Showing results by author "Annabel Abbs" in All Categories

In the winter of 2020, Annabel Abbs experienced a series of bereavements. As she grieved, she kept busy by day, but at night sleep eluded her. And yet her sleeplessness led to a profound and unexpected discovery: her Night Self. As the night transformed into a place of creativity and liberation, Annabel found she wasn't alone. From the radical fifteenth-century philosopher Laura Cereta and subversive artist Louise Bourgeois, to Virginia Woolf and the activist Peace Pilgrim, women have long found sanctuary, inspiration and courage in darkness.

The story of extraordinary women who lost their way - their sense of self, their identity, their freedom - and found it again through walking in the wild. A feminist exploration of the power of walking in nature, following in the footsteps of Gwen John, Georgia O'Keeffe, Frieda Lawrence, Clara Vyvyan, Simone de Beauvoir, Daphne Du Maurier and Nan Shepherd. 

England 1835. Eliza Acton is a poet who dreams of seeing her words in print. But when she takes her new manuscript to a publisher, she’s told that ‘poetry is not the business of a lady’. Instead, they want her to write a cookery book. That’s what readers really want from women. England is awash with exciting new ingredients, from spices to exotic fruits. But no one knows how to use them. Eliza leaves the offices appalled. But when her father is forced to flee the country for bankruptcy, she has no choice but to consider the proposal. 

James Joyce was her father. Samuel Beckett was her lover. This is her story. A mesmerising fictionalisation of Lucia Joyce's life told for the first time. Paris, 1928. Avant-garde Paris is buzzing with the latest ideas in art, music and literature from artists such as Ford Madox Ford and Zelda Fitzgerald. Lucia, the talented and ambitious daughter of controversial genius James Joyce, is making her name as a dancer. But when Lucia falls passionately in love with budding writer Samuel Beckett, he is banned from the Joyce family home.

Germany 1907. Aristocrat Frieda von Richthofen has rashly married English professor Ernest Weekley. Visiting her sisters in Munich, she is captivated by a city alive with ideas of revolution and free love, and, goaded by sibling rivalry with her sisters and the need to be more than mother and wife, Frieda embarks on a passionate affair that is her sensual and intellectual awakening.

Inghilterra, 1835. Eliza Acton spera che la sua nuova raccolta di poesie la conduca al successo. I sogni di gloria, però, si infrangono contro l'oltraggioso rifiuto dell'editore, Mr Longman, che la invita a dedicarsi a un libro di ricette - del resto i lettori non si aspettano altro da una donna. Eliza s'indigna: in casa degli Acton la cucina riguarda solo la servitù. Ma quando suo padre, sull'orlo della bancarotta, si dà alla fuga, quell'assurda proposta si rivela l'unico modo per sopravvivere.

Die spektakuläre Geschichte der Frieda von Richthofen: "Eine kühne und starke Frau." (Stylist). Deutschland, 1907: Frieda von Richthofen, in Nottingham mit dem britischen Professor Ernest Weekley verheiratet und Mutter dreier Kinder, besucht ihre Schwestern in München. Sie taucht ein in die Schwabinger Bohème, in die Welt der Künstler, Freigeister und freien Liebe. Sie beginnt eine leidenschaftliche Affäre mit dem Psychoanalytiker Otto Gross und entdeckt, dass sie mehr sein will als Mutter und Ehefrau.

Annabel Abbs's Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women is a beautifully written meditation on connecting with the outdoors through the simple act of walking. In captivating and elegant prose, Abbs follows in the footsteps of women who boldly reclaimed wild landscapes for themselves, including Georgia O'Keeffe in the empty plains of Texas and New Mexico, Nan Shepherd in the mountains of Scotland, Gwen John following the French River Garonne, Daphne du Maurier along the River Rhône, and Simone de Beauvoir - who walked as much as 25 miles a day in a dress.

Le destin d'une femme exceptionnelle. Une histoire d'amour qui est devenue synonyme de libération sexuelle. En 1912, une jeune baronne allemande vivant à Nottingham commet l'irréparable : elle quitte son confortable foyer et ses trois adorables enfants pour vivre son amour. La décision de Frieda von Richthofen va donner naissance à l'un des plus grands scandales de son temps.

Inglaterra, 1837. El Londres victoriano está repleto de cambios y a las cocinas de todos sus hogares empiezan a llegar especias, alimentos y frutas exóticas, pero las damas inglesas se han alejado de ellas y las han puesto en manos de cocineras y chefs extranjeros.