4 comments about The Ripening Sun: One Woman and the Creation of a Vineyard.

1. The Ripening Sun is a restful trip into the charming life of rural France.
   The author's detailing of the everyday running of a vinyard is complete and gives you a good understanding of how much work is involved with this age old process of winemaking. It is a soft book to read anytime of the day and leaves you with just a little peaceful smile.



2. Faced with a formidable challenge of single-handedly turning an overgrown vineyard into a economically viable operation, the heroine of this real-life story has the tenacity to beat the odds and go well beyond what most of us would consider an acceptable workload. Of course, the village setting and the many neighbors whose friendship shines through are the real stars of this wonderful book.



3. This is a "must read" for anyone dreaming of owning a vineyard or wishing for a winery! It is the story of Patricia's journey from a novice to a wine expert in 15 short years. She has an ability to tell her story in a way that won't allow you to put the book down until you have read it through. Her characters are fascinating and the best part is that they are real people. You will want to visit Patricia in France and tour her vineyard and winery after reading this book. Book 2 promises to be even better!



4. This was such a wonderfully spellbinding book that I couldn't put it down but at the same time did not want it to end. I really felt like the author was sitting down with me telling the story of her life. Unlike other books of this genre, there is some real life stuff going on, some of it truly heartbreaking. I would highly recommend this book over some of the others like "Bon Courage." I hope Patricia Atkinson is writing a sequel between all her other busy moments in life.

5 comments about The Little School: Tales of Disappearance and Survival in Argentina.

1. This book stirred up and anger and passion in my in me that I cannot express in words. You have to read it to beleive it!



2. Imagine being kidnapped and being taken to a concentration camp, blindfolded, tied up and not knowing when you will ever see your family and friends again. What would you do if someone put a gun in your mouth? Alicia Partnoy proved to be a brave woman among others.

   What you must know is that this is a true story. It is like if you are reading something made up, but it is sadly true. It is greatly detailed and it even has a sense of humor at points. It is really amazing to see how Alicia talks about her experience and the other "disappeared" s' experiences.

   She was kidnapped. Did not know the whereabouts of her daughter. Her husband was kidnapped also, but they were not able to see each other. Even though she was away from them, she managed to think of them as little as possible, because she thought it would weaken her in trying to survive for them.

   She was always helping others in one way or another. Since they did not know when they were going to die, Alicia showed her compassion in their last hours. She was very generous when everything else was so ruthless.

   She shares part of her hideous life lived in the Little School, because even though she tells you what happened to her and her friends, she keeps the darkest moments to herself. It is personal, a very personal story. You should be thankful that she even wrote this book because she is informing you about what really happened at those times and how the guards treated them inside the Little School.
   

   This book demonstrates the true value of life. Some people overlook small things in life, but these small things grow to be very significant to Alicia when she was a prisoner. It shows the importance of your five senses, the ability to smell, to touch, to hear, to taste and to talk. She was able to see through her nose given that she was blindfolded and was able to create small balls out of bread. Talk about using your imagination at miserable times. This is just one of the things she learned to do when held captive. Read this book to find out how she did this and what else she discovered inside the concentration camp.




3. What would you say if one day while you were doing your chores like every day in your house, spending time with your family and then suddenly a man barges the door throgh wearing military uniforms and takes you away without an explation. What would you do? How would you react?
   Well unfortunately this is what happened to Alicia Partnoy. On January 12, 1977 Alicia was taken away from her house while her husband was working. This sad event took place in Argentina during the time when people were struggling for a better life, striking on streets, demanding better wages. "The Little School" not only tells you the story of Alicia Portnoy, but the stories of people who experience the brutality, the night mares they had to go through while being kept in captivity by the military in a camp called "The Little School".
   I would recommend this book because it gives the reader an idea about how life was in Argentina when govern by evil dictatorship. It will show you how life was while being kept in captivity by the military. For example, the prisoners were blindfolded and by being blindfolded they lost any memory of themselves leaving them hopeless, miserable, and humiliated without any energy left for the future. People would like reading this book because is not only interesting, but it opens your eyes and gives you an idea of how cruel the world can be if its run by the wrong people. Many families were ruined and many people died because they believe in a better world and wanted a better life for the future. "The Little School" is a book that tells us the stories of many people who suffered in the in the hands of thier leaders and teaches us that things like this are happening all around the world and just because we don't hear about it, it doesn't mean we cant do anything about it. You will like this book that you might read it several times because is an unbelievable story of survival.



