Böcker av Anita Mathias

Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India is a lyrical account of Anita Mathias's turbulent Roman Catholic childhood in India.Mathias grew up in Jamshedpur, North India, "The Steel City," a company town benevolently run by the Zoroastrians of Tata Steel. The Catholic church, run by American Jesuits, provided an all-encompassing world. In a pre-TV world, visiting friends was entertainment, juicy gossip flowed with homemade wine, and children sang, danced, and recited for guests.Reading was a way of escaping volatile fights with her mother-fairy tales, Greek myths, Norse myths, Indian epics in children's editions and British children's classics. Libraries were a refuge.Mathias, irrepressible and rebellious, known as "the naughtiest girl in the school," was expelled from school, aged nine, for disrupting classes with mischief and attempts at running away, and went to a boarding school, St. Mary's Convent, Nainital, run by German nuns in the Himalayas. The virtual end of childhood-and a new adventure.A beautifully written account of a childhood. The textures, colours and, above all, the tastes of a particular world are lyrically but also precisely evoked. But, although Mathias rightly celebrates the richness of that world, she weaves through this magical remembrance of things past a skein of sadness that makes it haunting. It's lovely! Francesca Kay, An Equal StillnessA dazzling, vibrant tale of "the naughtiest girl in school," whose sweet tooth is exceeded only by her insatiable appetite for language and stories. Mathias conjures India and her extended family in uproarious and heart-breaking detail. Erin Hart, Haunted GroundMathias invites us into a totally absorbing world of past and present marvels, generously laced with poetic and literary references and Dickensian levels of observation and detail. A beautifully written, important, and addictive book. Jenny Lewis, Gilgamesh RetoldIn Mathias's beautiful childhood memoir, one of her childhood tortures is family rosary-saying, and whenever there is trouble with her parents, she plunges into her hugely wide-ranging reading. Tormented, passionate and often sad, this book is immensely readable. Trevor Mostyn, Coming of Age in The Middle EastA remarkable account of a Catholic childhood in India. A treasure chest of sights, sounds and scents, it is full of food (always food), books (always books), and a family with all its alliances and divisions. A feat of memory and remembrance. Philip Gooden, The Story of EnglishJoining intelligent winsomeness with an engaging style, Anita Mathias writes with keen observation, lively insight and hard-earned wisdom about navigating the life of thoughtful faith in a world of cultural complexities. Her words sing of a spirit strong in courage, compassion and a pervasive dedication to the adventure of life. A beautifully told and powerful story. Carolyn Weber, Surprised by OxfordWith glorious detail, precision and humour. Mathias reveals her evolution from naughty girl to writer-the independent spirit and artist of language so deliciously demonstrated here. Professor Jane Spiro, Testimony of FlightMathias's pluck and charm shine through every page of this beautifully crafted, comprehensive, and erudite memoir. Ray Foulk, Picasso's RevengeMathias's prose is lively and evocative. An enjoyable and accessible book. Sylvia Vetta, Sculpting the ElephantA fascinating description of Mathias's parents, education, and religious bringing. She is an accomplished writer. Merryn Willi

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:The Church That Had Too Much had many good intentions. She wanted to love God, she wanted to love people, but she was both hampered by her muchness and the abundance of her possessions, and beset by ambition, power struggles and snobbery. Read about the surprising way The Church That Had Too Much began to resolve her problems in this deceptively simple and enchanting fable, illustrated in full colour.ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Anita Mathias is the author of Wandering Between Two Worlds: Essays on Faith and Art. She has a B.A. and M.A. in English from Somerville College, Oxford University, and an M.A. in Creative Writing from the Ohio State University, USA. Anita won a National Endowment of the Arts fellowship in Creative Nonfiction in 1997. She lives in Oxford, England with her family.Visit Anita at http://www.anitamathias.com, and onhttp://theoxfordchristian.blogspot.com, her Christian blog; http://wanderingbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com, her personal blog, and http://thegoodbooksblog.blogspot.com, her literary and writing blog. Visit Benediction Classics at www.thebestthathasbeensaid.com to read thousands of free classic books online, or buy them in elegant paperback and hardback editions at reasonable prices.

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth," Jesus says in his most puzzling Beatitude. Puzzling, because, if we are honest, it does not feel true to our experience.So do the meek inherit the earth? Is this true? Or isn't it?In The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth, an extended meditation on the power of gentleness, Anita Mathias grapples with this mystifying Beatitude.ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Anita Mathias has won fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts; The Minnesota State Arts Board; The Jerome Foundation, The Vermont Studio Center and The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her essays have been published widely: The Washington Post, The London Magazine, The Virginia Quarterly Review, Commonweal, Notre Dame Magazine, America, The Christian Century, The Southwest Review, Contemporary Literary Criticism, New Letters, The Journal, and two of HarperSanFrancisco's annual The Best Spiritual Writing anthologies. Anita has a B.A. and M.A. in English from Somerville College, Oxford University and an M.A. in Creative Writing from the Ohio State University. She lives and writes in Oxford, England, and blogs at Dreaming Beneath the Spires, anitamathias.com.