A FRIEND’S IMPRESSIONS

Monday, 1 February, 2021

Dear Reader,

This is my second blog post on my author’s website.  I’m always interested in hearing other people’s impressions of my poetry, as writing is often a solitary pursuit and it’s so good to get feedback from others.  I’d like to share with you the response of my friend, Tara Brayshaw, to the manuscript of ‘Woman of Tides’ after she had first read it.  She has kindly given me permission to share her comments.  My book took her on a journey:

“It was a journey to my past, times long since forgotten, feelings long since put away.   Images of my grandmother’s house came back in a flash as I read ‘The Garden’ – I remembered the many hours I spent with her in the garden and how the garden looked when I went to clean out her house after her death.  ‘Recollections’ reminded me of my little flat in Windsor where I retreated after the breakdown of my first marriage – it became a place of peace and a respite from the world… ‘The Lotus Pickers’ made me smile as I thought about my travels along Inle Lake in Burma as the women picked the lotus blooms then again the same hauntingly beautiful image in Thonburi, Thailand – travels that will stay with me my entire life but the details of which get lost in the flurry of daily living.

Suffice to say, the turn of nearly every page allowed me to recall times and places with such clarity that I started racing through my first reading to see what was on the next page, like flicking through old photo albums.  That first reading let me exhausted but excited to delve back in to this wonderful treasure trove of words.  My second and subsequent readings I took as if sipping a fine wine, relishing each word and the memories that they brought back.”

Thank you, Tara.

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