4. Slippers, bread and a toothbrush: these everyday items are simple enough to most people in the United States, and other parts of the world, to take advantage of or even ignore. In Argentina in the mid to late 70's, however, these common items were enough to keep one young woman sane enough to escape captivity. In The Little School, Alicia Partnoy tells the very real stories of her capture and imprisonment in a government- run concentration camp. Partnoy spins tales of survival in a climate of oppression and death. These amazingly well told stories draw the reader into a terrifying world in which young men and women create and keep intensely strong bonds of camaraderie and friendship even as they have their human dignity is denied to them.
   The Little School is a book of short stories devoted to telling the true history of the 30,000 "disappeared" Argentines at the hands of the government from 1976 to 1979. Thousands of Argentines were taken captive in retaliation for civil disobedience to the government. In this book, Alicia Partnoy takes on the challenge of refuting the official statements made by the government denying the disappearances and making the truth achingly real. As a way of dealing with the reality of her ordeal, Partnoy uses her gift of storytelling to draw in the reader and make her feel what the prisoners felt.
   One of the key techniques that Partnoy employs in the telling of the stories in The Little School is continually changing the perspective from which the story is told. The story of Partnoy's own capture is told from a third person point of view as if a narrator is watching it take place. This is a very powerful tool because it shows that Partnoy uses her own encounter and terror as a means of showing how many, if not all, of the other imprisonments took place. Partnoy expends a lot of energy, as evidenced by this technique, in telling the stories of other people as well as her own. While she does, indeed, spend a fair deal of time telling her own experiences, she also speaks from the perspective of her friend Graciela and her experience being in the school throughout her pregnancy. In doing this, Partnoy takes one of life's most pure experiences and shows the inhumanity of the Argentinean government as they keep, and even torture, a woman who is with child. The stories told from Graciela's perspective shine a light on the true dignity that the prisoners displayed throughout their ordeals.

   While many people read books as a way of escaping into another world, Partnoy writes the stories in The Little School as a way to confront the very real ways in which she and others managed to band together in small acts of compassion toward each other and disobedience against their captors in order to mentally escape their confinement. Alicia Partnoy chose to, in writing The Little School, relive her experience in order to make the world understand what really happened to her and 30,000 others. In Partnoy's words, "Beware: in little schools the boundaries between story and history are so subtle that even I can hardly find them."
   I highly recommend this book to all readers. It has historical significance as well as a deep human side. Alicia Partnoy chose to revisit the horror that she experienced in the hope that she could help people everywhere understand the circumstances surrounding her disappearance as well as those of so many more.




5. Partnoy's book is a great balance of fiction and nonfiction that allows readers to see not only the facts of the situation in Argentina during the Dirty War, but to feel the emotions, fears, and hopes of a disappeared person. The book's first person narrative and stylistics made it a book that interested me and made me want to keep reading until the end. I especially enjoyed the Appendices, which had accounts of other prisoners at the Little School and even further demonstrates the horrific actions of the military dictatorship in a simple, heart wrenching way.

5 comments about Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin: Writers Running Wild in the Twenties.

1. An engaging, entertaining read by a skillful writer. . .but if you want a thorough, complex picture of these four women (Parker, Ferber, Z. Fitzgerald, Millay) and their circles, you'll be better off reading a full-scale biography of each, one that places them in historical and literary context. This book's final paragraph sums up both its strengths and its shortcomings -- the ending is crisp and breezy, but it offers no thoughtful conclusions. Instead, it basically says (and I'm paraphrasing), "and so the 1920s ended and passed into history and the people described here went on and lived the rest of their lives." What we have overall is a well-phrased and smoothly-organized collection of largely unanalyzed details.
   
   If you knew nothing about these writers beyond what you read here, you'd conclude that most of leading artistic lights of 1920s New York were shallow, self-centered, silly sots, and you'd wonder how on earth they managed to write anything at all, let alone stuff that is held up decades later as examples of significant art. (The only person who doesn't seem to have been an exasperating wastrel is Ferber, and you could easily come away from "Bobbed Hair" believing that her work is the least worth reading.) If it's really true that these largely despicable, aimless people are nonetheless artists worth our continued time and attention, then I wish "Bobbed Hair" had spent more time examining and explicating this paradox. As it is, we end up with details, details everywhere and not a point to make.
   
