Barbara V Evers

Her face launched a thousand ships and instigated a horrific, ten year war between the Greeks and Trojans.   In legend, Helen of Troy is no more than a pawn, used and/or abused by men.   Men fell at her feet seeking her hand in marriage or kidnapping her in order to own her famous beauty.   But somewhere within this story lies a woman who lived these events and found the courage to rebel against Menelaus and flee with Paris to Troy. Where did that rebel come from? That’s the question Esther Friesner explores in her YA novel, Nobody’s Princess .   In Friesner’s account, we meet Helen as a small child, excited and enamored of the goddess Aphrodite.   She wanders through childhood aware of her beauty. How can she avoid it?   Everyone comments on it.   When she escapes deserved punishment and her sister Clytemnestra suffers for it, Helen begins to understand the power wielded by her beauty. But Friesner seeks to develop a full character, unl...

Happy New Year! As I embark upon this new year...well, embark probably isn't the best word, more like:  as I trudge into a new year.  Yes, I said trudge.  Let's face it, 2012, for me, just wasn't a year I'd like to repeat any time soon.  Although it wasn't a stellar year,  I learned some valuable lessons.  Some are not the kind you want to learn, but we don't usually get to choose the lessons the Lord sends our way, do we? So, without further ado, Barbara's lessons from 2013: 1.  If there's something you want to do in your life, do it, don't let things get in the way. I call this the bucket list lesson.  In late January, my mother fell.  Many of you know this and are aware of the trials this presented to my family.  Mom was fully independent prior to her fall.  She played bridge a minimum of four times a week and usually was the driver for her friends who no longer could drive.  The fall caused severe damage to Mom's bra...