Bøger af Joanna Innes

Art professor Lydia Drexel has lost her muse. For the first time, she is hopelessly staring at a blank canvas; she's blocked. When she relates her anxiety to colleague and confidant, Dr. Charles Harris, his answer is "the perfect getaway." A stack of books, a case of wine, and a few weeks at his cousin's cabin in the mountains should free her mind. Settling into the picturesque retreat, Lydia intends to focus on her art, along with any issues that might be inhibiting her ability to create. Before she starts to sketch, she meets two young artists who live nearby. Early in their friendship, she senses an abnormal tension between the brother and sister. Lydia soon learns Jan and Bryce Johnson's adoptive parents died in a car crash, but ample support from an insurance policy and moral support from the community allow them to remain independent. At the Farmers Market, Lydia is drawn to the intricate puzzle boxes Bryce carves. Inside one, she finds a slip of paper with strange symbols on it. As the siblings' behavior becomes more and more mysterious, the marks turn up in other places. Vowing to decipher them, Lydia surrenders to a lifelong tendency to focus on anything but her own problems. While hiking one day, she meets another resident of the mountain town, architect and contractor John Crawford, who is recently widowed. Lydia has never been married and is unsure about sharing her life with someone, but their connection is undeniable. As Lydia comes closer to discovering the truth behind the cryptic emblems, dark secrets are revealed and lives are in jeopardy. Her respite is far from the quiet withdrawal she had envisioned, but what she learns about herself and her art is life-changing

In book two of a series, Lydia Drexel, associate professor of art at Spring Valley College, returns to campus following her marriage to architect John Crawford. Her summer vacation to find new direction for her painting led to a new direction in life, the gift of love in her middle years -- and ultimately, a honeymoon in Italy. Lydia finds inspiration and comfort in her newly designed studio. But not for long. Someone sets out to destroy the professor's paintings and perhaps her future at Spring Valley. After multiple exhibits are defaced, Prof. Charles Harris, Lydia's longtime mentor, dives into the mystery, proclaiming that his knowledge of campus life will lead him to the culprit.

In book three of the series, Professor Lydia Drexel is the newly elected dean of Spring Valley College. She exhilarated by her vision for the school, but she worries. Will jealousy, greed and other unseen forces limit her? Will she be thwarted by those who do not fully trust a woman or an artist to lead? Before Lydia embarks on the challenges on her job, her protege Bryce and his fiancee Kathy ask for help with their wedding plans. Not surprisingly, the young couple cannot agree on many of the details associated with the big event. Despite John's advice, Lydia cannot refrain from becoming involved. Lydia's first challenge as dean threatens to alienate the athletic department, and her friend Prof. Ellen Moffett hammers her for ignoring Keller Hall, an abandoned building with great potential as an arts center. Weaving through the tangle of complexities at the college, Lydia is hit with a major health problem. Depleted, she soon finds herself struggling to meet the demands of her job while supplying paintings for her New York gallery owner. Physical and emotional turmoil ensues, but ultimately, they define a family in a way Lydia and John could not have imagined.

Inferior Politics explores how social policy was created in Britain in a period when central government was not active in making it. Despite the lack of consensus, there was a lively and inclusive 'politics' of social policy-making, in which 'inferior' officers of government (what we might call 'local authorities') figured prominently.