paper dolls. But when her father incurs steep debts during the Great Depression, he sends her far from hope to live in his ancestral village. In remote Tai Ting Pong in the Guangdong province of China, King Ying feels as foreign in the land of her heritage as she did in the country of her birth. There, she must survive hunger, deadly superstition, and Japanese invasion. When a guardian angel helps her return to California, it's a chance to seize her American dream ... if she can overcome mid-20th century racism, those who prey on the economically vulnerable, and her family's expectations about marriage. In this debut memoir, Karin K. Jensen records her mother's transpacific quest for identity, survival, and new world dreams. The Strength of Water is a work of Asian American history revealed through one's family's experiences. Review "The Strength of Water is a heartening read about an immigrant daughter's odyssey. Through her mother's stories and family oral histories, Karin Jensen successfully provides us with a moving glimpse of Chinese American life in the last century, revealing the humanity of immigrant laborers, how they lived, and what they felt." - Harvey Dong, Lecturer, Asian American & Asian Diaspora Studies, UC Berkeley "Some stories cry out to be told. Karin Jensen's debut memoir, The Strength of Water, is such a story. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the sociology of early twentieth-century China or the experience of Chinese immigrants. Ms. Jensen tells her mother's story with clarity, wit, and a deft touch for the unvarnished truth." - Tani Hanes, author of Obachan: A Young Girl's Struggle for Freedom in 20th-Century Japan "One woman's epic odyssey, one family's story of striving in a foreign country, one generation's unique memory. An amazing memoir where the "strength of water," the power of resilience and adapting to any circumstance, is the common thread that flows throughout the whole family, connecting everyone's lives. Touching, inspiring, and brilliantly written." - Shen Yang, author of More Than One Child "Karin Jensen has wonderfully captured history and culture along with the incredible stories of her Chinese American mother, who indeed lived a big life, persevering through astonishing hardships, discrimination, and difficult family relationships to finally find golden times." -- Linda Austin, co-author of the WWII memoir Cherry Blossoms in Twilight

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER | WITH EXCLUSIVE NEW MATERIAL<BR><BR>'I want to be Sheila Hancock when I grow up' - Lorraine Kelly<BR>'Wise, witty, kind and true' - Sunday Times<BR>'A sparkling memoir as funny and insightful as it's moving' - Daily Mail<BR>'A captivating memoir' - Mail on Sunday<BR><BR>In 2016, Sheila Hancock sat down to write a book about a serene and fulfilled old age. This is not that book.<BR><BR>In Old Rage, one of Britain's best-loved actors opens up about her tenth decade. Funny, feisty, honest, she makes for brilliant company as she talks about her life and takes an uncompromising look at a world so different from the one of her wartime childhood. And yet - despite age, despite rage - she finds there are always reasons for joy.<BR><BR>'The much-loved actor candidly shares the fear, joy and frustration she has found in her ninth decade' Guardian, Books of the Year 2022<BR>'Sheila Hancock reflects upon her life and career with all the winning candour and warm-heartedness we have come to expect from the legendary actress' Waterstones

People always asked how I did it.In the late 1970s, Kathy Clarke was the midwife for what became a burgeoning incentive travel industry in Hawai'i. Part memoir and part trade chronicle, View from the Volcano deftly combines the events of Clarke's personal life with stories of the fitful growth of the Aloha State's most influential industry. "Impossible" was not a word in Clarke's vocabulary as she raised seven children and helped create a thriving tourism model. Still in the game, passionate and adventurous, Hawai'i's oldest living DMC, Clarke continues to delight in instigating minor rebellions. For forty-five years, Kathy Clarke has been immersed in Hawai'i hospitality. Since 1980, Clarke has built her career as an innovator in Hawai'i event and destination management. The COVID-19-induced tourism shutdown launched her writing career. Her first collection of micro memoirs, My Life is a Road Atlas, was published in December 2021. Her life-long love of Hawai'i's hospitality industry was the impetus for this book.The Hali'a Aloha Series publishes personal essays, poetry and prose in micro-memoir format. The series celebrates moments big and small, harnessing the power of short forms to preserve the lived experiences of the storytellers.

