2017 Emmy Winners

Time to check out the Emmy-winning shows you may have missed - don't forget, you can even catch those Netflix exclusives on our new ROKU devices.

COMEDY
Outstanding Series - Veep
Outstanding Lead Actor - Donald Glover, Atlanta
Outstanding Lead Actress - Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Outstanding Supporting Actor - Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Supporting Actress - Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Directing - Atlanta
Outstanding Writing - Master of None

DRAMA
Outstanding Series - The Handmaid's Tale (check out the novel)
Outstanding Lead Actor - Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Outstanding Lead Actress - Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale
Outstanding Supporting Actor - John Lithgow, The Crown
Outstanding Supporting Actress - Ann Dowd, The Handmaid's Tale
Outstanding Directing - The Handmaid's Tale
Outstanding Writing - The Handmaid's Tale

LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Outstanding Limited Series - Big Little Lies
Outstanding Television Movie - San Junipero, Black Mirror
Outstanding Lead Actor - Riz Ahmed, The Night Of
Outstanding Lead Actress - Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies
Outstanding Supporting Actor - Alexander Skarsgård, Big Little Lies
Outstanding Supporting Actress - Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Outstanding Directing - Big Little Lies 
Outstanding Writing - Black Mirror

VARIETY
Outstanding Variety Talk Series - Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Outstanding Variety Sketch Series - Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Reality Competition Program - The Voice
Outstanding Directing - Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Writing - Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

To Binge or Not to Binge

I have to admit, I have on occasion binged my way through entire television seasons. The temptation is just too great, sometimes it is hard to stop, there are no commercials to tolerate and you can easily fast forward and find out what happens next without having to wait a week. Here is a mix of drama and comedy, in no particular order, that may make it hard to get up off the couch.

Shameless (hard not to binge)
Friends
Sex in the City
Entourage
Call the Midwife (not to binge, each episode is emotional)
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Friday Night Lights
Glee
The Office
30 Rock

A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

This week marks the release of the newest Star Wars film, Rogue One, which takes place in between 2005’s Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and 1977’s original Star Wars film, Episode IV – A New Hope. It is the first Star Wars film to stray from the Skywalker family saga, though dedicated Star Wars fans know that the expanded universe has told stories from all over the galaxy. Here are a few Star Wars titles to enjoy, whether you’re counting down the minutes to Rogue One’s release, or just looking for a fun scifi adventure. 

• The Clone Wars
• Television Series. This animated series takes place in between Episode II - Attack of the Clones and Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. 
• Catalyst
• Novel. This new novel takes place before Rogue One and gives some background on some of the key new characters in the film. 
• Episode IV- A New Hope
• Movie. The blockbuster that started it all! Rogue One takes place just before A New Hope and ties in directly - so make sure you remember how it goes! 
• Vader Down
• Graphic Novel. Marvel's Star Wars comics feature a huge variety of your favorite Star Wars characters and take place all over the Star Wars timeline. This particular volume is in between A New Hope and Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back and shows the iconic Darth Vader at his most fearsome. 
• Heir to the Empire
• Novel. Known to many fans as "The Thrawn Trilogy", Heir to the Empire is the first of three novels and takes place shortly after Episode VI - Return of the Jedi. 

For even more Star Wars reads, stop at the Reader Services desk or browse the STAR WARS call number in our Science Fiction and Fantasy section. 

Liked Stranger Things? Try These!

Have you just finished binging on Stranger Things? Not quite ready to step away from the brilliantly nostalgic aesthetic? Here's a list of movies referenced - either directly or by visual homage - by the newest hit series.

• Close Encounters of the Third Kind 
• Alien
• The Goonies
• Nightmare on Elm Street ('84)
• Poltergeist ('82)
• The Shining
• Stand By Me
• Carrie ('76)
• The Evil Dead ('82)
• The Thing ('82)
• E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

But there's more to nostalgic homage than the movies of the time period. Try some music featured in the show too:

• The Clash
• Modern English
• Joy Division
• Jefferson Airplane
• New Order

Last but not least, why not try Dungeons & Dragons? The classic game is featured throughout the series. The game is currently in its 5th edition, and we've got all the newest books, and some older ones as well.

