Bertie, May and Mrs Fish

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Lauren St John

In 1978, in the final, bloodiest phase of the Rhodesian civil war, 11-year-old Lauren St John moves with her family to Rainbow's End, a wild, beautiful farm and game reserve set on the banks of a slowflowing river. The house has been the scene of a horrific attack by guerrillas, and when Lauren's family settles there, a chain of events is set in motion that will change her life irrevocably. This memoir captures the beauty and danger of life in the African bush. At the height of the war, Lauren rides through the wilderness on her horse, Morning Star, encountering lions, crocodiles, snakes, vicious ostriches, and mad cows. The constant threat of ruthless guerrillas prowling the land underscores everything, making each day more dangerous, vivid, and prized than the last.--From publisher description.

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Michael Bloch

An empty account of an empty life, buoyed largely by speculation that Bessie Wallis Warfield Spencer Simpson, the duchess of Windsor, although thrice married, was a virgin when she died. Drawing on the correspondence between the duke and duchess and many of the sources that supported his earlier works about the Windsors, the author (*The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor*, 1969, etc.) tries to define the woman who moved the king of England to give up his throne. Beginning at the beginning, Bloch speculates that Wallis Warfield's birth to a socially prominent family was not registered because of «gender confusion» resulting from genital flaws. As she grew up, according to the author, she developed «a decidedly masculine appearance» and «a bossy personality.» Be that as it may, she made her Baltimore debut with a thoroughly feminine demeanor and married a thoroughly domineering, heavy-drinking male, E. Winfield Spencer Jr. The marriage lasted five years, after which she traveled in Europe and China, where she was rumored to have picked up sexual «arts.» In London with her second husband, Ernest Simpson, she launched a social climb that led to her romance with the man who would become King Edward VIII. She, willing to be mistress or morganatic wife, protested mightily when the king planned to abdicate in order to marry her. She predicted rightly that she would be the target of England's disappointment. Spending the rest of her life successfully insuring that the former monarch would never regret his decision, her households, her wardrobe, her parties, and her persona were never less than perfect. Is the throne of England worth a lifetime with a woman renowned for her perfect grooming? Did her alleged masculinity appeal to the duke's rumored homosexual leanings? This book—in prose as flat as the duchess's chest—doesn't begin to probe those questions or convince the reader of her vaunted charm and wit. ([*Kirkus Reviews*][1]) [1]:

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Geoffrey Wellum

"Geoffry Wellum tells the ... true story of his coming of age amid the roaring, tumbling dogfights of the fiercest air war the world has ever seen. It is the story of an idealistic schoolboy who couldn't believe his luck when the RAF agreed to take him on as a 'pupil pilot' at the minimum age of seventeen and a half in 1939. In his fervor to fly, he gave little thought to the coming war"--Jacket.

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Suzanne McMinn

"Craving a life that would connect her to the earth and her family roots, McMinn packed up her three kids, left her husband and her sterile suburban existence behind, and moved to rural West Virginia. Amid the rough landscape and beauty of this rural mountain country, she pursues a natural lifestyle filled with chickens, goats, sheep--and no pizza delivery"--Amazon.com.