Spanning over thirty years of writing, Dispatches and Diversions is a wonderful collection of articles that cross the globe and introduce readers to many characters, introduced as only Bill Barich can. As said by Time magazine, Barich's touch is always “artful and compassionate."Broken up into two sections, Barich shares stories of the people, from those that have shaken him to the core, to others from a much lighter place.As he notes in his introduction, “I've spent much of my writing life indulging curiosity, throwing myself into situations and subcultures to gain an education and acquire my own angle on the world. The dispatches collected here arose from that desire."From the troubles in Northern Ireland and the homeless in San Francisco to the US-Mexico borders, Barich went to the people to find the “real story. These are his dispatches. “They all explore stories the press had ignored or covered in a desultory way, at least in...

Alice Taylor's gripping sequel to The Woman of the House.At Mossgrove, the Phelan family farm, long-time hired hand Jack plays peacemaker as widow Martha Phelan battles her young son, Peter, who wants to modernize the farm. Tensions on the home front are bitter enough, but at the Conway farm across the river, more trouble is brewing. Slovenly Matt Conway feels trapped and abuses his wife, Biddy. Spurred on by a misguided belief that the Phelans got the best of him in a loan to buy land, he keeps vigil at a fence post plotting revenge ...

Alice Taylor takes a nostalgic, loving look back to a family firmly rooted in tradition and humour and - in particular - the Christmas traditions of her childhood. With her unerring knack of bringing her readers into her home, her stories of a childhood Christmas are rich, warm and amusing, giving a wonderful insight into life as it was.

They told me I’d be an escort; they made it sound so easy.Really I’m just a high priced call girl.Desperation brought me to this and it led me to him, my one and only client.Hating him is easy, he reminds me of my shame.Wanting him is wrong it fills me with guilt.Loving him is a losing battle yet it’s become everything.A gift and a curse, he consumes my every thought and I’d rather play my part in his bed than to spend one day without him.

'We walk in the footprints of great women,women who lived through hard times on farms,in villages, towns and cities.The lives of these women are an untold story.This book is a celebration of the often forgotten"ordinary" women who gave so much to our society.' Alice Taylor In her eagerly-awaited new book, Alice salutes the women whose energy and generositymade such a valuable contribution to all our lives. '[It] warmed my heart and reminded me of the value of family, friendship and community... I was enthralled... wonderful.' Irish Independent on And Time Stood Still

Here is a travel book with a difference: ten chronological chapters from a year of wandering, from the Pacific Northwest to Tuscany and back again to the trout-laden streams of California. Join Bill Barich as he travels the globe, from the trout streams of Northern California to the auction ring at Saratoga, where millions of dollars may be gaveled away for a yearling thoroughbred; from seedy London pubs to a run-down Florentine palazzo during a glorious Italian spring. Learn the science of English beer brewing, the art of fly tying, how to generate hydroelectric power, the proper analysis of the Daily Racing Form, and the best way to eat artichokes.Freshness, wit, and Barich's distinctive voice create a luminous travelogue crackling with an inimitable curiosity and an elegance of style that marks every step of this remarkable journey.

A classic memoir from Ireland's favourite storyteller. Here Taylor follows To School Through The Fields with these equally captivating recollections of family life in pastorial County Cork. Infused with wit and lyricism, the story centres on the 1950's when the author and her friends were teenagers. She describes the past vividly and without complaint as the years of hard labour for herself, parents and siblings, were also filled with fun in the close knit community.

When Bill Barich moved to Dublin, he began searching for a traditional pub to serve as his local. Although he had no shortage of choices, he had trouble finding one that measured up to the archetypal ideal. As he roams from hectic urban pubs to their dwindling rural counterparts, he chronicles the state of the 'Irish' pub today, both in Ireland itself and all over the world. Entertaining, charming and full of insight, A Pint of Plain chronicles Barich's quest for the perfect pint, at the same time examining Irish culture at a time of great change.

Bill Barich burst onto the literary scene more than twenty-five years ago with this remarkable account of racetrack life. Holed up in a cheap motel in Albany, California, only a few miles from Golden Gate Fields, he looked to the track to help him make sense of his life during a dark peiod of loss and challenge. With rare sensitivity, he captured the gritty world of the backstretch, and also its poetry, as few other writers have done. Laughing in the Hills, which was first serialized in the New Yorker, has become a classic of sporting literature and a must for anyone who loves horses and the world they create.“It is a lovely, valuable book, introspective without being self-servingly so, affectionate but never saccharine in its evocation of racetrack life, witty and perceptive throughout." —Jonathan Yardley, Sports Illustrated

A woman steps over the line into the unthinkable in this brilliant, powerful, and unforgettable new novel by the author of The Lovely Bones and Lucky. For years Helen Knightly has given her life to others: to her haunted mother, to her enigmatic father, to her husband and now grown children. When she finally crosses a terrible boundary, her life comes rushing in at her in a way she never could have imagined. Unfolding over the next twenty-four hours, this searing, fast-paced novel explores the complex ties between mothers and daughters, wives and lovers, the meaning of devotion, and the line between love and hate. It is a challenging, moving, gripping story, written with the fluidity and strength of voice that only Alice Sebold can bring to the page.