• Player's Handbook
• Dungeon Master's Guide
• Curse of Strahd
• Monster Manual - the players on the show fight the dreaded Demogorgon. You can find it on page 51!

Watched Game of Thrones? Read and Watch These!

The currently airing season of Game of Thrones has been all over social media for some of its unexpected plot twists and big reveals - some of which haven't even been seen in the source novels yet! If you love reading or watching Game of Thrones, you might just love these as well!

House of Cards 
If you love the politicking, the backstabbing, and social outmaneuvering in Game of Thrones, try this critically acclaimed American political drama series starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright.







Vikings
If you're more into the swordplay, or even the set design and look of Game of Thrones, try Vikings! This historical drama focuses on one of the best known Vikings from the Viking Age - Ragnar Lothbrak. It's loosely based on history, so it doesn't feature any magical elements, but is still well worth watching.






The Name of the Wind
For many, one of the most appealing things about Game of Thrones is its "low" fantasy setting - there's magic, and dragons, but it's subtle (compared to the orcs and wizards of more Tolkein-like worlds). If you too love that about Game of Thrones, try this first novel in Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicle. 






Dune 
Do you side with the Lannisters, the Starks, or the Targaryens on Game of Thrones? Perhaps even one of the lesser houses has caught your loyalty. If you love the scale and political intrigue of the feuding families of Westeros, try the epic science fiction series that begins in the novel Dune.






Kingdom of Heaven
If you constantly marvel at the world the Game of Thrones series has created, or get a thrill from its large scale battles, try this historical epic film directed by Ridley Scott. Its sweeping story - loosely based on historical events -  begins in France and ranges all the way to Jerusalem.

Mini-Series: Prime for Binge-Watching (or Binge- Reading)

British television series are prime candidates for binge-watching by those who indulge in this wide-spread guilty pleasure. Recently, PBS has been showing the classic Jewel in the Crown, a 14-episode award-winning drama about the waning days of British rule in India. If you want to read the books it was based on, check out the library's copy of Paul Scott's The Raj Quartet.

Poldark

Also proving popular is this new mini-series based Winston Graham's  historical family saga in twelve books published between 1951 and 2002. These novels of Cornwall take place from 1783 to  1820. Check out this link if you like to read before viewing: Ross Poldark

Grantchester: Masterpiece Mystery presented the first season of this story about a country vicar leading a quiet life in Grantchester until one of his parishioners dies under suspicious circumstances. The series is based on James Runcie's Grantchester Mysteries (1-4). 
The first of the Grantchester Mysteries is:
Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death





Wolf Hall   
This mini-series about Henry VIII , Thomas Cromwell, and Anne Boleyn is based on two books by Hilary Mantel: Wolf Hall and Bringing Up the Bodies.









Coming October 2015: Keep an eye out for the new 8-part series based on the books of Bernard Cornwell. The first book in the Saxon Tales is The Last Kingdom, in case you want to get ready to be dropped into ninth century Great Britain.

If you Like Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander"...

With the recent finale of the first season of the popular Outlander television series on STARZ, a number of fans have stopped by the library to request the book, Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. Many are surprised (and pleased) to learn that there is an entire series of eight Outlander titles, beginning with Outlander.

This time travel adventure series includes plenty of historical detail, a strong female character and some steamy romance. The first series title is set in 18th century Scotland.

If you have already made your way through the Outlander series or are just looking for more books that have a similar feel to Outlander, you might consider a few of the titles below.

Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati
Elizabeth Middleton, a spinster school teacher, leaves England in 1792 to join her father and brother in a remote, mountainous village in upstate New York. There she falls in love with Nathaniel Bonner, a man torn between white and Native American culture. Book 1 in The Wilderness series.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Discovering a magical manuscript in Oxford's library, scholar Diana Bishop, a descendant of witches who has rejected her heritage, inadvertently unleashes a fantastical underworld of daemons, witches and vampires whose activities center around an enchanted treasure. Book 1 in the All Souls trilogy.

A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley
Hired by a once-famous historian to crack codes in a 300-year old journal that once belonged to a Jacobite exile, Sara Thomas encounters complications in the form of the journal's reclusive owner, a charming Parisian neighbor and the the journal's own writer.

The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway
Waking up in a modern London hospital 200 years after meeting his death on a Napoleonic battlefield, Nick Falcott is indoctrinated into a time-traveling society and returned to the side of a woman he love to reclaim a vital talisman.

Overseas by Beatriz Williams
A cynical Wall Street analyst fall uncharacteristically in love with a billionaire with a mysterious past in a romance with mystical ties to a relationship between a World War I British officer and a beautiful young American who held vital information about a fateful reconnaissance mission.

The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Stranded in the 14th century--a time of superstition and fear--time traveler Kivrin becomes an unlikely angel of hope during history's darkest hour and awaits rescue by her comrades. Oxford Time Travel novels, 2.

Laugh your way into the New Year!

I am always amazed at how quickly the holidays descend upon us. I never feel like I am ready and with New Year's so close to Christmas I am always making plans last minute. And this year is no different. However, this year one of my resolutions is to have more fun so here is a short list of TV shows to make me laugh in the new year. I hope they will do the same for you. Laughter really is the best medicine.

Modern Family
Friends
30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Everybody Loves Raymond
Entourage
The Office
The Best of Dick Van Dyke

Television on DVD

Do you have a favorite show that you follow on TV? Did you go on vacation and missed a couple of weeks and now you want to catch up? Whether you are just hearing about a fabulous series like Scandal, Homeland, or Downton Abbey and want to watch it from the first season, or one that was just released on DVD, check it out at the Library.

First seasons available on DVD this year:

NASHVILLE - it is not all song and dance in Nashville. This is the story of the rivalry between the Queen of Country, played by Connie Britton and the hot, young diva, played by Hayden Panettiere, who is looking to dethrone her.

VEEP– follow the hectic day-to-day life of Selina Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, a former Senator, and now Vice-President, as she juggles her public and private life and her relationship with the Chief Executive.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST –Kristin Kreuk plays the role of a homicide detective involved with a  mysterious Dr. Vincent Keller, played by Brian White. This drama/thriller won the 2013 People’s Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama.

HOUSE OF CARDS – starring Kevin Spacey as a politician who forms a relationship with a journalist, played by Kate Mara in order to trade secrets for personal and political gains.

THE NEWSROOM – starring Jeff Daniels and Emily Mortimer.  This drama takes a behind-the-scenes look at the fictional network, ACN, its anchor, producer and newsroom staff.

Call the Midwife

I just finished watching Season 1 of the delightful medical drama series Call the Midwife. The series aired in the fall of 2012 to wide critical acclaim in both the U.S. and Great Britain.  Season 2 premiers Sunday, March 31st on PBS and I can't wait! The story is told through the eyes of newly qualified nurse midwife Jenny Lee. Jenny takes her first job at what she thought was a private hospital in East London, but Nonnatus House turns out to be a maternity clinic operated by nuns. The Sisters of St. Raymond Nonnatus along with lay midwives serve the slums of East London in the 1950's. A wonderful medical drama about the professional and personal lives of the midwives.The drama stars; Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, Cliff Parisi, Jenny Agutter, Pam Ferris, Judy Parfitt and Vanessa Redgrave. The TV series is based on the book The midwife: a memoir of birth, joy and hard times by Jennifer Worth.

