Books by Mount Holyoke
Alumnae and Professors: D

Embodied Violence: Communalising Female Sexuality in South Asia Kumari Jayawardena and Malathi de Alwis '85, editors Zed Books. 1996. A collection of essays that engages contemporary debates in feminist and post colonial theory by interrogating how women's bodies become the sites of cultural contestation in South Asia. Focusing on the rhetoric and practices of communalism, it explores how communal violence reconfigures women's experiences, facilitates the formation of particular identities and the dissemination of specific ideologies, and positions women vis a vis their communitites as well as the state. Malathi de Alwis is a doctoral candidate in anthropology at the University of Chicago. She will return to Sri Lanka as a senior research fellow at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo.

Writing the Book of Ester By Louise Domaratius (Louise Demarest Thunin '66) Quality Words In Print. 2003. Celia Davis is an American-born English teacher in the Loire Valley of France. She meets Mehdi - a half-Jewish Iranian sent to France with his twin sister, Zahra, for safety - when he joins her English class at the lycee where she teaches. Gradually they develop a personal relationship. Celia, fascinated by Mehdi's background and that of his Jewish activist mother, Ester, who is imprisoned in Iran, becomes ever more deeply involved. She meets Mehdi regularly in a bookshop and starts to write what she believes is Ester's story, finding moving parallels with the Esther of the Bible. Louise Demarest Thunin lives in France. Her first novel, Gadji, recently received the Bill Fisher Award for Best First Book of Fiction in the Ben Franklin Awards competition.

Gadji By Louise Domaratius (Louise Demarest Thunin '66) Quality Words in Print. 2002. Gadji unfolds against the backdrop of the Balkan wars and refugee flights to Western Europe during the 1990s. Set in provincial France, it tells the story of expatriate American Ellen Aubert and her struggle to help the Kozics - a refugee family of Muslim Gypsies from Bosnia - gain political asylum. As Ellen becomes intimate with the father of the family, she loses herself both in the cause of his asylum petition and in her desire for his affections. It soon becomes unclear which of the two is the needy one, which of them the genuine seeker of refuge. When the Kozics refer to Ellen as a "gadji," a non-Gypsy, she understands that for them she is the "other." But the differences in their cultures and sensibilities will change her more fundamentally than she could ever have imagined. Louise Demarest Thunin is a teacher and writer living in France. Gadji is her first novel, and the winner of the 2003 Benjamin Franklin Award: The Bill Fisher Award for Best First Book- Fiction. The Benjamin Franklin Awards are sponsored by the Publisher's Marketing Association, and celebrate excellence in editorial and design for titles published in 2002.

Always In Trouble By Corinne Demas and Noah Z. Jones Scholastic Press. 2009. No matter what day of the week it is, Emma's dog Toby is up to no good. Monday he gets into the garbage. Wednesday he eats a loaf of bread. Thursday he barks in the middle of the night. But Emma loves her dog and is determined to make him household friendly. Her diligent efforts to train him are almost perfect. Corinne Demas is the author of numerous children's books, including Saying Goodbye to Lulu. She is an English professor at MHC.

Valentine Surprise By Corinne Demas Walker and Company. 2007. Teach the child in your life about shapes and the days of the week with Corinne Demas' newest children's book Valentine Surprise. Follow a little girl named Lilly as she spends a week trying to make her mother the perfect, heart-shaped valentine. Adults and children will appreciate Lilly's sweet solution to her valentine challenge. Corinne Demas teaches English at MHC. She is the author of two collections of short stories, a novel, a memoir, and numerous other children's books.

Two Christmas Mice By Corinne Demas Holiday House. 2005. Two Christmas Mice is the story of two mice and their preparations for Christmas. One, Annamouse, has a Christmas tree, but no decorations. Another, Willamouse, has perfectly lovely decorations, but no tree. The snow is swirling outside, and neither will be able to finish her tasks. Is there a way for the two to meet and not spend Christmas alone? Corinne Demas is a professor of English at Mount Holyoke. She is a short-story writer, novelist, and award-winning children's book author.

Saying Goodbye to Lulu By Corinne Demas Little, Brown and Company. 2004. A young girl and her lovable, spunky dog, Lulu, are faithful companions from the very start. They enjoy mucking in streams, playing ball, and exploring together. As Lulu ages and starts to slow down, they are unable to do all the things the pair loved to do together. When the time comes to say goodbye to Lulu, the girl is unable to do so. This beautifully illustrated book addresses the timeless question of how to honor a loved one and still move on with your life. Corinne Demas is a professor of English at MHC and fiction editor at the Massachusetts Review. She has written numerous books for children and adults.

The Boy Who Was Generous With Salt By Corinne Demas Cavendish Children's Books. 2002. When eight-year-old Ned's father dies, he must support his family, and so he goes to sea as a cook on the fishing schooner Adeline. Working alongside the crew as they search for cod is exciting, but more than anything, Ned wants to be home in time for his ninth birthday. Luminous illustrations by Michael Hays complete the story of a homesick boy of the 1850s and his great sailing adventure. Corinne Demas, the author of numerous children's books, is a professor of English at MHC.