   But then again, perhaps I'm trying to turn this book into something it's not: it's not a scholarly biography, never claimed to be, and doesn't have to be. On its own terms, it's quite fun. So if you want a dishy tiptoe through the 1920s tulips, buy this book. If you want context and in-depth analysis, buy something else.



2. With BOBBED HAIR AND BATHTUB GIN writer Marion Meade takes the reader on a decade-long tour of the lives of four women who helped make the 1920s roar: Edna Ferber (1895-1968); Zelda Sayer Fitzgerald (1900-1948); Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950); and Dorothy Parker (1893-1967.) Although all four were distinctly different, all four shared certain traits. They were of a generation of women who considered themselves "emancipated." Generally based in New York City, all four proved globetrotters to at least some extent. And all four were writers, and their work was shaped by the decade just as it shaped the decade in turn.
   
   The 1920s saw Edna Ferber rise from the status of a commercial hack to the critically lauded author of such novels as SO BIG and SHOW BOAT and co-author of such plays as THE ROYAL FAMILY. Determinedly independent, Ferber's character would cast an even longer shadow than her works, setting a pattern for single, hard-working, career women that would last decades. Zelda Sayer Fitzgerald, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, was Ferber's polar opposite: a woman whose career was marriage but who didn't feel it should crimp her style. Along with husband Scott, she would party her way into self-destruction--and provide significant inspiration to Fitzgerald's novels as well. As the 1920s passed, Zelda would discover a gift for prose and publish several short works, but mental illness began to claim her as the decade came to a close.
   
   Edna St. Vincent Millay was a critic's darling who--when she wasn't writing poetry--spent much of the decade sleeping with any one, male or female, who appealed to her. As well known for her personal charm and eccentricity as for her work, Millay endured numerous difficulties in the decade before emerging as America's most highly regarded poet and then, rather perversely, find critical reaction began to turn against her in the face of works by the likes of T.S. Eliot. And then, of course, there is the truly legendary Dorothy Parker, who began the decade as a drama critic and slowly rose to fame through her remarkably funny and acid poetry. A truly dark figure, like Zelda Fitzgerald and Millay she too would struggle with a host of inner demons ranging from alcohol to drugs to bad relationships.
   
   These four women, their lovers, husbands, publishers, and associates crisscross throughout the book in an interesting counterpoint. The result is always readable, always entertaining, but it does contain certain flaws. Although Meade does provide background and does give notes as to what became of them in later years, her story begins with 1920 and stops with 1930; there is little context. That said, the portraits involved are somewhat superficial; all four of these women are worthy of stand-alone biographies, and indeed all but Ferber have received major, widely available, and well-received biographies.
   
   That said, however, BOBBED HAIR AND BATHTUB GIN is an enjoyable book that does indeed seem to capture a feel for the 1920s, a decade in which the sky seemed the limit for women, the arts, society, and indeed the entire nation. Although they were hardly the only noted women of the era, Edna Ferber, Zelda Fitzgerald, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Dorothy Parker were in many ways indicative of the decade--and this is a wild and very entertaining romp through their early successes and failures. Recommended.
   
   GFT, Amazon Reviewer



3. A wonderful view into the lives of women writers in the 1920's focusing mainly on Edna Ferber, Zelda Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker and Edna St. Vincent Millay. The writing is wonderful, easy to follow, and it almost reads like a novel itself. A great introduction to the biographies of these ladies, Meade doesn't weight the account down with esoteric references to peripheral literary characters. Her focus is sharp and vivid, and I liked that she organized events chronologically, breaking up the chapters by year. She paints these women so multi-dimensionally that I found myself missing them, like characters in a great novel, once I had finished the book.



4. A breezy, fast read which skims the surface of Prohibition Days. If you enjoy learning about that crazy time before Wall Street "laid an egg" you will like this book.



5. Extremely well written, as is all Meade's stuff, and you'll walk away considerably wider of eye over these lives of recently enfranchised famous flappers learning how to deal with their new status as full members of society. Some of them did not deal well.
   
   Meade also wrote a great bio of Eleanor of Aquitaine.