Destiny's Daughter by Frances Altman highlights events in the life of Mary Edwards Walker, maverick suffragist, Civil War doctor and only woman Medal of Honor recipient. Follow in her steps, as Walker pursues a dream to become one of America's first female physicians in a society of opposition. She was swept up in unfolding events that never could have been predicted, serving under fire in the Civil War, imprisoned at Castle Thunder; championing women's dress reform and lecturing on temperance, smoking and women's abuse. She found camaraderie among soldiers on the battlefield, in Congressional hallways, and patrons of colorful Dime Museums. She charmed generals, presidents, a Queen, and newsmen. She persevered as a strong, opinioned woman who rebutted suffragist leaders but influenced the Postal Service to make changes. Walker urged women to become independent and to support themselves in a chosen occupation. She recognized her value, turning protesting into a marketing tool for women's rights. Destiny's Daughter is a creative chronology emphasizing a woman's personality resilience and achievements. Her philosophy and actions parallel the goals of many women today. She still makes a notable model to admire and follow.

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Tardanika Marshall, is a Forty-two-year-old female, who was born on October 16, 1980.She Attended High School at A.C. Flora High, Midlands Technical College, and Strayer University all in Columbia SC. She is also working a full-time job with long hours to further her goals.She was Raised in Columbia, SC. She has three children and two Grandchildren which are the world to her. In her spare time, she loves to cook, write, and spend time with her family.What inspired the writing of this book is that I ran into a lady and her grandson in a Chinese restaurant on a rainy afternoon, after I was done placing my order, we started to talk the lady talked about her and her grandsons' life. Next thing I knew, I was writing the story. Her words encouraged me to write this story.She motivated me not to give up, she made me realize that I have more to offer then what I was doing. Just believe and step out in faith. You never know what the future has in stored for you. I enjoy the obstacles and challenges I have had and will encounter in my life. I want to thank all my family members for pushing, supporting, and motivating me in the process of writing this book.I am in the process of Devastation to the Heart part ll, which will be out soon, a cookbook, and a children's book.You must have an open mind to enjoy the suspense in this book, More Books To come in 2023'-Tardanika Marshall

A luminous memoir of love and grief from the author of Common People First U.S. EditionAlison Light met the radical social historian, Raphael Samuel, in London in 1986. Twenty years her senior, Raphael was a charismatic figure on the British Left, utterly driven by his work and by a commitment to collective politics. Within a year they were married. Within ten, Raphael would pass away.Theirs was an attraction of opposites- he from a Jewish Communist family with its roots in Russia and Eastern Europe, she from the English working class. In this chronicle of a passionate marriage, Alison Light peels back the layers of their time together, its intimacies and its estrangements."...more than just some summing-up: it is a work of art." -GUARDIAN "Remarkable, moving, illuminating. A memoir of cauterizing honesty. This is a book that deserves to be widely read." -MARK BOSTRIDGE, SPECTATOR "An inspiring account of ... deep love..." -TLS "Beautifully crafted...it casts a light on the lightness of love and the profound depression of loss. A truly gifted writer." -HERALD "The portrait of Spitalfields is superb, and so is the account of Raphael's astonishing mother Minna." -MARGARET DRABBLE, TLS, BOOK OF THE YEAR "Compulsively readable. Light is a shrewd narrator...She reflects with careful psychological and philosophical insight on the reality of loneliness and profound loss following ten years of marriage...Light is also a poet and it shows in certain suppositions and propositions..." -RTE

Attention, Swifties! Unite! TidalWave Comics proudly presents an extraordinary tribute to Taylor and her remarkable ERAS tour, which has shattered records. This captivating retrospective chronicles the career of America's beloved singer/songwriter. Taylor not only cherishes her fans but also supports charitable causes. She stands as an empowering figure, a true embodiment of Female Force. Special edition Hard cover with cover by Marvel Comics artist Yonami. The "Female Force" imprint features prominent and influential authors, business executives, entertainers, journalists, politicians, and activists. The latest biography comic book joins TidalWave's ever-growing library of more than 200 comic book biographies. ¿¿Previous titles have profiled Dolly Parton, Kamala Harris, Tina Fey, Nancy Reagan, Michelle Obama, Barbra Streisand, Madonna to Cher and Gloria Steinem. These biographical comics, written by some of the most talented writers in the comic world and beyond, deliver an informed and illustrated look into the lives of these figures.

