Julia Smith

An empty-nester relinquishes her struggle with the circle of life through the nurture of an injured duckling and its two fluffy companions.

A reluctant sailor, banished from her comfort zone in central Illinois by her newly retired husband, chronicles her brave voyage into retirement on a houseboat to Key West, Florida.

Select Meditations is among the earliest works of the poet and mystic Thomas Traherne (1637-74). Written shortly after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, the manuscript was not discovered until 1964 and first published by Carcanet in 1997. Traherne, a young clergyman in a country parish at the time, explores his relationship with God and his vocation to 'teach Immortal Souls the way to Heaven'. It is a spiritual journey that involves examination of his doubts and failings (he confesses to 'too much... proneness to Speak'), of the political issues that shaped his times, and of the realities of ministering to his congregation. Above all, though, Traherne's meditations celebrate the beauty of the world and the human community transfigured by the love of God, in terms that speak across time. 'Remember', he writes, 'that the world is the beginning of Gifts.' Julia J. Smith's landmark edition, preserving the original spelling, provides a detailed introduction and notes on the text. Cover photograph: Detail from the Thomas Traherne windows in the Audley Chapel at Hereford Cathedral. Reproduced by kind permission of the Dean and Chapter of Hereford Cathedral. Cover design StephenRaw.com.

Inspired by the Consumer Credit Act 2006, this detailed work offers practical guidance on the legislation. The scope and impact of the regulation is undergoing fundamental change; for example, financial limits on regulation are being partially removed, the OFT are given the power to fine licensees, an Ombudsman scheme is being introduced and agreements can be reopened where the relationship arising is held to be unfair. This book addresses topics of practical concern and examines the areas most relevant to practitioners drafting, securitising or seeking to defend claims under credit or hire agreements. In particular, the book focuses on the outstanding problems and issues arising from the application of the Consumer Credit Act. In-depth commentary is provided by an expert author team who have appeared in many recent cases where enforceability of rights under credit and hire agreements has been in issue.