4/5 stars

What's it about? Donika Kelly finds courage and healing in an examination of the links between childhood abuse and the wreckage of a soured marriage. Powerful and devastating.

How’d I find it? Always a fan of the work put out by Graywolf Press, I read whatever Kelly publishes since discovering her debut collection Bestiary.

Who will enjoy this book? Those who appreciated In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado’s haunting memoir / essay collection, might admire how Kelly uses mythology to address similar themes.

What stood out? The way in which Kelly summons archetypes brings resilience to the personal tragedy of this collection; she is a storyteller, an interpreter, an oracle. The poems titled “Dear—” that appear in both the past and present sections contain line for line the book’s most stunning verse.

Which line made me feel something? From “Sanctuary”: “I call this the difficulty of the nonbeliever, / of waking, every morning, without a god. / How to understand, then, what deserves rescue / and what deserves to suffer.”