A Great Shaking

by Edwina Attlee

This profoundly exciting debut explores the complicated embodiments, politics and emotions of domestic life through the prism of the turning year. Attlee draws subtly luminous images from mundane, ordinary life—I pat her gloves with apricot foam / blow bubbles in the dusk / with liquid from the pound shop—allowing us to see the vivid, electric power of moments to which familiarity usually blinds us. At the same time, she is always aware of the vexed inequalities of family, time, class and gender—joy unfurls from coupledom and a shared bank account / watch out or the big horse trudges on your head. Her writing about childrearing is painfully tender yet radical: they pack him differently at the nursery … am I letting them snuff it out / the little yellow flame. In this beautiful, funny and innovative book, an important new poetic voice has emerged.

142 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2024