3 comments about Why She Plays: The World of Women's Basketball.

1. Why She Plays is an essential read for basketball players, fans, coaches, and anyone else who enjoys a well-written and captivating book. The author passionately recalls her own successful basketball career, and also details the experiences of famous and well-known people who have made an impact on the sport. Why She Plays is honest, facinating, intriguing, and there is no doubt that the author is a true lover of basketball and if you are too, it would be a shame to miss out on the opportunity to read this book.



2. Whether you are an athlete or not - WHY SHE PLAYS by Christine Baker is an inspiration to all. From a young tender age Ms. Baker fell in love with Basketball. In her book she shares her thoughts and feelings about the game as well as her dream to become a professional player. WHY SHE PLAYS is mixed with interviews from well known basketball figures including WNBA players Becky Hammon and Diana Taurasi; and sports commentators and former players Doris Burke and Nancy Lieberman. Ms Baker's voice touches everyones hearts and desires to compete and strive to be the best you can be. Read the book and find out WHY SHE PLAYS? You'll be glad you did.



3. I have been looking forward to reading, "Why She Plays" for months and this book did not disappoint! It is a revealing account of a woman's relationship with the game of basketball. The author writes about the influence basketball has had on her own journey and that of others. She writes of where the women's game was, is, and where it is going. There were certain parts that brought tears to my eyes because I could feel this author's passion, and her absolute need to write this book. Readers will find it to be inspiring! Highly recommended!

5 comments about She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse.

1. Johnson sets out in this book to articulate metaphors for God that are feminine in nature. This serves to counter-balance prodominantly masculine metaphors received from classical tradition. The term Sophia is particularly important.
   
   Johnson explores this topic in four sections. First, she discusses the importance of speech about God and the impact of a feminist perspective. Second, she outlines three resources from which to draw feminine metaphors: women's experience, Scripture, and classical theology. Third, she articulates her understanding of the persons of the Trinity, beginning with the Spirit. Finally, she turns attention to the unity of God and God's suffering.
   
   This book should be required reading for all men interested in theology. We must be aware of the importance of our speech about God. I have only two concerns. First, although Johnson does not seek to eliminate masculine metaphors for God, she avoids them totally in her book. This creates a tension between two equally exclusive forms of speech. Second, the experience of women is important in the book. This is only a problem if we allow experience to alter the way we understand God rather than allowing our understanding of God to illumine our experience. Johnson comes closer to the former.
   
   This is a thought provoking book. It should be read by all interested in speaking of God faithfully.



2. Over the course of Christian history, women have been disenfranchised and oppressed. Patriarchal systems and androcentric mentalities have marginalized women sociologically and psychologically, even within the Christian community. Elizabeth Johnson believes this oppression stems from the language used for God. Because God is referred to exclusively and literally as a male, women have reduced roles within Christianity. Johnson seeks to use new imagery and metaphors for speech about God, in order to emancipate women from this oppression. Johnson recognizes that all language about God is inadequate, but using feminine imagery for God restores human dignity in women and men and helps with the flourishing of humanity.
   
   Structurally, Johnson achieves this goal in four parts. In Part I, Johnson provides context and background for new speech about God. Because speech about God influences identity and praxis, new language for God must be sought. A solution to this problem can be explored using feminist theology, and Johnson provides basic feminist principles for theology. Lastly, Johnson discusses traditional approaches to speaking inclusively about God, and establishes that it is her intent to use only feminine imagery for God. Moving from the background to the foreground, Johnson builds her methodology, in Part II, by using three resources: experience, scripture, and classical theology. The experience of women is central to her theology, and while scripture is integral, Johnson seeks the reclamation of feminine imagery. Johnson also salvages certain principles in classical theology to use in her theology: the divine incomprehensibility, the need for analogy in God-speak, and the need for many names for God. In Part III, Johnson applies reclaimed feminine imagery to each Person in the Trinity. Beginning with the Spirit, and then moving to Jesus and God, Johnson explores what feminine imagery points to in God. Finally, in Part IV, Johnson uses feminine symbols, culminating in SHE WHO IS, to explain the immanent Trinity, the economic Trinity, and God's relation to the suffering world.