A riveting, real-life equivalent of The Kite Runner—an astonishingly powerful and profoundly moving story of a young couple willing to risk everything for love that puts a human face on the ongoing debate about women’s rights in the Muslim world.Zakia and Ali were from different tribes, but they grew up on neighboring farms in the hinterlands of Afghanistan. By the time they were young teenagers, Zakia, strikingly beautiful and fiercely opinionated, and Ali, shy and tender, had fallen in love. Defying their families, sectarian differences, cultural conventions, and Afghan civil and Islamic law, they ran away together only to live under constant threat from Zakia’s large and vengeful family, who have vowed to kill her to restore the family’s honor. They are still in hiding.Despite a decade of American good intentions, women in Afghanistan are still subjected to some of the worst human rights violations in the world. Rod Nordland, then the Kabul bureau chief of the New York Times, had watched these abuses unfold for years when he came upon Zakia and Ali, and has not only chronicled their plight, but has also shepherded them from danger.The Lovers will do for women’s rights generally what Malala’s story did for women’s education. It is an astonishing story about self-determination and the meaning of love that illustrates, as no policy book could, the limits of Western influence on fundamentalist Islamic culture and, at the same time, the need for change.

Let Freedom Rain Free people free people. "What if finding your freedom could bring liberation to others?" Co-founder of Free Rain International, Dianna Bautista, isn't only on a mission to help survivors of sexual exploitation escape the bondage of human trafficking. She's here to encourage you to find your own freedom. Let Freedom Rain offers more than the stories of survivors... it shares the lives of victors over the trauma they have experienced, which will reveal the key to finding freedom over your own life.In addition to challenging yet heartfelt stories with unexpected outcomes, Dianna shares about those in her care who have found freedom, then gives you the tools to find your own. No one else will find your freedom for you. It is time for you to find the strength inside to take your freedom back. Then be an example and support for others in need.Because free people free people.

 “The book is a romp from cover to cover—and, just like a great meal, left me ready for more.” <BR>—Karen Shimizu, Executive Editor, Food & Wine<BR><BR>When Leslie Karst learned that her offer to cook dinner for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her renowned tax law professor husband, Marty, had been accepted, she was thrilled—and terrified. A small-town lawyer who hated her job and had taken up cooking as a way to add a bit of spice to the daily grind of pumping out billable hours, Karst had never before thrown such a high-stakes dinner party. Could she really pull this off?<BR><BR> Justice Is Served is Karst’s light-hearted, earnest account of the journey this unexpected challenge launched her on—starting with a trip to Paris for culinary inspiration, and ending with the dinner itself. Along the way, she imparts details of Ginsburg’s transformation from a young Jewish girl from Flatbush, Brooklyn, to one of the most celebrated Supreme Court justices in our nation’s history, and shares recipes for the mouthwatering dishes she came up with as she prepared for the big night. But this memoir isn’t simply a tale of prepping for and cooking dinner for the famous RBG; it’s also about how this event, and all the planning and preparation that went into it, created a new sort of connection between Karst, her partner, and her parents, and also inspired Karst to make life changes that would reverberate far beyond one dinner party. <BR><BR>A heartfelt story of simultaneously searching for delicious recipes and purpose in life, Justice Is Served is an inspiring reminder that it’s never too late to discover—and follow—your deepest passion.<BR><BR>

January 4th-6th, 1996, Pat E. Robinson was kidnapped, chained and sexually abused. A month after she was kidnapped, on February 14, 1996, on Valentine's Day, Robinson testified in the Indiana Senate Hearing Committee on Senate Bills to protect domestic violence victims. The bill was presented to exempt victims of domestic violence from paying a $100 filing fee for an emergency restraining order. Robinson paid the $100 fee for a protection order against her abuser. Robinson was a faithful contributor yearly to the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence and received gratitude from ICDV Executive Director, Laura Berry. At a women's conference, Robinson had the pleasure of meeting Anna Quindlen, best-selling novelist. "Black and Blue" was always Robinson's favorite. Quindlen encouraged Robinson to author her true story. She signed the book "For Pat - "Who Understands." Anna Quindlen, this is for you! Patricia Eileen Robinson, lived in Hulen, KY, a coal mining area in the Appalachian Mountains of southeastern Kentucky. Her parents were divorced. Her dad was abusive. Patti and her siblings lived apart for a while. She lived with a great aunt and uncle on a farm geographically located near the historical Cumberland Gap National Park, known as Daniel Boone's passage to the west. She married and moved to Greenfield, IN, a small town and farming area known for the slogan "there's more than corn in Indiana." Patti and husband, Gary Robinson retired happily living in a rural area on a small lake. They enjoy fishing, boating, bird, duck and turtle watching, gardening, being with four children, eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren. They love the seasons of the mid-west.