"Provides a collection of both personal narratives and critical analyses of mental illness in the LIS field, exploring intersections with labor, culture, stigma, race, ability, identity, and gender"--

Who would buy a seven acre peach farm in Niagara at the age of sixty-two? To the surprise of his friends, in 1958 Richard Lis did just that, and then spent the next seventeen years of his life farming and living alone in a drafty shack by the lake. After his death, there is an estate auction sale held on the farm. Attending are three members of the Ziemba family, friends who over the years had worked for Lis in the summers. Scenes from the auction reoccur throughout the narrative. Little details—a whiff of cigarette smoke, an empty tractor seat, walnuts lying on the ground—trigger the adult daughter’s memories of working on the farm and the extended conversations between Lis and her mother during their social visits. In the interweaving of present and past, the author presents an exquisite and observant slice of life, capturing the complex and unforgettable character of the elderly farmer with all his friendliness, hospitality, generosity, but sensitivity to others, but also his sometimes inexplicable outbursts of anger and frustration. The stories within stories that make up this book are told in voices that are genuine and engaging. The setting of rural Niagara in the mid-twentieth century is reminiscent of a simpler era when farmers could make a living on small acreages and friends would visit and talk for hours. It was a time that was on the cusp of a changing world, a time that some will look back on with nostalgia, while others might wish could return.

In the Empire of Rei-Een, tradition is everything and magic means death. Lis has spent her life hidden away from the magic hunters of the Empire. Her father was instrumental in removing magic from the Empire and knows just how dangerous the world is for her. But when the crown prince dies, Lis’s magic is at risk of discovery With his brother’s murder, the new crown prince is concerned with far more than the woman to be hidden away as his bride. Magic has found its way back and he is determined to stamp it out before anyone else dies. When Lis is summoned for the Choosing of the Hidden Princess, she soon discovers not all magics are the same. Some seek revenge for a war that ended a lifetime ago, amidst whispers and visions of a different future for Rei-Een. But who can she trust? The Empire’s greatest hunter is never far from her side, and what will he do if he discovers the truth? Everyone thinks Lis can help them in some way, but all she wants is to return to her little island home. If she remains in the heart of the Empire of Rei-Een, there is far more at risk than her life. The Hidden Princess is the first in a sword and sorcery fantasy series, set amongst the palaces and high stone walls of the Empire of Rei-Een.