3. An excellent book that one should take enough time to read slowly and thoroughly.
   Elizabeth Johnson starts by looking for an appropriate word in order to refer to the Divine. It is common practice to say that God is Spirit. An interesting thing about this is that the word "Spirit" has gradually shifted from being feminine in Hebrew, to neutral in greek and ultimately masculine in latin. This is not much of a surprise in a male-dominated world. In itself this does not necessarily indicate an improvement in the adequacy of our concept of God. But if we consider this particular history of the word, it may suggest that in order to improve our image of God, we need at least to integrate all three aspects: the feminine, the neutral and the masculine.
   This will help us take into consideration the fact that God transcends all categories. It will help us deepen our perception of God as mystery.
   The important for all those who try to link with the Absolute is to know that God is, more than to know exactly what she, it, or he, is.
   Another interesting fact that the author points out in the same perspective, is that the Spirit as such, has never been given a proper name.
   Spirit is considered more often than not as an impersonal power, like a blowing wind or a breath in motion.
   The title of the book is a clear indication that the author approaches the mystery of God from a feminine point of view.
   This is done in a constructive way, without being too aggressive. Even when she suggests that Christ's ability to be savior does not reside in his maleness, but in his huge and steadfast capability to love.
   More challenging are her comments on the suggestion made by a number of authors, that the Spirit was, at least for some time, hypostatically united to Mary.
   To my view, this offers a good way of understanding the Christian creed when it claims that Christ was conceived from the Spirit and born from Mary.
   Altogether, this book is a good incentive for women, but also a real challenge for men.
   As a follow-up I would recommend the reading of her more recent book "Truly our sister". Quite logically, after dealing in the present book, with the feminine in God she focuses in the new one, on Mary as a major symbol of the feminine in humankind who also enjoyed a unique relationship to the feminine in God.



4. Johnson writes with an ultimate goal in mind, that of a transformation into new community. Her vision is one in which harmony with each other and with the earth are realized; an eschatological dream of a new heaven and a new earth where justice dwells and partnership reigns.
   As a first step toward this vision her book offers theologicaly founded evidence for expanding our image of God. Language functions; selling a god of violence,or superiority based on maleness or color is not helping us to realize a vision of the kindom of God put forth by Jesus-one where all are included at God's loving banquet. Without this first step toward expanding God's image we humans will always be in violent dissonance with each other and with the earth.
   I have read this book no less than six times, it has infomed my vision of the world and my personal goals in life. The language she uses is poetical and moves to the core of our being linking us with the holy.



5. I found the book to be an endless and somewhat unnecessary attack on classical theism. Her notions of pauline theology, based on a platonic dualism, have been shown to be baseless. The disparities and divisions of the church and society are not proven in her work to stem from classical theism, but are assumed. The church which she diminishes has worked to bridge culturally created divisions, which she fails to admit to. Her pandering into pantheism and panentheism are also disappointing, for she reveals her true intention of not reforming the church, but espousing a new religion.

5 comments about Coffee, Tea or Me? The Uninhibited Memoirs of Two Airline Stewardesses.

1. This is a must read of a not too distant time when flying actually was fun and considered by most, exciting. It was a classy affair in the 60's to take an international flight and airlines actually served real fine food- including cherries jubilee flambee! The antics of the stewardesses is a time warp of the free love era and it is hysterical. A must read that will make you long for this bygone era next time you are cattle called onto your flight and forced to purchase "food" on board. Side note: the somewhat mythical "mile high club" began its origins in these very pages.



2. My daughter was going through her training as a flight attendant and I remembered this book - I read it when I was a teenager. I sent it to her as a surprise. Not only did she love it, she loaned it to everyone else in her class and they all got a great kick out of it. It's just a fun read.



3. This book was my mothers as a young teen and passed down to me when i turned 13 a few years ago. The book is wonderful, Its one of those books you start reading and dont want to put down thats how good it is.
   
   I've read the whole series and they all are great.
   you could read this book over and over again and never get tired of it.
   
   I reccommend this book to anyone.



4. No juice stories, probably written by people that got married and didn't want to be honest about the life they were used to.
   Don't spend money buying this book.....



5. I picked this up based solely on the reissue cover. I got into it and started wondering who the heck would talk like this, as a woman? Then, about 1/2 the way through, I read the intro and realized this was actually penned by a male who had interviewed a lot of stewardesses. It made me feel better that these weren't real women, but a man trying to sound like a woman.
   
