Random House New Releases - Biography & Autobiography - Women - Between May 19, 2012 and June 18, 2013.

Bootstrapper by Mardi Jo Link

2013-06-11T00:30:00-05:00

Bootstrapper From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm
Written by Mardi Jo Link

Poignant, irreverent, and hilarious: a memoir about survival and self-discovery, by an indomitable woman who never loses sight of what matters most.

It’s the summer of 2005, and Mardi Jo Link’s dream of living the simple life has unraveled into debt, heartbreak, and perpetually ragged cuticles. She and her husband of nineteen years have just called it quits, leaving her with serious cash-flow problems and a looming divorce. More broke than ever, Link makes a seemingly impossible resolution: to hang on to her century-old farmhouse in northern Michigan and continue to raise her three boys on well water and wood chopping and dirt. Armed with an unfailing sense of humor and three resolute accomplices, Link confronts blizzards and foxes, learns about Zen divorce and the best way to butcher a hog, dominates a zucchini-growing contest and wins a year’s supply of local bread, masters the art of bargain cooking, wrangles rampaging poultry, and withstands any blow to her pride in order to preserve the life she wants.

With an infectious optimism that would put Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm to shame and a deep appreciation of the natural world, Link tells the story of how, over the course of one long year, she holds on to her sons, saves the farm from foreclosure, and finds her way back to a life of richness and meaning on the land she loves.

Bootstrapper by Mardi Jo Link

2013-06-11T00:30:00-05:00

Bootstrapper From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm
Written by Mardi Jo Link

Bootstrapper by Karen White

2013-06-11T00:30:00-05:00

Bootstrapper From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm
Written by Mardi Jo Link
Read by Karen White

From the Hardcover edition.

Bootstrapper by Karen White

2013-06-11T00:30:00-05:00

Bootstrapper From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm
Written by Mardi Jo Link
Read by Karen White

Unabridged Audiobook Download | Random House Audio | Biography & Autobiography - Women; Biography & Autobiography - Personal Memoirs; Biography & Autobiography - Environmentalists & Naturalists | $17.50 | June 11, 2013 | 978-0-8041-2072-2 (0-8041-2072-2)

From the Hardcover edition.

The Richest Woman in America by Janet Wallach

2013-06-04T00:30:00-05:00

The Richest Woman in America Hetty Green in the Gilded Age
Written by Janet Wallach

No woman in the Gilded Age made as much money as Hetty Green, America’s first female tycoon. A strong woman who forged her own path, she was worth at least $100 million by the end of her life in 1916—equal to about $2.5 billion today.

Green was mocked for her simple Quaker ways and her unfashionable frugality in an era of opulence and excess; the press even nicknamed her “The Witch of Wall Street.” But those who knew her admired her wit and wisdom, and while financiers around her rose and fell as financial bubbles burst, she steadily amassed a fortune that supported businesses, churches, municipalities, and even the city of New York. Janet Wallach’s engrossing biography reveals striking parallels between past financial crises and current recession woes, and speaks not only to history buffs but to today’s investors, who just might learn a thing or two from Hetty Green.

A Woman of Science by Remeline Damasco, M.D.

2013-05-28T00:30:00-05:00

A Woman of Science An Extraordinary Journey of Love, Discovery, and the Sex Life of Mushrooms
Written by Cardy Raper
Foreword by Remeline Damasco, M.D.

Trade Paperback, 272 pages | Hatherleigh Press | Biography & Autobiography - Personal Memoirs; Biography & Autobiography - Women; Science - Genetics | $15.95 | May 28, 2013 | 978-1-57826-442-1 (1-57826-442-1)

A STORY OF TRUE LOVE, DETERMINATION, SACRIFICE, AND DISCOVERY.

A Woman of Science catalogues a decades-long journey of inspirational hardship and success that serves as a model for what women can do in a field largely dominated by men.

Cardy Raper succeeded in becoming what she dreamed of as a young girl: a scientist. This beautifully written memoir details her struggles with the “boys’ club” mentality of the scientific and academic worlds, her grief over her husband’s premature passing, and above all her relentless, passionate efforts to unlock the secrets of mushroom gender and reproduction.

