Elisa Banfi Books

***Pre-order Abi Daré's new novel AND SO I ROAR now - Coming August 2024*** 'Unforgettable' New York Times 'Impressive' Observer 'Remarkable' Independent 'Important' Guardian 'Captivating' Mirror 'Luminous' Daily Mail 'Sparkling' Harper's Bazaar 'Beautiful' Herald THE NEW YORK TIMES AND TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE FOR FICTION RECOMMENDED BY MALALA YOUSAFZAI, ELIZABETH DAY, ANDI OLIVER AND DOLLY PARTON ___________________________________________________ I don't just want to be having any kind voice . . . I want a louding voice. At fourteen, Adunni dreams of getting an education and giving her family a more comfortable home in her small Nigerian village. Instead, Adunni's father sells her off to become the third wife of an old man. When tragedy strikes in her new home, Adunni flees to the wealthy enclaves of Lagos, where she becomes a house-girl to the cruel Big Madam, and prey to Big Madam's husband. But despite her situation continuously going from bad to worse, Adunni refuses to let herself be silenced. And one day, someone hears her. __________________________________________________ 'A story of courage that will win over your heart' Stylist 'Daré's characters leap off the page, powering this funny, luminous and heart-swelling tale' Daily Mail 'Such a vibrant, tender, beautiful novel . . . I fell in love with her, and fell in love with the book' Elizabeth Day

Dura la vita per gli dei dell'Olimpo nel Ventunesimo secolo. Ridotti a un manipolo di sfaccendati, vivono in una grande casa ormai fatiscente a Hampstead Heath, a Londra. Di Zeus ed Era, confinati al terzo piano, non si sa più nulla da decenni. Ares, il dio della guerra, è l'unico a cui il lavoro non manca mai, mentre Artemide fa la dog-sitter, la splendida Afrodite lavora per una chat-line erotica, Dioniso ha aperto un night club, Eros è diventato cattolico praticante, Apollo cerca la fama in televisione e per vincere la noia va in giro a fare dispetti alle mortali... A spezzare la monotonia di queste grigie e immortali esistenze, entra in scena Alice, una ragazza dolce e onesta quanto ingenua, che bussa alla loro porta per offrirsi come donna delle pulizie (di cui la casa ha più che mai bisogno). Complice una freccia di Eros, Apollo si innamora perdutamente di lei, che però è già fidanzata, o quasi, con Neil, un ingegnere timido e un po' imbranato. Ma il dio del sole non si rassegna a essere rifiutato da una mortale: la sua reazione finirà per scatenare una serie di eventi drammatici, trasformando il divertente romanzo di Marie Phillips in una storia d'amore avventurosa e tenera, sulla scia del mito di Orfeo ed Euridice.

Retired operative Paul Janson is called back to the spy game to settle a personal debt he owes. Peter Novak, the legendary Hungarian immigrant and head of the Liberty Foundation, has been kidnapped and faces execution at the hands of terrorist extremists. It is up to Janson to rescue Novak before he is murdered. Janson immediately puts together a top team and manages the nearly impossible task of extricating Novak, but something goes horribly wrong - something that indicates the operation had been compromised from the start - and only Janson himself survives. Now the major intelligence services think that Janson was responsible for Novak's death and are sending their finest operatives after him...

When twenty-year-old Pat rents a room from handsome and cocky Bruce, she inherits some delightfully colourful neighbours: Domenica, an insightful and eccentric widow; Bertie, a five-year-old whos̕ mastered both saxophone and Italian; and Irene, his overbearing mother. Pats̕ new job at a gallery seems easy enough. Her boss spends most of his time drinking coffee in a local café and discussing matters great and small, and Pats̕ duties are light. That is until she realizes that one of their paintings may be an undiscovered work of a renowned Scottish artist and she discovers that one of their customers may be in on the secret. Add to this a fancy ball, love triangles and an encounter with a famous crime writer, and you have Alexander McCall Smiths̕ entertaining and witty portrait of Edinburgh society.

Dieses Buch bietet eine vergleichende Untersuchung islamischer Wohlfahrtsaktivitäten in städtischen Gebieten der Schweiz und Italiens, um zentrale Fragen zum Engagement islamischer Organisationen in Europa zu beleuchten. Es beschreibt die Struktur und Koordination islamischer Organisationen in Genf, Mailand, Rom und Zürich, vier Städten, die bislang in der Literatur über islamische Wohlfahrt nicht analysiert wurden. Zudem werden die institutionellen Möglichkeiten und Beschränkungen untersucht, die die Formen sozialer religiöser Aktivitäten auf lokaler und internationaler Ebene beeinflussen können. Dabei werden zwei selten miteinander verbundene Forschungsbereiche zusammengeführt: die Analyse sozialer Netzwerke und die Theorie politischer Möglichkeiten. Das Buch richtet sich an Soziologen, Anthropologen und Religionswissenschaftler, die sich mit der sozialen und politischen Integration von Muslimen in Europa sowie den sozialen Aktivitäten islamischer Organisationen in westlichen Ländern befassen. Die Kapitel umfassen eine Einführung, die Analyse des islamischen Wohlfahrtsaktivismus in Westeuropa, spezifische Untersuchungen zum soziokulturellen Aktivismus in Zürich, Rom, Genf und Mailand sowie eine intranationale und länderübergreifende Datenanalyse, gefolgt von einer Schlussfolgerung.