   This isn't a literary work, but it is a great beach read. Don't expect too much, and you'll be thrilled to join these two "women" on their careers. I was born well after the 60's, and it is fun to imagine how classy and upscale air travel was back then. It's certainly a contrast to the budget consciousness of today.
   
   It was definitely a page turner, because I wanted to keep having more adventures in the crazy life of 60's stewardesses. Check this one out and have fun for a few hours.

5 comments about Nordie's at Noon: The Personal Stories of Four Women "Too Young" for Breast Cancer.

1. This book was amazing.It is the story of four women in their fight against breast cancer.I couldn't put it down.I didn't want it to end.This book is not just about breast cancer.It inspires you to enjoy and appreciate life.I know a few women who have battled breast cancer and it made me feel closer to them.



2. I read about this book in People magazine and just had to get it. The book was even better than I could even imagine. Would recommend buying the book for all your girlfriends. A real tear jerker!



3. I have been a long-time supporter of breast cancer research and really enjoyed the tales of these women who were all diagnosed much younger than anyone thought possible. This book made me laugh and cry. While I was sad when it was over, I walked away inspired and uplifted. Would make a perfect gift for any woman in your life!



4. 
   
   I had the pleasure of meeting Kim at a Komen event where she was the keynote speaker. I of course bought the book after her talk.
   Nodies at Noon is a very honest account of breast cancer in young women. The four women each write their experiences on several poignant topics. While some issues are universal to all women going through the breast cancer experience, this book highlights certain issues unique to young women. Child birth and motherhood are two examples.
   The book is bittersweet with one of the authors losing their battle with the disease, and one giving birth to a second child. Like Kim herself, the book is warm and thoughtful.
   I would recommend it to anyone going through breast cancer or supporters of breast cancer patients.



5. I bought this for my mom, a breast cancer survivor. I had read a bit of it before I gave it to her and really like the style, very clever and real. My mom did say she is enjoying the book but would have rather had it while she was going through her treatments. She says that it is hard to go back to that place in time be it in films, tv, or books. She is very involved in helping other women going through treatments and says that she plans to use this book to help her new friends. Best of luck to those of you out there facing this horrible cancer or have loved ones in this situation, but you are never alone and there are always angels when you least expect it.

No comments about SPEAKING FOR MYSELF.

3 comments about Open Secret.

1. I've just finished reading Ms Rimington's novels and thought I would like to know more about the woman behind them. This book provides an interesting snapshot of the times in which Ms Rimington worked: the changing face of security-related work; the changing expectations of women in the workforce and the ever present challenges of tradeoff between family and career that many of us (whether male or female) will recognise.
   
   The book itself is more a careful memoir than an autobiography as, clearly, Ms Rimington had to write within certain constraints in order to be allowed to publish at all.
   
   I found the book useful and interesting on three levels:
   
   1. Ms Rimington's persistence in seeking promotion within a field which was considered to be a male domain;
   
   2. Her recounting of the acknowledgement of the existence and broad responsibilities of MI5 during its shift from the shadows to statutory accountability; and
   
   3. Some of the challenges she and her family faced in trying to combine family life with her career.
   
   Many people, particularly women who've chosen to combine career with family will relate to the challenges faced by Ms Rimington. Some of us, familiar with some of the events broadly recounted in the book will be interested in reading Ms Rimington's perspective. Reading the book 7 years after publication, it is perhaps difficult to appreciate the negative publicity engendered at the time. Perhaps we have travelled some distance after all.
   
