NCW Libraries

Form-fitting dresses, silk veils, earrings, furs, high-heeled shoes, make-up, and dyed, flowing hair. It is difficult for a contemporary person to reconcile these elegant clothes and accessories with the image of cloistered nuns. For many of the some thousand nuns in early modern Venice, however, these fashions were the norm. Often locked in convents without any religious calling-simply to save their parents the expense of their dowry-these involuntary...

Clare Dunkle seemed to have an ideal life-two beautiful, high-achieving teenage daughters, a loving husband, and a satisfying and successful career as a children's book novelist. But it's when you let down your guard that the ax falls. Just after one daughter successfully conquered her depression, another daughter developed a life-threatening eating disorder. Co-published with Elena Vanishing, the memoir of her daughter, this is the story-told in...

"A luminous, wise, and joyful insight into what really matters at the end of a long life, from the beloved author of the award-winning Somewhere Towards the End. What will you remember if you live to be 100? Diana Athill charmed readers with her prize-winning memoir Somewhere Towards the End, which transformed her into an unexpected literary star. Now, on the eve of her ninety-eighth birthday, Athill has written a sequel every bit as unsentimental,...

Describes the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic, a luxury liner claimed to be "unsinkable" that was destroyed after colliding with an iceberg, killing over one thousand passengers onboard.

"Princess Annika has lived a life of comfort--but no amount of luxuries can change the fact that her life isn't her own to control. The king, once her loving father, has gone cold, and Annika will soon be forced into a loveless marriage for political gain. Miles away, small comforts are few and far between for Lennox. He has devoted his life to the Dahrainian army, hoping to one day help them reclaim the throne that was stolen from them. For Lennox,...

"The year is 3070, and Marie Antoinette has just arrived at the glittering, thrilling palace of Versailles to marry the shy, soft-spoken Louis-Auguste. But beneath the luxurious world lies a sinister underbelly and an uncompromising elite who want to keep Marie and Louis pawns in a deadly game.Will history repeat itself? Or will these doomed lovers outwit their enemies and escape their grisly fate?

This is the tenderhearted story of a spirited young woman who tries to conquer her past amongst the glitz and glamour of 1960s Las Vegas-- and finds unexpected fortune, friendship, and love. When Lily Decker steps off the bus and onto the Las Vegas Strip, she is ready for a new life. Though her life is full of success, parties, newfound gal pals, and more money and luxuries than she ever thought possible, Lily is still restless. She changes her name...

"Told with Beth Harbison's wit and warmth, If I Could Turn Back Time is the fantasy of every woman who has ever thought, "If I could go back in time, knowing what I know now, I'd do things so differently..." Thirty-seven year old Ramie Phillips has led a very successful life. She made her fortune and now she hob nobs with the very rich and occasionally the semi-famous, and she enjoys luxuries she only dreamed of as a middle-class kid growing up in...

"Learn the art of creating elegant accessories from genuine leather with this inspiring guide. Handmade Leather Bags & Accessories shows how to make classic handbags and accessories with a decidedly modern flair. Gifted fashion designer Ho Yi Lun shares 28 simple strategies for enhancing any wardrobe with high-end luxuries without the high-end price tag. Even novice leatherworkers will be surprised at how much fun it is to make durable and sophisticated...

"The world burned. But the rich and powerful...they had a plan. When society fell apart, a select group of billionaires had an escape hatch: a rocket aimed at the nearest habitable planet, a ship equipped with many of the luxuries of life on Earth--why survive if you can't survive in style? Their every need is tended to by teenagers who are willing to act as slaves in return for the promise of a new life. This is a good story. But, like so many stories,...