All the Good Things You Deserve

by Elaine Feeney

How do we love, trust and create in the aftermath of trauma? How do we name and speak that love?In this powerful new collection from acclaimed poet and novelist Elaine Feeney, images andmemory circle and recur, and the journey from pain towards a place of greater safety is far from linear. All the Good Things You Deserve juxtaposes violence, hurt and the tyranny of shame with love, beauty and the transformative possibilities of art.

Genres: Poetry, Irish Literature, 21st Century

Paperback

About the author

Elaine Feeney was born in the West of Ireland and lives in Athenry. She published her first chapbook, Indiscipline in 2007, and has since published three collections of poetry, Where’s Katie? (2010), The Radio Was Gospel (2014) and Rise (2017) with Salmon Publishing.

Feeney’s work has been widely published and anthologised in Poetry Review, The Stinging Fly, Oxford Poetry, Poetry Ireland, The Irish Times, The Manchester Review, Stonecutter Journal and Coppernickel.

Her debut novel, As You Were, was published by Harvill Secker/ VINTAGE in August 2020.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up from the library the other week as I'd been meaning to check out Elaine Feeney's work for a while, and then a few days later my book club chose her latest novel as our book for July. After reading her poetry, I'm definitely looking forward to reading her prose. While I didn't fully connect with every poem in this book, there were a few that really struck me and will stay with me (particularly The Hex and Of Bog & Kings). A solid, thoughtful, emotional book.

[Mary Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hex poem is fabulous-I’m going to remember it for a long time and invoke it mentally on a number of people. The emotional connection with the cantos with their up and down, forward backwards unraveling are gut wrenching and so much part of an internal dialogue it’s hard not to stop and digest before moving on.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I may shovel the wet bog peat abroad at Closh into your mouth, dig my sleán down into the darkness where grandfather buried the milk jugs. I may swaddle the body— all bodies deserve a dutiful end. I may spit on your mummified face, lay you deep in the folds of earth and freezing water, (this way lies preservation). Here, we must part company. I may leave you to your eternal legacy: the past gushing to your mouth beneath my feet. In time, you'll be flushed out by this river, coming and going as it does, without warning.” (41 A Hex Poem ‘For a Man I Do Not Greatly Admire’)

[Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

i’m not one to give 5 stars to poetry usually but this was extraordinary. this made me feel every feeling ever. think elaine feeney has proven herself to probably be my favourite irish writer.

[Patricia Power · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the Good Things you Deserve by Booker nominated Elaine Feeney. This is amazing, it in lots of ways reads like a novel but is actually a collection of poems. From the aftermath of trauma to healing and love - it is a lifetime in poetry🥰

[Chanel Chapters]

Wasn’t for me

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO good

[sawah · Rating 4 out of 5]

elaine i want to kiss you on the forehead

[Delaney Sweet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent ofc!!!!

[Andreia]

i fear I can't rate this because towards the end it was a very much soft dnf (looooots of skimming)

meh. poetry not my fave in general but this did nothing for me.

[Hannah Smets · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75/5*

[Aimee Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

REREAD THREE AND A HALF

It’s funny to me how much Elaine would give out about love poems in class but her love poems are beautiful

[Madalina Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the book - it talked about family and love. Also, it had a beginning section about rape and trauma. Very vivid poetry on that. I think it is worth it! ❤️

[Jas K (bookgramer__) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

At just 84 pages, this book containing poems is a perfect cleanser between reading fiction!

In this powerful new collection from acclaimed poet and novelist Elaine Feeney, images and memory circle and recur, and the journey from pain towards a place of greater safety is far from linear. All the Good Things You Deserve juxtaposes violence, hurt, and the tyranny of shame with love, beauty, and the transformative possibilities of art.

[Helen O · Rating 4 out of 5]

All The Good Things You Deserve is an impressive poetry collection. I read the poems one after another however, I look forward to rereading and savouring them.