Nina's Waltz By Corinne Demas Orchard Books. 2000. In Demas's latest children's book, Nina thinks her father is the best fiddler in the state, maybe even in the whole country. As they drive along in the early morning light to a fiddle contest, she's sure he'll win first place. After all, Daddy's planning to play the new tune he wrote for her birthday, "Nina's Waltz." But an accident means Nina's father can't perform. Before he realizes it, another musician - someone who's afraid to play in front of strangers - picks up his fiddle and heads for the stage. Corinne Demas, who comes from a family of musicians, is a professor of English at Mount Holyoke.

Hurricane Disappearing Island If Ever I Return Again Eleven Stories High By Corinne Demas The latest works by prolific author Corinne Demas include children's books about living through a hurricane on Cape Cod; a girl's discovery of a forgotten town taken by time and tide; and a fictional work inspired by the real-life stories of women who went on whaling voyages in the nineteenth century. She's also written a memoir of her middle-class New York childhood in a housing project she deemed a "utopia of the fifties." Corinne Demas is an MHC professor of English. If Ever I Return Again has many MHC connections: the editor is Judith Roy Whipple '57, Demas's agent is Tracey Schatvet Adams '93, and the sales representative is Nicole Fortier '85.

Last Day of Paradise By Kiki Denis FP'94 Gival Press. 2006. The Last Day of Paradise is the story of Sunday, a fifteen-year-old Greek girl whose life changes dramatically when her father suddenly states that she is not his biological child and walks out of her life. Angry and betrayed, Sunday sets out to tell the story of her parents, with the hope of finding out who her biological father is. Her discoveries are initially upsetting, but as she follows her parents' story, she starts to look beyond the facts and develops a better understanding and less critical approach. Kiki Denis, originally from Greece, has lived in America since 1990. The Last Day of Paradise is her first novel; she is working on a second novel and a collection of poetry.

Traveling the Rainbow: The Life and Art of Joseph E. Yoakum By Derrel B. DePasse '70 University Press of Mississippi/Museum of American Folk Art. 2001. Joseph E. Yoakum traveled the ocean on steamships, rode America's railways as an inspector, and toured Europe with an elite team of African American troops during World War I. Later, this "naive" artist created amjestic, animated landscape paintings infused with the energy of travel. This is an illustrated tribute to a man who has been called "one of the six masters among American outsider artists." Derrel B. DePasse, who died in 2000, contributed to Self-Taught Artists of the Twentieth Century: An American Anthology.

Halving It All: How Couples Share Parenting By Francine M. Deutsch Harvard University Press. 1999. Based on interviews with working couples, the author explores concrete ways parents can devise more equal arrangements at home - out of explicit principles, or just fairness and love. Frances Deutsch is professor of psychology at Mount Holyoke College.

Fluorescence By Jennifer K. Dick '93 The University of Georgia Press. 2004. In Fluorescence, winner of the Contemporary Poetry Series competition, very real places - Paris, Massachusetts, Colorado, Iowa, Morocco - mix into the imagined, into Breughelian villages where there's "a persimmon in the corner knitting." These places are inhabited by varied bodies, stretching outward from their own edges and encountering, or engendering, a certain luminescence in the process. What happens when we exceed ourselves? What fragments of dream are lifted to the surface and through to something beyond? Clues, keys, indications - all that once seemed certain slips off into code. These poems use language to crack it. Jennifer K. Dick is a doctoral candidate in comparative literature at Paris III: the Sorbonne Nouvelle. She also teaches English and creative writing.

I Never Came to You in White By Judith Farr Houghton Mifflin. 1997. This "openly fictional treatment" of Emily Dickinson's life is constructed as a series of letters between the poet, her female friends, her brother, a "Mysterious Person" and others. Per reviewer Catherine Allgor FP'92, the book is neither history nor historical fiction, but "a work of the imagination by a scholar who loves and knows Emily Dickinson." Judith Farr is professor of English and American literature at Georgetown University.

Heart Notes: A Mingle-Mangle By Norma Lundholm Djerassi '39 Fithian Press. 2000. In this collection of letters to people who were important in Djerassi's life but are no longer alive to read her letters, Djerassi reminds us of the beauties and benefits of letter writing and of life itself. She reflects on events and people while also recording things that molded her inner life. Heart Notes speaks often of death, reminding us that while loss marks a life forever, our capacity for joy can still remain. One reviewer called the book "a most remarkable memoir, wonderfully moving without being maudlin." Norma Djerassi has always been a writer of letters and poetry, and is author of Glimpses of China from a Galloping Horse and The Gentle Cry.

Jane Hammond: Paper Work Edited by Marianne Doezema Pennsylvania State University Press. 2007. This exhibition catalogue focuses on works on paper by Jane Hammond '72. While Hammond established herself as a painter in the 1990s, she is also known for her work with printed material and her ability to combine techniques and different types of media. The exhibit, which opened at the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum in 2006, is traveling to upstate New York, San Francisco, and Detroit through 2009. Marianne Doezema is the Florence Finch Abbott Director at the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum.

