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foggy_rosamund's review
4.0
Although Vicki Feaver published her first full-length collection in 1981, this, published in 2019, is only her fourth collection. So a book of Feaver's poems is a rare event, and something to be treasured. This collection concerns itself with youth and with old age: the first half discusses Feaver's childhood, including the long shadow of the WW2, as Feaver was born in 1943. The second half expresses fears, hopes and contradictions of old age. The two halves merge into one another, and the books feels like a seamless whole: the concerns of childhood and of old age mirror one another and seem to talk to one another. All of these poems are carefully considered, concise, and immediate. They rarely employ rhyme or meter, but words are chosen with precision. The stanzas and lines are short and accessible: this is a collection that it's easy to dip in and out of. That's not to say there's no profundity here: many of Feaver's poems express our emotional engagement with our parents, grandparents, or ourselves, in a fresh and tender way. The first half of this book was less engaging than the second half: Feaver's perspective on childhood isn't unique, and there's something well worn about some of her images and ideas. I found her perspective on old age bloodier, more alive, and more compelling: I suppose everyone has a childhood, and many writers discuss it, but they don't all engage with ageing as a subject.
"Head Wars" in which the writer's internal mother and grandmother wage a war in her mind, while her own nerve endings begin to fail, is a powerful and daring portrait of the scars we carry with us as well as the new challenges we face. The beautiful "The Surgeon's Widow" describes a woman exhuming her husband's skeleton, and sleeping with him spooning her from behind in the bed in an eerie and intimate image. "Blueprint for a Mother" is particularly moving: the grown woman longs for a mother she can trust and who will soothe her,
[a mother] who'll put her arms round the girl,
young woman, older woman,
and even the grandmother --
all in there, huddled
in the dark, like a family
in a bomb shelter, frightened
of being blown apart.
Bridging the two halves, Feaver writes about imaginary creatures, such as the "Hedgehog Girl", who was "born bristling / with prickles", the Snow Queen and a mermaid. These poems are deft and full of fresh images: my favourite was "Bramble Arm", in which the right arm is "encircled by brambles, // coiled from elbow to wrist / like barbed wire", an original image that has an emblematic quality that feels as though it's coming straight from a Christian Anderson fairytale. Some of the poems about childhood can be trite, such as "VE Day Photo", in which the toddler remains grim despite the parents' celebration, or "The Sewing Machine" in which the sound of the machine evokes the absent father. Better poems capture something angry and raw: "The Girl Who Liked to be Tickled" describes the girl first enjoying then fearing to be tickled, and creates a strong emotional connection with the powerlessness of childhood, "his fingers were scuttling / like mice all over my body". The poems named after years are also working - "1958" and "1974": perhaps by being grounded in a particular moment, evoke something about youth that feels eternally true.
A moving, skillful collection, full of direct poems that linger in the mind: I recommend this, including to "reluctant readers" of poetry.
"Head Wars" in which the writer's internal mother and grandmother wage a war in her mind, while her own nerve endings begin to fail, is a powerful and daring portrait of the scars we carry with us as well as the new challenges we face. The beautiful "The Surgeon's Widow" describes a woman exhuming her husband's skeleton, and sleeping with him spooning her from behind in the bed in an eerie and intimate image. "Blueprint for a Mother" is particularly moving: the grown woman longs for a mother she can trust and who will soothe her,
[a mother] who'll put her arms round the girl,
young woman, older woman,
and even the grandmother --
all in there, huddled
in the dark, like a family
in a bomb shelter, frightened
of being blown apart.
Bridging the two halves, Feaver writes about imaginary creatures, such as the "Hedgehog Girl", who was "born bristling / with prickles", the Snow Queen and a mermaid. These poems are deft and full of fresh images: my favourite was "Bramble Arm", in which the right arm is "encircled by brambles, // coiled from elbow to wrist / like barbed wire", an original image that has an emblematic quality that feels as though it's coming straight from a Christian Anderson fairytale. Some of the poems about childhood can be trite, such as "VE Day Photo", in which the toddler remains grim despite the parents' celebration, or "The Sewing Machine" in which the sound of the machine evokes the absent father. Better poems capture something angry and raw: "The Girl Who Liked to be Tickled" describes the girl first enjoying then fearing to be tickled, and creates a strong emotional connection with the powerlessness of childhood, "his fingers were scuttling / like mice all over my body". The poems named after years are also working - "1958" and "1974": perhaps by being grounded in a particular moment, evoke something about youth that feels eternally true.
A moving, skillful collection, full of direct poems that linger in the mind: I recommend this, including to "reluctant readers" of poetry.
merry_bryson's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
lucymaymiles's review
4.0
The poems that touched me most:
- 1974
- Hedgehog Girl
- Bramble Arm
- Head Wats
- The Woman Who Married A Man Who Loved Silence
- Forgetfulness
- Second childhood
- Bone-House
- 1974
- Hedgehog Girl
- Bramble Arm
- Head Wats
- The Woman Who Married A Man Who Loved Silence
- Forgetfulness
- Second childhood
- Bone-House
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