The Beatles turned the 1960s on its head with their music, their hair, and their fashion style. Starting with the bespoke suits their manager Brian Epstein had made for them to replace the rough leather jackets and pants that defined their Hamburg era to the psychedelic prints that they used on their clothes, cars, and even musical instruments. The Beatles were the driving force for the apparel of the youth culture. Deirdre Kelly chronicles the rapidly changing look of the Beatles through the decade. They influenced the style of contemporary bands and the shops of Carnaby Street and the Swinging Sixties. From facial hair during the Sgt. Pepper recordings, Indian clothing during their meditation training in Rishikesh, to setting up their clothing store, The Apple Boutique. It is almost impossible, from this distance, to realize how revolutionary The Beatles were, but the fact that current designers are still influenced by their ever-changing looks is a testament to their place in fashion history. My only minor gripe is more pictures in the book would have been a bonus.
John, Paul, George, and Ringo were more than great musicians: they were the quintessential fashion icons of one of the most exciting and memorable fashion eras of all time. From their starts in black leather through Sgt. Pepper to Nehru collars and psychedelia, the Beatles used clothing to express their individual and group identities and, especially, to grow their following.
They did it without benefit of stylists or consultants, making their own rules and changing their looks as many as five times a year to keep a few steps ahead of the crowd in the tumultuous, fashion-obsessed sixties. More than…
In a world devastated by World War I and the Spanish Flu, spiritualism has found its place. People want closure for people who have died so suddenly. When Evelyn finds out that her husband says he can hear messages from the dead is skeptical. When he becomes a celebrity in their community she is attracted to the country house parties and all the new upper-class acquaintances. As she begins to question if her husband is telling the truth she is afraid he will find out a secret of hers that she has never told him. The setting in early 20th century Scotland helped form the story and we feel Evelyn’s conflicting emotions as she seeks help for her husband while trying to keep his ‘talent’ under wraps from others and trying to accept what he has become.
“Equal parts lush Gothic mystery and delicately wrought 1920s domestic drama. . . . a riveting exploration of the unknowable―whether it’s ghosts, spirits, or the people we love most.”―Tara Isabella Burton, author of The World Cannot Give
In 1920s Edinburgh, Scotland, Evelyn Hazard is a young, middle-class housewife living the life she’s always expected―until her husband, Robert, upends everything with a startling announcement: he can communicate with the dead.
The couple is pulled into the spiritualist movement―a religious society of mediums and psychics that emerged following the mass deaths of the Spanish flu…
This very near-future dystopian story is about a woman facing life with robots and AI. May is a wife and mother of two who undergoes a procedure to make her face invisible to all the cameras and tracking AI that litter her world. Advertisements pop up everywhere including from the robots that are in every position in society. She and her family live in a world impacted by climate change so she decides to spend what little money she has to take her family to the Botanical Garden, a microcosm of what the world had been with lush greenery, waterfalls, and animals. Things go awry when the children go off on their own without their tracking devices. Being monitored everywhere is just around the corner for our society and the premise of the book is enough to make you paranoid about what we might become.
A Most Anticipated Book for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, Goodreads, LitHub, and Book Riot A Best Book of the Summer for Esquire, Electric Lit, and Town & Country A People Book of the Week
From “one of our most profound writers of speculative fiction” (The New York Times),this “tense dystopian thriller” (Time) and “tender portrait of love and care in an uncertain world” (Esquire) is an urgent and unflinching portrayal of a woman’s fight for her family’s security in a world shaped by global warming and rapid technological progress.
William Holman Hunt wants his own revolution. In the year 1848 Europe erupts in turmoil, but Hunt is an art student, with many dreams and limited funds, in a London where revolution is just not done - especially one against the art establishment.Hunt, along with six friends and fellow students - including the prodigy John Everett Millais and the artist-poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti - proclaim themselves the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB). They plan to display their new art at the most prestigious exhibition in the country: The Royal Academy of Art.They were expecting criticism, praise, or even ambivalence. What they were not expecting was the violent abuse hurled at them by the art elite, journalists, and even Charles Dickens. The stale and stodgy art world of mid-Victorian London will not tolerate these upstarts. The defiant PRB will not back down. Now it really is a revolution.Can the young PRB survive the attacks against them? Can their friendship survive growing up?"Anyone interested in the culture of Victorian London will find plenty to celebrate. An illuminating look at an influential artistic period, which may well inspire readers to pick up their own pen or paintbrush." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Named to Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2012."(The formation of the PRB) seems unlikely seed-grounds for a dramatic historical novel, but through sharp pacing and some extremely sensitive character study, Lee pulls it off. Her awkward, immensely talented young artists are all dramatically drawn and expertly differentiated, and her midcentury London is so vividly drawn that readers will feel like they're seeing and hearing the chaotic world in which these men strive and laugh and seek to establish their careers. Her readers will never look at those works the same way again. Highly recommended." - Historical Novel Society “Young PRB, is a fascinating novel, a study of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood who hope to turn the clock back and continue with the work started earlier by artists who brought a lead white, light-filled touch to painting. It is a beautiful book, a literary volume, and an interesting read even for those who are not well schooled in the study of art history. The young artists come alive in this book...it is a masterpiece of history, character study, etc. It is well plotted, and filled with interesting characters and events. I truly enjoyed the reading experience.” - Judge, Writer’s Digest 21st Annual Self-Published Book Awards