   Jennifer Cameron-Smith



2. 
   This is the first autobiography of the first female head of MI5, the UK's internal security agency. It was published in 2001, to a wave of negative publicity. Apart from the politicians who disparaged the apparent breach of security, there were quite a few negative reviews stating that Ms. Rimington wrote out of feeling of guilt at having disrupted her daughters lives by her choice of career.
   Overall the book does not reveal anything about MI5, other than the thinking behind the decision to openly acknowledge its existence, and expose it to more parliamentary oversight, which happened during the 1990s. Ms. Rimington does describe in convincing terms the struggle to be taken seriously, as a female professional, during her time in MI5 from the late 1960s. She seems to have met the challenges with great determination. Her personal life seems to have been greatly affected by her work, though her marriage seems to have been rocky in any case. She lived with her daughters in London, however there were many intrusions and changes of address necessitated by
   The needs of security and the fear of exposure and publicity. There is an authentic feel from one story, where she was secretly meeting a potential agent in London, when she got a call that her daughter was ill, Rimington had to borrow money from the potential agent for taxi fare, cut short the meeting and go to pick up her daughter.
   I liked the book, as I had not expected much information about MI5, and found it very honest about her personal struggle. There is the usual stuff about MI5's failures being public and its successes being secret, and what a motivated bunch they are. I would have preferred some discussion about how MI5 (along with other agencies) missed the collapse of the USSR, did not forecast the IRA ceasefire; however I was not expecting it.
   One indication of the difficulties Rimington experienced in getting the book published is the ending - there is an Afterword, a Postcript and an Epilogue; all in various ways trying to counter the criticism she was enduring.



3. I purchased this book after hearing an interview with Ms. Rimington on BBC 4, and I must say, I found her engaging both on the radio and in print. She is a talented writer, whose eventful life--from childhood during the blitz, through her days as a diplomatic wife in India; her experiences as an archivist; and her almost accidental career in MI5 [the old-school-tie male bastion which she penetrated with panache]--is related with considerable charm and humor (essential requirements for being an effective spy).
   
   On the back of the book, under a series of rave blurbs is a negative one by an individual of the male persuasion, whose non-endorsement guaranteed my determination to read the book. And I quote: "The most effective Secret Service is the one which is secret. She should shut up."
   
   Well, that horse was stolen from the barn years ago, and the service that once dared not speak its name has long since--thanks to ex-intelligence officers writing their memoirs right and left--become the service that will not shut up!
   
   Stella Rimington, the intelligent woman who made it to the director-generalship of MI5, adds a refreshing perspective to the male-dominated literature of British intelligence.

5 comments about Woman Warrior.

1. I feel that Kingston's story was very imformative about the chinese culture and their way of living. Probably not in todays age, but in its history. I really enjoy reading books with ficitonal education, which is exactly what this book is. Kingston mainly focuses on the issue of how women are treated in China and by Chinese-Americans. Kingston mentions the orgins of the tale Fa-Mulan (whom every disney fan is aware of)and how she became a "woman warrior". Fa-Mulan represents who Kingston wishes she could be and eventually does become in her own way, as a woman warrior in a world where Kingston is split between China and America. The main character is conflicted with what she has learned in America compared to her mothers "talk-stories" about China. The main character and her mother also have a very conflicted relationship that twists and turns as the story progresses. The reader learns throughout the story about the relationship between men and women in China and how men are surperior, yet in America, it seemed to men that the Chinese women became surperior in secret. This story is very ironic and informative, with a great theme. Kingston really does a great job in helping America understand the complications women have had and overcame during the cource of history.



2. I have a different perspective from many readers who view this book primarily as a work of Women's Literature. As a half-asian male with a emigree mother, I read this book many years ago, in those formless, questioning years of the late 'teens. Even though I could not directly associate with many of the stories that Ms. Kingston wrote, I could associate with some of them, and I could also begin to enunciate my own observations and questions about a my mother's life and culture - a culture and life that I couldn't truly know, yet had much to do with who I was, and am. It gave me a perspective beyond that of a selfish, self-oriented teenager, and helped me better understand things (or at least try to see things) from my mother's point of view. It helped me see my own culture as a blend of the alien and familiar. Truly do I believe this book is one of the most important ones in my own life, as it helped create answers to deep, personal questions - some of which I never knew existed, until I read this book.



3. I guess the book might be good if only Amazon could have sent me the correct edition that they have listed. Amazon tried twice to send me what I ordered, got it wrong twice, and then Amazon gave up. Any correspondence with Amazon to resolve the matter has been met with insipid computerized responses. The 1 star rating is for Amazon.



4. Excellent book -- a must read for Women's Literature students. I bought it using a coupon from UnderTag.com, so it was almost free for me.



5. I came across this book several years ago and immediately fell under its spell. I liked it so much that I had to re-read it again and again in order to decipher the new layers the book revealed with each occasion. I like the book so much, that I've decided to write a paper on it but unfortunately there are only a few, who offer quality interpretation on this magnificient book that could help me. Thus, if anyone, who has some ideas, would help me out on this would be VERY welcomed...