Changing Prospects: The View from Mount Holyoke Edited by Marianne Doezema, forward by Christopher Benfey, essays by Susan Danly, Martha Hoppin, and Ethan Carr Cornell University Press. 2002. Mount Holyoke has been a tourist destination and an inspiration for artists and writers for almost two centuries. The view from its summit attracted the Hudson River school artist Thomas Cole who, in 1836, created the most famous painting associated with the mountain, based on sketches he made during a visit to the site. The Oxbow, which is the centerpiece of this book and the accompanying exhibition, shows a thunderstorm sweeping across the sky above the mountaintop in contrast to the gardenlike pastoral scene in the valley below. From Cole's time to our own, artists included Edward Corbett, Stephen Hannock, Alfred Leslie, and Elizabeth Meyersohn have observed and recorded alterations to the view caused by frequent flooding, changing settlement patterns, and industrialization. Richly illustrated, Changing Prospects examines the historical significance of the site for which the College is named. Changing Prospects inspired an exhibit at the MHC Art Museum in 2002.

Transit By Susan Higgins Donnelly '61 Iris Press. 2001. Transit is a collection of free verse about journey, transition, and change. Donnelly writes about Rosa Parks and Degas sculpture, about her father's life story and her Massachusetts-shaped birthmark. She weaves stories of objects, places, and people as she speaks of aging gracefully and taking time to look carefully at the world around us. Susan Donnelly's first book, Eve Names the Animals, won a Morse Prize from Northeastern University; its title poem appears in The Norton Introduction to Literature, 6th ed.

Journey through Brain Trauma: A Mother's Story of Her Daughter's Recovery By Louise Ray Morningstar with Alexia Dorszynski '77 Taylor Publishing Co. 1998. The true story of the author's struggle to help her daughter Misti recover from devastating brain damage suffered in an auto accident. Chronicles every stage of Misti's rehabilitation from her initial comatose state to the eventual retrieval of her independence. A helpful guide for anyone with a brain-injured loved one. Louise Ray Morningstar shares her story with families of other head-injury patients and celebrates life with her husband of over forty years. Alexia Dorszynski, a freelance writer and editor, is at work on a project on living with chronic illness.

Writer's Voice: Collected Work of the Twentieth-Century Biologist and Conservationist, Joseph P. Linduska Edited by Louise E. Dove '58 University of Delaware Press. 2006. A Writer's Voice preserves some of the best work of Joseph P. Linduska (1913-93), a research biologist, environmental conservationist, and award-winning writer. More than 100 of the popular essays he wrote from 1986 to 1993 for the Kent County News of Chestertown, Maryland, are included. His unique perspective on twentieth-century natural resource management included his research in the 1940s for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the biological effects of DDT, which became the foundation of Rachel Carson's landmark book, Silent Spring, a decade later. Louise Engel Dove earned degrees in zoology from Mount Holyoke and the University of California, Berkeley, and was employed in the biological and environmental sciences for many years. She was editor of Living Resources of the Delaware Estuary.

A Castle in the Backyard: The Dream of a House in France By Betsy Draine (Mary E. Draine '67) and Michael Hinden University of Wisconsin Press. 2002. Castles crown the hills in the region known as the Perigord in southwest France, one of the most beautiful river valleys in Europe. In 1985, in the shadow of a medieval castle, Draine and Michael Hinden fell in love with a small stone house that became their summer home. A Castle in the Backyard describes the charms and mishaps of setting up housekeeping thousands of miles from home, and introduces the residents and culture of Perigord. Betsy Draine is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Psychology of Learning for Instruction By Marcy Perkins Driscoll '73 Allyn & Bacon. 1994. This cognitively-oriented text focuses on learning and instruction. Specific applications - and implications - of learning theories are discussed and examples are drawn from educational situations and problems. Marcy Driscoll, professor in instructional systems and educational psychology at Florida State University, has won numerous teaching awards and published many articles and chapters in books in the fields of learning and instructional design and technology.

Women, Religion, and Social Change in Brazil's Popular Church By Carol Ann Drogus '81 University of Notre Dame Press. 1998. Based on interviews conducted with working-class Brazilian women, the book explores the influence of liberation theology - particularly on poor lay women who are motivated to create strong social movements, especially as they concern the well-being of children. Carol Ann Drogus is an associate professor of government at Hamilton College, where she teaches courses on Latin America, gender and international relations.

Family Structure in the Staffordshire Potteries, 1840-1880 By Marguerite W. Dupree '72 Oxford University Press. 1995. This study breaks new ground in its analysis of how people both create and adapt to the process of industrialization. The author focuses on family relationships - not in isolation, but in the context of the workplace and of other institutions within the community. She reveals the flexibility of nuclear families with regard to both work and welfare, and highlights the role of women in shaping the responses of families to their circumstances. Marguerite Dupree is a senior research fellow, Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, Glasgow; and a fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge.