Returning to England many years after a murder had taken away her adoptive family, Carmel March searches her memory for the truth behind her past and wonders about the role played by her childhood friend, Lucian.

Katharine Susannah Prichard was born in 1883 to Australian parents then living in Fiji, but she grew up in Tasmania, lived for a while in both Melbourne and London before finally settling in Western Australia. She was one of the co-founders of the Communist Party of Australia in 1921, and her status as a communist and a female writer led to her being frequently under surveillance and harassment by the Australian police and other government authorities. She wrote The Black Opal in 1921, and the novel focuses on the very close-knit opal-mining community living and working on Fallen Star Ridge, a fictitious location set in New South Wales, Australia. Life is hard for the miners as their fortunes rise and fall with the amounts and quality of black opal they can uncover. Black opal is a beautiful mineral with fiery gleams of color, much valued for jewelry. Finding productive seams of such opal is a matter of both hard work and good luck. The novel is a well-drawn study of the relationships of the people living on the Ridge, and the two main characters are portrayed with clarity: Michael Brady, an older man much respected by the other miners for this knowledge and ethical approach, and Sophie Rouminof, a beautiful teenage girl who is the darling of the camp but who abruptly runs away to America after being disappointed in love. Despite the difficulties the individual miners face, there is a community spirit and an agreement on basic values and principles of behavior at the Ridge. But this community of shared endeavor is eventually jeopardized by the influence of outsiders, in particular an American who wishes to buy up the individual mines, operate them under a company structure, and simply pay the miners a salary. This conflict between capitalism and honest manual labour becomes one of the most important themes of the work. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

Abandoned as a baby, her exotic beauty prompted hushed whispers of gypsy blood. But lovely Carmel March remained shrouded in mystery.... When tragedy struck her adopted home of Commonwood House, little Carmel had been bundled off to Australia. Returning to England as a young woman, she became haunted by questions from her past, as well as the shocking revelation that she had been rushed from a murder scene those many years ago. Yet she was convinced that the wrong man had been sentenced for the crime. Was the answer locked away in her childhood memory--or in the dark, secretive behavior of her old childhood friend, Lucian? And what fateful role did the opals--always present at crucial moments of her life--play? For only when she released the dark secrets imprisoned at Commonwood would she find the freedom to love.... "Victoria Holt's mysteries are among the best." --Minneapolis Star & Tribune "The prolific Miss Holt--.combines suspense and romance with the master's touch." --Boston Herald

A poignant fictional oral history of the beloved rock 'n' roll duo who shot to fame in the 1970s New York, and the dark, fraught secret that lies at the peak of their stardom

Booklist starred review Black activist Opal Lee had a vision of Juneteenth as a holiday for everyone. This true story celebrates Black joy and inspires children to see their dreams blossom. Growing up in Texas, Opal knew the history of Juneteenth, but she soon discovered that many Americans had never heard of the holiday. Join Opal on her historic journey to recognize and celebrate "freedom for all." Every year, Opal looked forward to the Juneteenth picnic—a drumming, dancing, delicious party. She knew from Granddaddy Zak's stories that Juneteenth celebrated the day the freedom news of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation finally sailed into Texas in 1865—over two years after the president had declared it! But Opal didn't always see freedom in her Texas town. Then one Juneteenth day when Opal was twelve years old, an angry crowd burned down her brand-new home. This wasn't freedom at all. She had to do something! But could one person’s voice make a difference? Could Opal bring about national recognition of Juneteenth? Follow Opal Lee as she fights to improve the future by honoring the past. Through the story of Opal Lee's determination and persistence, children ages 4 to 8 will learn: all people are created equal the power of bravery and using your voice for change the history of Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, and what it means today no one is free unless everyone is free fighting for a dream is worth the difficulty experienced along the way Featuring the illustrations of New York Times bestselling illustrator Keturah A. Bobo (I am Enough), Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free by Alice Faye Duncan celebrates the life and legacy of a modern-day Black leader while sharing a message of hope, unity, joy, and strength.

A co-ed in a south-eastern Michigan college attempts to solve a hundred year old campus murder which was committed in an historic inn, now the college museum. The women's student newspaper, The Feminist, is a bitter rival of the men's newspaper, The Iconoclast, and if Laurel Stanwood can find the answer to this old mystery, she will score a victory for the women students.

"A beautiful and poignant reminder of the industry, joy and resilience of Black people in America."-Trey Ellis, Peabody and Emmy winning producer of King in the Wilderness andTrue Justice: Bryan Stevenson's Fight for Equality The year is 1921, and Opal Brown would like to show you around her beautiful neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Filled with busy stores and happy families, Opal also wants you to know that "everyone looks like me." In both words and illustrations, this carefully researched and historically accurate book allows children to experience the joys and success of Greenwood, one of the most prosperous Black communities of the early 20th Century, an area Booker T. Washington dubbed America's Black Wall Street. Soon after the day narrated by Opal, Greenwood would be lost in the Tulsa Race Massacre, the worst act of racial violence in American history. As we approach the centennial of that tragic event, children have the opportunity through this book to learn and celebrate all that was built in Greenwood.