An original highly atmospheric book-length poem portraying a young poet's quest for the rediscovery of her creativity, and her link with a murder mystery.

Cerdd hir wreiddiol yn llawn awyrgylch yn portreadu bardd ifanc yn ceisio ailddarganfod ei chreadigrwydd, a'i chysylltiad â llofruddiaeth.

Deryn Rees-Jones has created a fascinating hybrid here, a poetry collection that is intended to be read from beginning to end as a crime story. It isn’t one long narrative poem, rather a series of poems that are like snapshots of a journey, where the reader has to fill in the gaps. Fay, a poet, is out running when she finds the body of a woman – her husband’s ex-lover, Mara. She becomes involved in the police investigation and has to cope with her husband’s grief and memories that haunt her. And then she seems to see Mara in town . . .

What struck me, reading it, was the way it challenged my expectations of reading a crime story. Normally I would read such a story quickly, wanting to know ‘what happens next’, focused very much on the solution. Rees-Jones’s rich, vivid poetry forces you to slow down and savour the language. We are so exposed to fictionalized crime now, in books, films and on TV, and it was fascinating to read a poet’s view of the familiar imagery – finding a body, being questioned by the policemen, the final confrontation. These are interwoven with some beautifully reworked myths, particularly the poem ‘Quiver’, a striking retelling of Actaeon and Diana.

I enjoyed being challenged by the book to read from beginning to end and look for clues, rather than lazily ‘dipping in’, as I normally would with a poetry collection. I have to say, though, that I most enjoyed this work when I set aside the story and read the poems for themselves, relishing Deryn Rees-Jones’s extraordinary ability to observe the details of life and give them fresh resonance.

Seren have published this in a highly attractive small-format hardback, which is a pleasure to read and perfectly fits the sense of this book as delicate but powerful, satisfyingly small and beautiful. I hope many, many readers find it.

Janet Thomas

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgement should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio’r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatad Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.