Fate sets two English girls, Hope and Emily, on parallel journeys more than a hundred years apart. Both find freedom and love in the wild mountains of Montana, but what they don't know is that their stories are inextricably entwined.
Takes readers on a tour of London's most formative age - the age of love, sex, intellect, art, great ambition and fantastic ruin. This book is about the Georgians who called London their home, from dukes and artists to rent boys and hot air balloonists meeting dog-nappers and life-models along the way.
'The only thing that is good is poppies. They are gold.' Poppy tears, opium, heroin, fentanyl: humankind has been in thrall to the 'Milk of Paradise' for millennia. The latex of papaver somniferum is a bringer of sleep, of pleasurable lethargy, of relief from pain and hugely addictive. A commodity without rival, it is renewable, easy to extract, transport and refine, and subject to an insatiable global demand. No other substance in the world is as simple to produce or as profitable. It is the basis of a gargantuan industry built upon a shady underworld, but ultimately it is a farm-gate material that lives many lives before it reaches the branded blister packet, the intravenous drip or the scorched and filthy spoon. Many of us will end our lives dependent on it. In Milk of Paradise, acclaimed cultural historian Lucy Inglis takes readers on an epic journey from ancient Mesopotamia to modern America and Afghanistan, from Sanskrit to pop, from poppy tears to smack, from morphine to todays synthetic opiates. It is a tale of addiction, trade, crime, sex, war, literature, medicine and, above all, money. And, as this ambitious, wide-ranging and compelling account vividly shows, the history of opium is our history and it speaks to us of who we are.
The narrative centers on the significance of poppies, symbolizing beauty and value amidst a challenging environment. These flowers represent hope and resilience, standing out as a rare source of goodness. The story explores themes of appreciation for the simple yet profound aspects of life, highlighting how something as delicate as a flower can embody strength and worth in a complex world.
London, heute. Mädchen verschwinden. Und seltsame Kreaturen tauchen auf den Straßen auf. Fast wäre die 16-jährige Lily von einem zweiköpfigen Hund getötet worden. Doch urplötzlich steht Regan vor ihr – gut aussehend, geheimnisvoll und faszinierend. Merkwürdig, dass er ihre seltene Blutgruppe kennt, aber noch merkwürdiger, dass es angeblich eine Verbindung zwischen Lily, Regan und den verschwundenen Mädchen geben soll. Von einer auf die andere Sekunde befindet sich Lily in einem Strudel aus Verbrechen und Verrat, Verschwörung und Leidenschaft, Licht und Finsternis. Fantastisch, romantisch, gefährlich!