Forthcoming Titles
Loving the Difficult
By Jane Rule (2007)
About the Book
Internationally acclaimed author of seven novels, prolific short story writer and social commentator, Jane Rule compiled this final book of essays in the months before she died in late 2007. As in her fiction and three previously published essay collections, we find here an absorbing story-teller, a wise observer of character and a fearless spokesperson for lesbian and gay rights.
In some of the essays Rule considers episodes of her own life, from infancy almost to its end, reflecting on her relationships with family members and with her partner of 45 years, Helen Sonthoff. She intersperses thoughtful commentary on political themes that have long engaged her, such as censorship, pornography, misguided tax laws and same-sex marriage, and on literary issues such as the nature of story-telling and the role of the woman writer. From memories of her own childhood and from observing the many children who have inhabited her world, she developed a deep understanding of children; in some of these essays she protests government policies that short-change and threaten children, to the detriment of society as a whole.
There is both laughter and grief in these essays, barely-contained anger at injustice and clear-eyed acceptance of what can’t be changed. Above all, the essays are remarkable for their courageous honesty and for that generosity of spirit which made her a mentor, role model and beloved friend to thousands.
About the Author
Born in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1931, Jane Vance Rule received her B.A. from Mills College, California and taught for two years at Concord Academy, Massachusetts, where she met Helen Sonthoff with whom she lived from 1956 until Helen’s death in 2000. After twenty years of working periodically at the University of British Columbia, she moved to Galiano Island, where she became a much-loved and generous contributor to the island community. She died at her Galiano home in November, 2007.
Jane Rule’s seven novels present a range of characters in a variety of situations but it is for her unapologetic and clear-eyed writing on lesbian themes that she is best known. Her first published novel Desert of the Heart became a classic of lesbian literature; it was made into the film Desert Hearts. Her commissioned book Lesbian Images is a pioneering study of the often veiled forms in which women have written of love between women. She was also a prolific writer of short stories and essays, published in four previous collections. For ten years she wrote a column headed “So’s your Grandmother” for the gay liberationist newspaper The Body Politic.
The recipient of numerous awards in recognition of her work as writer and social activist, Jane Rule was inducted into the Order of British Columbia in 1998 and the Order of Canada in 2007.
ISBN 978-0-9736882-6-9
216 pages
$21.95
Simply Love: A Family Cookbook
By Ginny Love (2007)
About the Book
Simplicity is the latest buzz-word in the culinary world. Forget exotic ingredients, elaborate preparation, elegant plating: the trend now is for healthy, delicious food, prepared and served with a minimum of fuss.
Ginny Love cooks this way naturally. A busy mother of four herself, with a background in catering and running a restaurant, she has developed recipes and methods for making food preparation simple. Her tasty meals don’t take all day to prepare and are thoroughly enjoyed by even the youngest children.
Ginny has always believed that eating meals as a family helps children grow into well-adjusted, socially responsible adults. She does not advocate separate mealtimes for infants: they can enjoy the family experience from their high chairs. Although busy schedules and activities mean that it is often impossible for everyone to be at the table together, the Love family aims to share mealtimes whenever they can.
This family cookbook introduces a real family, whose activities, likes and dislikes helped shape the recipes. Hamish is in his first year at university, Cameron is at high school, Duncan in Grade 8 and Maggie in Grade 6. Husband Gordon is a Vancouver lawyer; he and the children are Ginny’s biggest fans and discriminating judges of every meal she cooks. Ginny’s own activities led to the chapters on planning community meals and school pot-lucks; these are bound to be of interest to anyone called upon to contribute to such occasions.
The first-time cook will find it helpful to be led by Ginny through all the stages of planning Christmas dinner or making jam, as well as to learn what utensils are most helpful in the kitchen. Simplicity and the functional are key here too. The book is full of helpful hints, tried and true recipes and love of food, family and friends.
About the Author
Ginny Love has made cooking her business for almost all her life, from the age of twelve, when she sold her baked goods at the Saturday market on Salt Spring Island, to the years when she worked part time for the catering company Major the Gourmet, to her days as co-owner of a Vancouver café, to present times where, though a busy mother of four, she makes upwards of 300 fruit cakes for loyal customers every fall.
Born in Vancouver, Ginny studied at the Cordon Bleu School in London, England, at La Varenne Cookery School in France, and at the University of British Columbia, where she took a degree in French. For five years from 1987 she co-owned and operated The Cooking Company, a cafcafé and catering business on Vancouver’s West Broadway. She now cooks for family and friends, helps organize school pot lucks and works on recipes for close to 100 guests at a weekly community lunch.
Ginny lives with her family in Vancouver, B.C.
978-0-9736882-7-6
Retail price: $21.95
Author photograph by:
Alistair Eagle
PeopleShots Studios
Hedgerow Press: PO BOX 2471, Sidney BC, V8L 3Y3 · Phone: 250-656-9320 · E-Mail: hedgep@telus.net