"In this universe, there are Good Spirits, Trickster Spirits, and Evil Spirits", announced Winona, the elderly Sioux medicine woman to psychologist Dr. Meggie O'Connor before departing to the Other Side. Whereas bestsellers Winona's Web and Compass of the Heart introduced the reader to the Good Spirits and the Trickster Spirits, "Crack at Dusk: Crook of Dawn" draws one into the vortex of evil. In this lyrical tale of love and healing, Winona's cousin Hawk and Meggie struggle to help Winona's grandson make sense of a terrible, traumatic experience. Love is always at the center, as "Crack at Dusk: Crook of Dawn" delves into the bicultural conflict between the medicine man and the psychologist struggling in their own ways to heal the boy. Together, Hawk and Meggie rediscover the healing power of the Sacred Pipe, stories, and the human imagination.

Crack at Dusk : Crook of Dawn

Literature & Fiction

Priscilla Cogan

Literary

Two Canoes Press

I am scattered into a million pieces. Little pieces of sand or glass. Sharp-edged knives or swords, like the ones daddy plays with. They won't let me but when I close my hands I cut myself anyway. Sharp-edged words and eyes, I try to hide from them but cannot."" 
These are the words of Marzita Zaferatos, a mentally-ill young woman who wanders into the lives of her neighbors on Locust Street, whether they want her to or not. On the street live a frail spinster, a career-driven couple and their toddler, a neurologist with a constricting shyness of women, a teenager who wishes her life could be as interesting as her daydreams, and Marzita's father, a circus juggler. These residents are scarcely aware of each other's existence, guarding their private lives behind doors and fences. But Marzita doesn't understand that only superficial contact is customary in the close confines of a city. Sometimes unwillingly, her neighbors are caught up in her delusional, fairytale vision of life with princes and princesses, evil dukes, malevolent knives, circus stars and music, as her world spins out of control and the boundary between insanity and reality unravels. 
This is the story of how people react when confronted by someone whose life is more out of control than their own. It is a story of love, misunderstanding, suspense and heartbreak. It is one that is familiar to us, as we wonder about our neighbors, experience the painfulness of self-doubt, or witness the confusion and fright of mental illness. It is the story of all who are forced to confront the chaos in their own lives.

Requiem for Locusts

Wendy Parciak

Contemporary

Winona's Web

To the surprise of her family, Winona Pathfinder, an elderly Lakota Sioux medicine woman, announces she intends to die in two months. For counseling, Winona is referred to psychologist Dr. Meggie O'Connor--Caucasian, middle-aged, and divorced. A reluctant client, the feisty Winona decides to turn the tables and teach Dr. O'Connor a thing or two about life, while steadfastly refusing to renounce her plans to die.As fall turns to winter on the scenic Leelanau Peninsula of Michigan, Winona casts her web around the doctor. Ever-dubious, Meggie O'Connor sees her professional methods slowly crumble before the earthy humor and soaring spirit of her new teacher. Who is healing whom? Can the doctor convince Winona to step back from the gates to the spirit world?As Meggie's eyes open, she also rediscovers the pull of romance, involving her with two intriguing Native American men. Strange visions begin to appear, and Meggie faces a battle of wills with her stubborn patient armed with a prayer pipe, a strong heart, and the conviction that she is about to "cross over."Graceful and powerful, the story is deeply rooted in traditional Lakota teachings. Winona's Web will delight you and touch your heart with its message of hope and prayer, love and loss, and learning to listen to the web of the world.

The Unraveling Thread is the story of a family exploding in crisis. Harriet McWhinnie, a divorced but successful career woman, arrives home to discover that yet another Agency person has fled, leaving behind Harriet's sweet but demented mother, her adolescent twin girls, one psychotic with an undiagnosed genetic disorder, the other rebellious and resentful of her disabled sibling, a little five year old son yearning for the return of his father, and an hyperactive dog who drives everyone crazy. Desperate, Harriet hires a middle-aged, Native American woman, Agatha, with no references, no address, and a past steeped in mystery. Stern but loving, Agatha forces each family member to work through their issues with honesty and dignity while hiding from her own grief. In the end, the story's memorable characters each learn how to pick up the threads of both love and self respect that will pull them out into the harsh world and then lead them back home. 
This story is the first time that the relatively common, but severely under-diagnosed chromosomal disorder, Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome, has ever appeared in fiction. As typical of Dr. Cogan's previous novels, the clash of the Anglo and Native American cultures casts a different light on the issues facing many American families. The story of a career woman, caught in the sandwich generation, taking care of both her parent and her children, is one that will resonate with many readers, as will the story of a family overwhelmed with medical problems. It is the kind of page-turning novel which will tug on the reader's heart.