Cardy Raper is not a woman to accept “no” for an answer. When her mother told her that she could be a nurse when she grew up, Cardy informed her in no uncertain terms that she was going to be a true scientist, making grand discoveries. Science was a man’s world then. But despite lack of encouragement through college, Cardy learned what she needed. Then, at the University of Chicago, she met her mentor, John “Red” Raper, an equally stubborn and spirited scientist. They became soul mates, and, together, studied sexual reproduction in the amazing water mold Achlya. Cardy and Red married, had children, and continued to share their passion for science by unraveling the means of sexual reproduction in mushroom-bearing fungi.

They moved to Harvard University and continued their research. Years later, Red’s untimely death left Cardy alone in the competitive world of cutting-edge science. But Cardy carried on. She achieved her doctoral degree, learned the techniques of molecular genetics, and established her own laboratory. Ultimately, Cardy’s discoveries helped to uncover the way in which genes found throughout the animal kingdom—including humans—encode molecules for mating, sight, smell, and taste.

A Woman of Science by Remeline Damasco, M.D.

2013-05-28T00:30:00-05:00

A Woman of Science An Extraordinary Journey of Love, Discovery, and the Sex Life of Mushrooms
Written by Cardy Raper
Foreword by Remeline Damasco, M.D.

eBook, 272 pages | Hatherleigh Press | Biography & Autobiography - Personal Memoirs; Biography & Autobiography - Women; Science - Genetics | $9.99 | May 28, 2013 | 978-1-57826-443-8 (1-57826-443-X)

Margaret Thatcher by Charles Moore

2013-05-21T00:30:00-05:00

Margaret Thatcher From Grantham to the Falklands
Written by Charles Moore

Hardcover, 896 pages | Knopf | Biography & Autobiography - Political; Biography & Autobiography - Women; Biography & Autobiography - Historical | $35.00 | May 21, 2013 | 978-0-307-95894-5 (0-307-95894-9)

With unequaled authority and dramatic detail, the first volume of Charles Moore’s authorized biography of Margaret Thatcher reveals as never before the early life, rise to power, and first years as prime minister of the woman who transformed Britain and the world in the late twentieth century. Moore has had unique access to all of Thatcher’s private and governmental papers, and interviewed her and her family extensively for this book. Many of her former colleagues and intimates have also shared previously unseen papers, diaries, and letters, and spoken frankly to him, knowing that what they revealed would not be published until after her death. The book immediately supersedes all other biographies and sheds much new light on the whole spectrum of British political life from Thatcher’s entry into Parliament in 1959 to what was arguably the zenith of her power—victory in the Falklands in 1982.

Drawing on an extraordinary cache of letters to her sister Muriel, Moore illuminates Thatcher’s youth, her relationship with her parents, and her early romantic attachments, including her first encounters with Denis Thatcher and their courtship and marriage. Moore brilliantly depicts her determination and boldness from the very beginning of her political career and gives the fullest account of her wresting the Tory leadership from former prime minister Edward Heath at a moment when no senior figure in the party dared to challenge him. His account of Thatcher’s dramatic relationship with Ronald Reagan is riveting. This book also explores in compelling detail the obstacles and indignities that Thatcher encountered as a woman in what was still overwhelmingly a man’s world.

Moore’s admiration for Thatcher is evident, yet his portrait is convincingly clear-eyed, conveying both how remarkable she was and how infuriating she could be, her extraordinary grasp at mastering policy and what needed to be done, and her surprising vulnerabilities. At the moment when Margaret Thatcher becomes a part of history, Moore’s portrait enlivens her, compellingly re-creating the circumstances and experiences that shaped one of the most significant world leaders of the postwar era.

