Böcker av Barbara Haines Howett

According to legend, people who go to the Jersey Shore, get "sand in their shoes" and they never leave or always return, contributing to the theme: If you do not create your own life, the environment you are in will create youCastles in the Sand is about those people, stressing character pitted against atmosphere, making Atlantic City itself a character. It's 1961 and the resort slouches toward oblivion in a vivid portrait of people in a particular time and place in our history; people too mesmerized by seashore beauty and lifestyle-in spite of a three month economy, dwindling conventions, and unemployment checks-to let it go. Strokes of nostalgia in this multi-viewpoint novel, painted by select characters, also present the resort's beginnings in the 1800's and the exciting World War II years as a rehabilitation center for wounded soldiers.Seasons of the year dictate the lives of a restaurateur and four women, who continue to work for him, despite his sexual harassment, as the once great resort deteriorates during the decade before its both glitzy and tawdry casino future. ARTHUR TEMPLETON battles family, union, fire, flood, the Mafia to save Arthur's Castle, Restaurant of Epicurean Delight, his valuable Boardwalk property, coveted for a possible future casino site by a cartel of corrupt politicians and businessmen. Will he succeed? Will his wife leave him? How long can the working women put up with his unwanted overtures? Will one of them fall for him? Can a leopard change his spots?

A MARRIAGE ENDS TO PRESERVE A LOVE, AN INFANT CRUSHES A PROUD SPIRIT, PERFECTIONISM LEADS TO A CHILLING CONCLUSION.For the wives of American oil industry workers living in the insulated opulence of Jakarta's Hotel Borobudur in 1976, the problems are many; and for the Indonesians who get to know them, the puzzlements are life-altering. In the hot house of culture shock, fears and conflicts can change lives in unexpected ways. Just as the shadow plays of Indonesia reveal new facets of old stories in each performance, so too the characters in this rich collection of interrelated stories discover new strengths and old weaknesses.PRAISE FOR LADIES OF THE BOROBUDUR"Barbara Haines Howett writes with the passion and grace of one who has traveled deep into other realms of perception and brought back a precious gift--her cycle of stories, Ladies of the Borobudur. It is a realm fraught with mystery and wonder. I was amazed and enthralled by the range of emotion." Don Williams, Editor and publisher of New Millenium Writings"A dazzling mosaic of interwoven stories that reflects a now-vanished world. The reader will remember these hau;nting women and their tales long after the lights go on and the shadows return to the dark."Ruth Knafo Setton, author of The Road to Fez"Howett explores and evokes astonishingly different points of view, and her post-colonial sense of irony is bracing."DeWitt Henry, author of The Marriage of Anna Maye Potts