Books with author Patricia Smith

In a chilling literary hall of mirrors, Patricia Highsmith introduces Tom Ripley. Like a hero in a latter-day Henry James novel, is sent to Italy with a commission to coax a prodigal young American back to his wealthy father. But Ripley finds himself very fond of Dickie Greenleaf. He wants to be like him--exactly like him. Suave, agreeable, and utterly amoral, Ripley stops at nothing--certainly not only one murder--to accomplish his goal. Turning the mystery form inside out, Highsmith shows the terrifying abilities afforded to a man unhindered by the concept of evil.

There was nothing Isabella loved more than spending time working in the garden with her grandmother. At five years old, she thought Grandma Pat had the most beautiful garden in the world. As you read The Garden Party, you will understand how Isabella discovered the imaginative world of garden fairies. "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand." - Albert Einstein A portion of the proceeds form the sale of The Garden Party will be donated to local food banks.

"A Land Remembered" has been ranked #1 Best Florida Book eight times in annual polls conducted by Florida Monthly Magazine. PIn this best-selling novel, Patrick Smith tells the story of three generations of the MacIveys, a Florida family who battle the hardships of the frontier to rise from a dirt-poor Cracker life to the wealth and standing of real estate tycoons. The story opens in 1858, when Tobias MacIvey arrives in the Florida wilderness to start a new life with his wife and infant son, and ends two generations later in 1968 with Solomon MacIvey, who realizes that the land has been exploited far beyond human need. The sweeping story that emerges is a rich, rugged Florida history featuring a memorable cast of crusty, indomitable Crackers battling wild animals, rustlers, Confederate deserters, mosquitoes, starvation, hurricanes, and freezes to carve a kingdom out of the swamp. But their most formidable adversary turns out to be greed, including finally their own. Love and tenderness are here too: the hopes and passions of each new generation, friendships with the persecuted blacks and Indians, and respect for the land and its wildlife. A Land Remembered was winner of the Florida Historical Society's Tebeau Prize as the Most Outstanding Florida Historical Novel. Now in its 14th hardcover printing, it has been in print since 1984 and is also available in trade paperback.

Smith offers an in-depth discussion of British fantasy literature from its origins in the 18th century through 1990, juxtaposing its evolution against the background of social, cultural, and educational developments in Great Britain. She categorizes the fantasy form in terms of four stages of development: the Didactic (the earliest period, including Dorothy Kilner and Sarah Trimmer); the Enlightenment (including John Ruskin, George MacDonald, and Lewis Carroll); the Diversionary (including Edith Nesbit, J.M. Barrie, and Kenneth Grahame), and the Dynamic (including C.S. Lewis and Susan Cooper). In the 18th and early 19th centuries, writers produced an inherently conservative form of fantasy. During the 19th and 20th centuries, they became far more adventurous in allowing their youthful protagonists free imaginative rein. Correspondingly, the geograhical text became more complex, as heroes and heroines participated in fantasy excursions far less conventional than previously experienced.The author also discusses Australian and New Zealand fantasy, which show the influence of British fantasy. She highlights such authors as Ruth Park, Patricia Wrightson, Carolyn MacDonald, and Margaret Mahy. Over two hundred British, Australian, and New Zealand works are included; bibliography and indexes.

In this best-selling novel, Patrick Smith tells the story of three generations of the MacIveys, a Florida family who battle the hardships of the frontier to rise from a dirt-poor Cracker life to the wealth and standing of real estate tycoons. The story opens in 1858, when Tobias MacIvey arrives in the Florida wilderness to start a new life with his wife and infant son, and ends two generations later with Solomon MacIvey, who realizes that the land has been exploited far beyond human need. The sweeping story that emerges is a rich, rugged Florida history featuring a memorable cast of crusty, indomitable Crackers battling wild animals, rustlers, Confederate deserters, mosquitoes, starvation, hurricanes, and freezes to carve a kingdom out of a swamp. But their most formidable adversary turns out to be greed, including finally their own. Love and tenderness are here too: the hopes and passions of each new generation, friendships with the persecuted blacks and Indians, and respect for the land and its wildlife. A Land Remembered was winner of the Florida Historical Society Tebeau Prize as the Most Outstanding Florida Historical Novel.