Margaret Thatcher by Charles Moore

2013-05-21T00:30:00-05:00

Margaret Thatcher From Grantham to the Falklands
Written by Charles Moore

eBook, 912 pages | Knopf | Biography & Autobiography - Political; Biography & Autobiography - Women; Biography & Autobiography - Historical | $14.99 | May 21, 2013 | 978-0-307-95895-2 (0-307-95895-7)

Mother Teresa: Saint of the Slums by Sachin Nagar

2013-05-21T00:30:00-05:00

Mother Teresa: Saint of the Slums Campfire Biography-Heroes Line
Written by Lewis Helfand
Illustrated by Sachin Nagar

Trade Paperback, 88 pages | Campfire | Comics & Graphic Novels - Nonfiction; Biography & Autobiography - Women | $11.99 | May 21, 2013 | 978-93-80028-70-5 (93-80028-70-9)

In the 1940's, Calcutta had become decimated by famine, poverty, war and unemployment. Slums began to surface throughout the city and thousands were homeless, dying of disease or starvation. Alone and forgotten, these poorest of the poor were desperate for someone, anyone, to recognize their plight and help them. That help arrived in the form of Mother Teresa.

Albanian-born, Mother Teresa knew from a young age that she wanted to become a nun and devote her life to God. What she could not envision, however, was exactly where that service to God would take her. Sent to Calcutta to teach history and geography from within the safe confines of a convent, Mother Teresa could not ignore the plight of the homeless and the dying. So she chose to give up everything in her life to serve those most in need.

With nothing but her faith to guide her, she took to the slums with the hope that she could make a difference in the lives of at least a few lost souls. And with her pure heart and beautiful spirit, she wound up touching millions.

Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter by Alison Wearing

2013-05-07T00:30:00-05:00

Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter Growing Up with a Gay Dad
Written by Alison Wearing

eBook, 288 pages | Knopf Canada | Biography & Autobiography - Personal Memoirs; Biography & Autobiography - Gay & Lesbian; Biography & Autobiography - Women | $11.99 | May 7, 2013 | 978-0-345-80761-8 (0-345-80761-8)

A moving memoir about growing up with a gay father in the 1980s, and a tribute to the power of truth, humour, acceptance and familial love.

Alison Wearing led a largely carefree childhood until she learned, at the age of 12, that her family was a little more complex than she had realized. Sure her father had always been unusual compared to the other dads in the neighbourhood: he loved to bake croissants, wear silk pyjamas around the house, and skip down the street singing songs from Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. But when he came out of the closet in the 1970s, when homosexuality was still a cardinal taboo, it was a shock to everyone in the quiet community of Peterborough, Ontario—especially to his wife and three children.

Alison’s father was a professor of political science and amateur choral conductor, her mother was an accomplished pianist and marathon runner, and together they had fed the family a steady diet of arts, adventures, mishaps, normal frustrations and inexhaustible laughter. Yet despite these agreeable circumstances, Joe’s internal life was haunted by conflicting desires. As he began to explore and understand the truth about himself, he became determined to find a way to live both as a gay man and also a devoted father, something almost unheard of at the time. Through extraordinary excerpts from his own letters and journals from the years of his coming out, we read of Joe’s private struggle to make sense and beauty of his life, to take inspiration from an evolving society and become part of the vanguard of the gay revolution in Canada.

Confessions of a Fairy’s Daughter is also the story of “coming out” as the daughter of a gay father. Already wrestling with an adolescent’s search for identity when her father came out of the closet, Alison promptly “went in,” concealing his sexual orientation from her friends and spinning extravagant stories about all of the “great straight things” they did together. Over time, Alison came to see that life with her father was surprisingly interesting and entertaining, even oddly inspiring, and in fact, there was nothing to hide.

Balancing intimacy, history and downright hilarity, Confessions of a Fairy’s Daughter is a captivating tale of family life: deliciously imperfect, riotously challenging, and full of life’s great lessons in love. Alison brings her story to life with a skillfully light touch in this warm, heartfelt and revelatory memoir.

Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter by Alison Wearing

2013-05-07T00:30:00-05:00

Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter Growing Up with a Gay Dad
Written by Alison Wearing

Trade Paperback, 304 pages | Knopf Canada | Biography & Autobiography - Personal Memoirs; Biography & Autobiography - Gay & Lesbian; Biography & Autobiography - Women | $24.00 | May 7, 2013 | 978-0-345-80757-1 (0-345-80757-X)

Dearie by Bob Spitz

2013-04-23T00:30:00-05:00

Dearie The Remarkable Life of Julia Child
Written by Bob Spitz

A Time, Washington Post, and NPR Best Book of the Year

The stunning story of how Julia Child transformed herself into the cult figure who touched off a food revolution that has gripped the country for more than fifty years. Spanning Pasadena to Paris, acclaimed author Bob Spitz reveals the history behind the woman who taught America how to cook.

A genuine rebel who took the pretensions that embellished French cuisine and fricasseed them to a fare-thee-well, paving the way for a new era of American food—not to mention blazing a new trail in television—Child redefined herself in middle age, fought for women’s rights, and forever altered how we think about what we eat.

Chronicling Julia's struggles, her heartwarming romance with Paul, and, of course, the publication of Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her triumphant TV career, Dearie is an extraordinarily entertaining account of a truly remarkable life.

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen

2013-04-23T00:30:00-05:00

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake
Written by Anna Quindlen

INCLUDING AN EXCLUSIVE CONVERSATION BETWEEN MERYL STREEP AND ANNA QUINDLEN

“[Quindlen] serves up generous portions of her wise, commonsensical, irresistibly quotable take on life. . . . What Nora Ephron does for body image and Anne Lamott for spiritual neuroses, Quindlen achieves on the home front.”—NPR

In this irresistible memoir, Anna Quindlen writes about a woman’s life, from childhood memories to manic motherhood to middle age, using the events of her life to illuminate ours. Considering—and celebrating—everything from marriage, girlfriends, our mothers, parenting, faith, loss, to all the stuff in our closets, and more, Quindlen says for us here what we may wish we could have said ourselves. As she did in her beloved New York Times columns, and in A Short Guide to a Happy Life, Quindlen uses her past, present, and future to explore what matters most to women at different ages. Quindlen talks about

Marriage: “A safety net of small white lies can be the bedrock of a successful marriage. You wouldn’t believe how cheaply I can do a kitchen renovation.”

Girlfriends: “Ask any woman how she makes it through the day, and she may mention her calendar, her to-do lists, her babysitter. But if you push her on how she really makes it through her day, she will mention her girlfriends. ”

Our bodies: “I’ve finally recognized my body for what it is: a personality-delivery system, designed expressly to carry my character from place to place, now and in the years to come.”

Parenting: “Being a parent is not transactional. We do not get what we give. It is the ultimate pay-it-forward endeavor: We are good parents not so they will be loving enough to stay with us but so they will be strong enough to leave us.”

Candid, funny, and moving, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake is filled with the sharp insights and revealing observations that have long confirmed Quindlen’s status as America’s laureate of real life.

“Classic Quindlen, at times witty, at times wise, and always of her time.”—The Miami Herald

“[A] pithy, get-real memoir.”—Booklist

Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more.

Terry: by George McGovern

2013-04-17T00:30:00-05:00

Terry: My Daughter's Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism
Written by George McGovern

Rarely has a public figure addressed such difficult, intimate issues with such courage and bravery. In a moving, passionate memoir, former Senator George McGovern recalls the events leading up to his daughter Terry's death as a result of alcoholism. What McGovern learned from Terry is an unforgettable, poignant tale certain to engender controversy and compassion. of photos.

A Spoonful of Sugar by Jean Gilpin

2013-04-02T00:30:00-05:00

A Spoonful of Sugar A Nanny's Story
Written by Brenda Ashford
Read by Jean Gilpin

Brenda Ashford is the quintessential British nanny. Prim and proper, gentle and kind, she seems to have stepped straight out of Mary Poppins. For more than six decades Nanny Brenda swaddled, diapered, dressed, played with, sang to, cooked for, and looked after more than one hundred children. From the pampered sons and daughters of lords ensconced in their grand estates to the children of tough war evacuees in London’s East End, Brenda has taught countless little ones to be happy, healthy, and thoroughly well bred. In this delightful memoir, Brenda shares her endearing, amusing, and sometimes downright bizarre experiences turning generations of children into successful adults.