Novels featuring midwives:
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
The time 1981, and Sibyl Danforth has been a devoted midwife in the rural community of Reddington, Vermont, for fifteen years.  One winter night, during a strong winter storm, Sibyl takes desperate measures to save a baby's life. She performs an emergency Cesarean section on its mother, who appears to have died in labor. But what if --as Sibyl's assistant later charges--the patient wasn't already dead, and it was Sibyl who accidentally killed her?

Amish Midwife by Mary Starns Clark
A desire to learn about her biological family leads nurse-midwife Lexie Jaeger to the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country, where she meets a mysterious lay-midwife who needs her help after an Amish client and her baby die.

Murder on Astor Place by Victoria Thompson
Following a predictable delivery in a rooming house, turn-of-the-century midwife Sarah Brandt discovers that another boarder, a young girl, has been murdered and, despite the interference of the girl's powerful family, joins forces with Sergeant Frank Malloy to find the killer before er can strike again. Gaslight mystery series features midwife and amateur detective.

Staircase of a Thousand Steps by Masha Hamilton
Set in Transjordan before the 1976 war with Israel, Jammana and Faridah, the midwife, find themselves trapped between the old world and the new.

2012 Kennedy Center Honors

December 2, 2012

Buddy Guy

Bluesman

Born July 30, 1936, in Lettsworth, Louisina

A six-time Grammy winner,  Buddy Guy pioneered the blues, working alongside Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Sonny Boy Williamson to name a few.  According to Eric Clapton, "By far without a doubt the best guitar player alive."

Dustin Hoffman

Actor and director

Born August 8, 1937, in Los Angeles, California

Dustin Hoffman is one of most versatile actors of any generation.  He has played such roles a 121-year-old Native American about to die, a young divorced parent, a Washington Post reporter going after the Watergate cover-up story, plus Captain Hook and the voice of Shifu in the Kung Fu Panda films.  He states, "I grew up thinking a movie star had to be like Rock Hudson or Tab Hunter, certainly nobody in any way like me."

David Letterman

Comedian and television host

Born April 12, 1947, in Indianapolis, Indiana

David Letterman is one of the most influential personalities and producers in the history of late=night television for more than 25 years.  In 1992, he received the Peabody Award for taking "one of TV's most conventional and least inventive forms...and infusing it with freshness and imagination."  In 1981, he won two Daytime Emmy Awards as writer and host for his first show.  Late Night with David Letterman premiered on NBC.

Natalia Makarova

Ballerina, choreographer, teacher

Born November 21, 1940, in Leningrad, U.S.S.R.

Natalia Makarova left her native Russia in 1970 and debuted in the title role of "Giselle" with the American Ballet Theatre.  She has "ignited the stages of the world's greatest ballet companies and continues to pass the torch to the next generation of dancers."

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin, heavy-metal pioneer, who's members are all in their 60s, "transformed the sound of rock-and-roll with their lyricism and innovative song structures."  They combined rock-and-roll, British folk music, American blues, and english skiffle, heavyweight guitar riffs.

John Paul Jones

Rock bassist and keyboardist, composer and producer

Born January 3, 1946, in Sidcup, Kent, England

Jimmy Page

Rock guitarist, composer and producer

Born January 9, 1944, in Heston, Middlesex, England

Robert Plant

Rock singer, composer and producer

Born August 20, 1948, in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England

Life after 'Desperate Housewives'

Our favorite show (well mine, anyway!) is soon coming to a close, so what will we do without the tales and drama of our 'desperate' housewives?

Here are some reading suggestions that are filled with just as much mayhem, suburban life, friendship and drama that's sure to remind you of your favorite housewife (or two):

Social Lives by Wendy Walker
Social standings and dark machinations form the daily activities of wives in a privileged Connecticut community, where Roslyn counters malicious gossip targeting her promiscuous daughter, Sarah dreads the birth of another child, and Jacqueline plots to save her husband from criminal charges.

also by Wendy Walker: Four Wives:
The world of four women living in the affluent suburban paradise of Hunting Ridge begins to unravel as infidelity, abuse, and a troubled past threaten to expose the reality behind the facade of their "perfect" marriages to wealthy and successful men.

Couples by John Updike
Explores the consequences of marital infidelity in a small New England community.

Little Children by Tom Perrotta
A group of young suburban parents, including a stay-at-home dad, a former feminist, and an over-structured mom, finds its sleepy existence shattered when a convicted child molester moves back into town and two of the parents have an affair.

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
The devastating effects of work, adultery, rebellion, and self-deception slowly destroy the once successful marriage of Frank and April Wheeler, a suburban American couple.

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton
From their first meeting during the turbulent summer of 1968, five young California mothers--Frankie, Linda, Brett, Ali, and Kath--form a sister-like bond as they confront the ups and downs of life and pursue their mutual dreams of becoming writers.

If you just can't get enough of Downton Abbey...

Fans of the popular television drama "Downton Abbey" may be a bit panicked (!) that Season 2 is about to end. If you're one of those who can’t bear the thought of months without the Crawleys and their servants, perhaps the following reading suggestions might help to fill the void before Season 3 arrives. Simply click on the links below to find book summaries, title availability or to place holds. For additional reading suggestions, always feel free to speak with someone at the Reader Services desk.

If you're intrigued with British high society, you might consider reading:

The Fox’s Walk by Annabel Davis-Goff
The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
A Room with a View by E.M. Foster
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton
Howards End by E.M. Forster

If you’re interested in nonfiction about Britain on the brink of great societal and political change, you might try:

The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell

The Perfect Summer: England 1911, Just before the Storm by Juliet Nicolson

The Bolter by Frances Osborne

If you'd like to further explore World War I, try these possibilities:

Regeneration by Pat Barker (Book 1 of the Regeneration trilogy)    

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett  

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 by Adam Hochschild (nonfiction)

If you enjoy mysteries set against the historical backdrop of World War I and the post-war years, you might like:

River of Darkness by Rennie Airth (Book 1 in the John Madden trilogy)

The Crimson Rooms by Katharine McMahon
No Graves as Yet: A Novel of World War I by Anne Perry (Book 1 of the World War I novels)

The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller
A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd (1^st in the Bess Crawford mysteries)

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (Book 1 in the Maisie Dobbs series)

If you’d like to read nonfiction directly related to the Downton Abbey television series, you might check out:

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by Fiona Carnarvon
The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes

Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" by Margaret Powell

Television on DVD

Yes, summer is almost over and the kids are back in school, so it must be time to catch up with your favorite TV shows. Did you watch an old episode or two of a series and now are hooked? Did you miss last season's final episode and now would like to watch it before the start of the new season? In that case, here's a list of current television series that's available at the Library:

 Breaking Bad              Seasons 1-3
 Curb Your Enthusiasm  Seasons 1-7
 Doc Martin                   Seasons 1-4
 Doctor Who                  Seasons 1-5
 Downton Abbey            Season 1
 Entourage                   Seasons 1-6
 Foyle's War                  Seasons 1-6

 Mad Men                      Seasons 1-4
 The Office                    Seasons 1-6
 Psych                          Seasons 1-5
 True Blood                   Seasons 1-3

Other popular TV series that have ended but still in the Library's collection are:  24, Tudors, Sopranos, Sex and the City, Six Feet Under, House of Eliott, and more.

Stop by the Audiovisual Room and check it out!

Do You Want to Dance?

Are you a fan of the reality TV show Dancing With the Stars? Do you wish you can dance like the professionals or do you just enjoy watching them?
One of the stars on this show is Jennifer Grey, who was in the movie Dirty Dancing. Check out her moves in this 1987 movie.

Moreover, there is a fitness DVD with your favorite instructors Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Cheryl Burke, and a Wii video game under that very same reality show title.

Whether you want to learn how to dance the tango or the waltz, exercise to music or just watch a good musical, the library has the DVD or the Video game for you.