The Unraveling Thread

United States

Cogan, Priscilla

Badalian, Alvart

Genre Fiction

THE FIRST BOOK IN THE INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED WINONA TRILOGY 
 Psychologist Dr. Meggie O'Connor - recently divorced, a feminist, and nearing forty - has quit a thriving New York practice to retreat to the rural, scenic Leelanau Peninsula along Lake Michigan in search of a simpler life. That bucolic dream vanishes with her first patient - Winona Pathfinder, an elderly, feisty Lakota medicine woman who has jolted her family with the declaration that the Spirits are coming to take her Across in two months, although she is neither sick nor suicidal. 
 A healer of lost souls, the resistant Winona begins to weave a disturbing web of traditional Lakota medicine teachings and paranormal events around Meggie whom she perceives as naive and unbalanced, while Meggie struggles to use all her professional skills to keep Winona alive. 
 Two very strong women, two very different cultures - who is healing whom? 
 A powerful and lyrical story, Winona's Web touches the heart with its message of hope and prayer, of love and loss, and learning how to listen to the healing web of the world.

Winona's Web: A Novel of Discovery

THE SECOND BOOK IN THE INERNATIONALLY ACCCLAIMED WINONA TRILOGY A STORY OF LOVE - HUMAN, ANIMAL, AND DIVINE. 
 "Love is very tricky, and Coyote's tracks are all over the place," warns Winona, the Lakota medicine woman. But the Anglo psychologist, Meggie O'Connor and Hawk, Winona's prodigy, pay little attention to the scheming Trickster Figure. 
 Like a scintillating, seductive diamond in the sun, Compass of the Heart rotates and explores love in all its facets - bicultural conflict, human and Spirits, human and animals, the living and the dead. 
 Compass of the Heart - A lyrical tale full of wonder and magic that shines a truthful light upon the earth and all her creatures.

Compass of the Heart: A Novel of Discovery (Winona Trilogy)

Clinging To The Moon

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, HEALING SPRINGS UNDER THE GUISE OF LOVE. Awakening from a coma with a traumatic brain injury, the former English professor, Tess Outerbridge, finds herself cognitively challenged, facing unexpected divorce papers from her husband, and homeless. An elderly, lonely hospital volunteer, Cassie McDermott, invites Tess to her mansion for the long rehabilitation. An unforeseen gun battle leaves Sonny, a brilliant young man on the cusp of a bright future, paralyzed and with a neck wound that will not heal. Despite the differences in race, age, and background, Sonny and Tess reach out to each other with love and compassion. Dr. Meggie O'Connor and Hawk (from the Winona series) strive to help Tess adapt to her new realities and Sonny to face the prospect of a possible death sentence. Meanwhile, the saintly Cassie comes under suspicion of murder for the deaths of her late, beloved husband and his mistress. Clinging to the Moon is part mystery and part love story with unique characters struggling against physical, mental, and emotional injuries to celebrate the discovery of love in the most uncertain moments. Once again, Cogan weaves an inspiring tale of characters and experiences you won't soon forget.

Clinging to the Moon

Stalking Nirvana While Zen meditation has its roots in Japan, the heart of Zen fits everywhere. Stalking Nirvana takes a new tack, opening the door for understanding how Zen meditation can be made more "at home" in America and Europe with Native American Spiritual practices. This book shows how Zen can be enhanced for westerners. Stalking Nirvana is ideal for anyone interested in learning more about meditation, or for individuals who currently practice Buddhism but are interested in a slightly different approach to Zen practices. Red Path (Native American) Zen honors Zen traditions but enhances them with Native understandings of “oneness” and with a deeper experience of “Grandmother Earth.” Stalking Nirvana shows how to have a one to one experience with trees, plants, animals – all our brothers and sisters with whom we are One.

Stalking Nirvana: The Native American (Red Path) Zen Way

Religion & Spirituality

Sings Alone Sensei, REV Duncan

Buddhism

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Books by Two Canoes Press

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Two Canoes Press publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Crack at Dusk : Crook of Dawn

Requiem for Locusts

Winona's Web

The Unraveling Thread

The Unraveling Thread

Winona's Web: A Novel of Discovery

Compass of the Heart: A Novel of Discovery (Winona Trilogy)

Clinging To The Moon

Clinging to the Moon

Stalking Nirvana: The Native American (Red Path) Zen Way