From the moment Brenda first held her baby brother David she was hooked. She became a second mother to him, changing his nappies, reading him stories, and giving him all the love her warm heart contained. Knowing a career caring for children was her calling in life, Brenda attended London’s prestigious Norland College, famous for producing top-notch nannies. It was a sign of privilege and good taste for the children of the well-to-do to be seen being pushed in their Silver Cross prams by Norland nannies, who were recognizable by their crisp, starched black uniforms with white bib collars, and their flowing black capes lined with red silk. And what skills were these trainees tested on daily? Lullaby singing, storytelling, pram shining, bed making, all forms of sewing, cooking simple meals, and dispensing first aid—including knowing the best way to help the medicine go down.

In A Spoonful of Sugar, Brenda recalls her years at Norland and her experiences during the war (after all, even if bombs are dropping, there’s no reason to let standards slip), and recounts in lovely detail a life devoted to the care of other people’s children.

Sprinkled throughout with pearls of wisdom (you can never give children too much love, and you should learn how to sew a button, for goodness’ sake), this delightful memoir from Britain’s oldest living nanny is practically perfect in every way.

A Spoonful of Sugar by Brenda Ashford

2013-04-02T00:30:00-05:00

A Spoonful of Sugar A Nanny's Story
Written by Brenda Ashford

A Spoonful of Sugar by Brenda Ashford

2013-04-02T00:30:00-05:00

A Spoonful of Sugar A Nanny's Story
Written by Brenda Ashford

The Baroness by Hannah Rothschild

2013-03-19T00:30:00-05:00

The Baroness The Search for Nica, the Rebellious Rothschild
Written by Hannah Rothschild

Beautiful, romantic and spirited, Pannonica, known as Nica, named after her father’s favorite moth, was born in 1913 to extraordinary, eccentric privilege and a storied history. The Rothschild family had, in only five generations, risen from the ghetto in Frankfurt to stately homes in England. As a child, Nica took her daily walks, dressed in white, with her two sisters and governess around the parkland of the vast house at Tring, Hertfordshire, among kangaroos, giant tortoises, emus and zebras, all part of the exotic menagerie collected by her uncle Walter. As a debutante, she was taught to fly by a saxophonist and introduced to jazz by her brother Victor; she married Baron Jules de Koenigswarter, settled in a château in France and had five children. When World War II broke out, Nica and her five children narrowly escaped back to England, but soon after, she set out to find her husband who was fighting with the Free French Army in Africa, where she helped the war effort by being a decoder, a driver and organizing supplies and equipment.

In the early 1950s Nica heard “’Round Midnight” by the jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk and, as if under a powerful spell, abandoned her marriage and moved to New York to find him. She devoted herself to helping Monk and other musicians: she bailed them out of jail, paid their bills, took them to the hospital, even drove them to their gigs, and her convertible Bentley could always be seen parked outside downtown clubs or up in Harlem. Charlie Parker would notoriously die in her apartment in the Stanhope Hotel. But it was Monk who was the love of her life and whom she cared for until his death in 1982.

Hannah Rothschild has drawn on archival material and her own interviews in this quest to find out who her great-aunt really was and how she fit into a family that, although passionate about music and entomology, was reactionary in always favoring men over women. Part musical odyssey, part love story, The Baroness is a fascinating portrait of a modern figure ahead of her time who dared to live as she wanted, finally, at the very center of New York’s jazz scene.

The Baroness by Hannah Rothschild

2013-03-19T00:30:00-05:00

The Baroness The Search for Nica, the Rebellious Rothschild
Written by Hannah Rothschild

Random House New Releases - Biography & Autobiography - Women - Between May 19, 2012 and June 18, 2013.

Bootstrapper by Mardi Jo Link

Bootstrapper From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan FarmWritten by Mardi Jo Link

Bootstrapper by Mardi Jo Link

Bootstrapper From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan FarmWritten by Mardi Jo Link

Bootstrapper by Karen White

Bootstrapper From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan FarmWritten by Mardi Jo Link Read by Karen White

Bootstrapper by Karen White

Bootstrapper From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan FarmWritten by Mardi Jo Link Read by Karen White

The Richest Woman in America by Janet Wallach

The Richest Woman in America Hetty Green in the Gilded AgeWritten by Janet Wallach

A Woman of Science by Remeline Damasco, M.D.