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

By Chelsea Handler

Star of Chelsea Lately on E! Television network has another New York Times bestseller on her list of accomplishments. The Comedienne and host can tell a story. Whether letting us in on her fathers Jamaican girlfriends aka (housekeepers), or being a used car salesman or growing up in New Jersey, she’s terrific at giving us a glimpse of her early childhood and relationships with her siblings no one in her family is exempt from her practical jokes and sarcasm.

We read about many of the familiar characters like Brad Wollack, comedian and part of her panel on many of her shows to her CEO boyfriend Ted Harbert, 20 years her senior and head of the network who owns her TV show. Recently broke up after the release of her book and my favorite side kick, her little nugget Chuy.

She is brilliant, clever and a hilarious writer. Many times I found myself laughing out loud, as long as you don’t mind her candor and at times her filthy mouth. She tells it as she sees it. If you watch her show you can hear her voice in your head which makes it all the more funny.

Her humor probably would be considered raunchy to some, but as in her first two books My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night and Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea. This current book is a continuation of her stories from childhood to most recently a few of the pranks she played on just about everyone.

Get Lost!

ABC’s hit show “Lost” began its final season last week and in addition to speculation about smoke monsters, polar bears, magnetic anomalies and “the Others”, faithful viewers also talk about books, specifically the ones characters are seen reading. So here are a few of the titles glimpsed in the series - you can decide what, if anything, they might have to do with what’s really happening on that baffling island.


Watership Down by Richard Adams.
Tells the story of a warren of wild rabbits who escape from their home as men develop the surrounding fields. “Lost” castaway Boone was the original owner of the book, but Sawyer is the one who’s seen reading it.

Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie.
When a shrewish stage star is found strangled at a posh island resort, detective Hercule Poirot is called in to investigate. Sawyer, who is a bit criminally minded himself, may have particularly enjoyed this book, which he was spotted with in season three.

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.
This classic book examines the origin and nature of the universe and explains it all in understandable terms for the layman. Aldo, one of the Others, is seen reading (and making notes in) this book while on guard duty.

Carrie by Stephen King.
A repressed and abused teenager uses her telekinetic powers to avenge the cruel jokes of her classmates. This disturbing story was a selection for the Others’ book club.

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
This 1943 classic novel tells the story of a gifted architect’s struggle against conventional standards, his battle with a professional rival, and his complex relationship by with his lady love. Again, this is one of avid and eclectic reader Sawyer’s books.

The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien. Flann O'Brien's brilliantly dark comic novel about the nature of time, death, and existence. Desmond is seen reading this when the Hatch is infiltrated by Oceanic Flight 815 survivors.

The Turn Of the Screw by Henry James.
A new governess at a remote country estate has her first peaceful weeks disturbed by the apparition of the ghosts of two evil servants who once served in the house. The Dharma Orientation film is hidden behind this book in the Swan Station.

A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’ Engle.
Meg and Charles Wallace set out with their friend Calvin in a search through time and space for their father, whose top secret job as a physicist for the government has taken him away. Sawyer reads the book on the beach.

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Bloom.
Faced with the difficulties of growing up and choosing a religion, an eleven-year-old girl talks over her problems with her own private God. Sawyer reads this book on the beach, demonstrating his indiscriminate desire for reading material. He disliked the book, calling it "predictable", with "not nearly enough sex".

Dirty Work by Stuart Woods.
Hired to collect evidence for a celebrity divorce case, cop-turned-lawyer Stone Barrington finds himself having to defend his honor when the person he is investigating is murdered. The book can be seen in the Swan station by Sawyer's bed as he is recovering from the injuries caused as a result of the raft incident.

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens.
John Harmon will inherit a fortune if he marries a girl whose personality has been affected by her wealth, and friends and events conspire to prove her true worth. Desmond finds Penny’s letter of love and devotion in the book as he is contemplating suicide.