{"title":"Mary Burnett Smith","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"miss-ophelia-book-mary-burnett-smith-9780688163570","title":"Miss Ophelia","description":"\u003cp\u003ePart coming-of-age story and part slice of life, this remarkable novel explores the issues of abortion, illegitimacy, adultery, and skin color \"with the appeal of a tale spun out at twilight on a front porch\" (New York Times Book Review).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRural Virginia, 1948. Belly Anderson is now in the autumn of her life. She cannot help but reminisce about the last summer of her childhood and the events that transpired which irrevocably changed her.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA strong-willed and free-spirited eleven-year-old, Belly reluctantly leaves her home in rural Pharaoh and goes to Jamison to help her mean Aunt Rachel recover from surgery. Belly has two reasons for deciding to go to Jamison: She's left alone when her only friend becomes pregnant and is sent away, and she hopes that she'll be allowed to take piano lessons from Miss Ophelia--her mother's childhood friend.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhile taking lessons from Miss Ophelia, Belly soon grows very fond of her teacher and forms a deep bond with her. Then, she learns a terrible secret about Miss Ophelia--a secret that forces Belly to grow up and learn what it really means to be an adult.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCompelling, moving, and deeply absorbing, Miss Ophelia is an unforgettable, timely story that will resonate with readers long after the final page is turned.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50355970670865,"sku":"CIN0688163572A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50355974504721,"sku":"CIN0688163572G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53153149747473,"sku":"CIN0688163572VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0688163572.jpg?v=1751327918"},{"product_id":"ring-around-the-moon-book-mary-burnett-smith-9780688172275","title":"Ring Around the Moon","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this thought-provoking and powerful coming of age novel, a young girl must grow up too soon as she watches her family disintegrate around her.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA cry in the night awakens ten-year-old Amy Beale and alerts her to the difficulties in her parents' marriage. Earlier that steamy evening in July 1940, her mother, Arleatha, witnessed yet another of her husband's infidelities at one of his notorious \"rent parties.\" Amy overhears her sobbing in the middle of the night, as Jack Beale begs for another chance. Arleatha agrees to give him one year. From her bed, a terrified Amy tries to strike a bargain with God: Keep the family together, and she will never do anything bad. Amen.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn Ring Around the Moon, an older, wiser Amy looks back on that pivotal year as she chronicles the family's move from a small colored community to an affluent town nearby; the conflict there as she and her brothers, Lonnie and James, adjust to new friends, a new school, and interfering relatives and neighbors.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs the months pass, the struggle between Jack and Arleatha continues. A proud man who feels trapped in his black skin, Jack wants a family but cannot help always looking for \"the good life\" for himself. Then a terrible incident threatens to break up the family once and for all.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50360124277009,"sku":"CIN068817227XA","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50360128995601,"sku":"CIN068817227XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":50984072741137,"sku":"NIN9780688172275","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/068817227X.jpg?v=1750700575"},{"product_id":"grass-widow-book-mary-burnett-smith-9781450220361","title":"The Grass Widow","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51105479950609,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51105482834193,"sku":"NIN9781450220361","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52430053998865,"sku":"NLS9781450220361","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1450220363.jpg?v=1751306499"},{"product_id":"grass-widow-book-mary-burnett-smith-9781450220347","title":"The Grass Widow","description":"\u003cp\u003eThrough the reminiscences of Kate Hamilton, an African American woman living in rural Furlong County, Virginia, The Grass Widow reveals the effects of deceit and adultery on the marriage of a young, impressionable girl.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIt is August, 1988, and on her porch Kate, now a sensitive, attractive woman of fifty-eight, contemplates events during her forty-year marriage to her philandering husband, Elmore, who five years earlier had a stroke when he discovered a letter indicating that Kate had been unfaithful. Feeling that she is partly to blame for his stroke, she has dutifully cared for him until he is almost recovered. Now she awaits the yearly homecoming visit of her sisters Olivia and Lydia, who want to sell the family farm and persuade Kate and Elmore to live with them in Pennsylvania. But Kate laments the disappearance of the large farms around their own property, realizing that the sale of theirs will hasten the disappearance of the small African American community which centers around her church, Canaan Baptist. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eKate's strong attachment to Furlong is also tied to her friendship with Myrtle Bless, an old civil rights activist and family friend, as well as to her church, and her duty to her marriage vows. Her sisters, long aware of the life she has led as Elmore's wife, badger her to come live with them even if he refuses. By the end of their visit she faces a dilemma. Should she go with her sisters or stay in Furlong and continue her life with Elmore? Then after the sudden death of Myrtle Bless, a freakish accident occurs, one that leads Kate to make a surprising choice.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52427303452945,"sku":"NLS9781450220347","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52749848805649,"sku":"NIN9781450220347","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781450220347.jpg?v=1759160573"},{"product_id":"miss-ophelia-book-mary-burnett-smith-9780688152345","title":"Miss Ophelia","description":"Part coming-of-age story and part slice of life, this is a literary novel about African-Americans in the rural South.\u003cp\u003eSet in rural Virginia during 1948, \u003cem\u003eMiss Ophelia\u003c\/em\u003e is a remarkable debut novel that explores the issues of abortion, illegitimacy, adultery, and skin color. Belly Anderson now in the autumn of her life, reminisces about the last summer of her childhood. A strong-willed and free-spirited eleven-year-old, she reluctantly leaves her home in rural Pharaoh and goes to Jamison to help her mean Aunt Rachel recover from surgery. Belly has two reasons for deciding to go to Jamison: She's left alone when her only friend becomes pregnant and is sent away, and she hopes that she'll be allowed to take piano lessons from her mother's childhood friend. 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