A Woman of Science An Extraordinary Journey of Love, Discovery, and the Sex Life of MushroomsWritten by Cardy Raper Foreword by Remeline Damasco, M.D.

A Woman of Science by Remeline Damasco, M.D.

A Woman of Science An Extraordinary Journey of Love, Discovery, and the Sex Life of MushroomsWritten by Cardy Raper Foreword by Remeline Damasco, M.D.

Margaret Thatcher by Charles Moore

Margaret Thatcher From Grantham to the FalklandsWritten by Charles Moore

Margaret Thatcher by Charles Moore

Margaret Thatcher From Grantham to the FalklandsWritten by Charles Moore

Mother Teresa: Saint of the Slums by Sachin Nagar

Mother Teresa: Saint of the Slums Campfire Biography-Heroes LineWritten by Lewis Helfand Illustrated by Sachin Nagar

Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter by Alison Wearing

Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter Growing Up with a Gay DadWritten by Alison Wearing

Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter by Alison Wearing

Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter Growing Up with a Gay DadWritten by Alison Wearing

Dearie by Bob Spitz

Dearie The Remarkable Life of Julia ChildWritten by Bob Spitz

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake Written by Anna Quindlen

Terry: by George McGovern

Terry: My Daughter's Life-and-Death Struggle with AlcoholismWritten by George McGovern

A Spoonful of Sugar by Jean Gilpin

A Spoonful of Sugar A Nanny's StoryWritten by Brenda Ashford Read by Jean Gilpin

A Spoonful of Sugar by Brenda Ashford

A Spoonful of Sugar A Nanny's StoryWritten by Brenda Ashford

A Spoonful of Sugar by Brenda Ashford

A Spoonful of Sugar A Nanny's StoryWritten by Brenda Ashford

The Baroness by Hannah Rothschild

The Baroness The Search for Nica, the Rebellious RothschildWritten by Hannah Rothschild

The Baroness by Hannah Rothschild

The Baroness The Search for Nica, the Rebellious RothschildWritten by Hannah Rothschild

Bootstrapper From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm
Written by Mardi Jo Link

Bootstrapper From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm
Written by Mardi Jo Link

Bootstrapper From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm
Written by Mardi Jo Link
Read by Karen White

Bootstrapper From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm
Written by Mardi Jo Link
Read by Karen White

The Richest Woman in America Hetty Green in the Gilded Age
Written by Janet Wallach

A Woman of Science An Extraordinary Journey of Love, Discovery, and the Sex Life of Mushrooms
Written by Cardy Raper
Foreword by Remeline Damasco, M.D.

A Woman of Science An Extraordinary Journey of Love, Discovery, and the Sex Life of Mushrooms
Written by Cardy Raper
Foreword by Remeline Damasco, M.D.

Margaret Thatcher From Grantham to the Falklands
Written by Charles Moore

Margaret Thatcher From Grantham to the Falklands
Written by Charles Moore

Mother Teresa: Saint of the Slums Campfire Biography-Heroes Line
Written by Lewis Helfand
Illustrated by Sachin Nagar

Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter Growing Up with a Gay Dad
Written by Alison Wearing

Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter Growing Up with a Gay Dad
Written by Alison Wearing

Dearie The Remarkable Life of Julia Child
Written by Bob Spitz

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake
Written by Anna Quindlen

Terry: My Daughter's Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism
Written by George McGovern

A Spoonful of Sugar A Nanny's Story
Written by Brenda Ashford
Read by Jean Gilpin

A Spoonful of Sugar A Nanny's Story
Written by Brenda Ashford

A Spoonful of Sugar A Nanny's Story
Written by Brenda Ashford

The Baroness The Search for Nica, the Rebellious Rothschild
Written by Hannah Rothschild

The Baroness The Search for Nica, the Rebellious Rothschild
Written by Hannah Rothschild