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Letters To My Lover From Behind Asylum Walls
A modern gothic tale of letters written by Sweet Jane to her lover, Eleanor, recounting and obscuring the dark secret that lead to Sweet Jane being committed.
PRAISE FOR LETTERS TO MY LOVER FROM BEHIND ASYLUM WALLS
Written from an asylum, these epistles provide something more “delicate and wrathful” than the expectation that our interned speaker has a tenuous grip on reality. Instead, we witness moments of wisdom and lucidity made possible because the strength of Sweet Jane’s love for Eleanor is greater than the weight of her trauma. These poems guide us through the questions we must ask about how memory and isolation work after a severe tragedy, in order to determine which truths we are most invested in preserving, perhaps more than which are worth discovering.
-Kristi Carter, author of Cosmovore and Daughter Shaman Sings Blood Anthem
Robin Sinclair’s poetry reveals, in careful construction, the movement in grief. This is Robin’s homage to the human body. They are ruminant, reflective, hauntingly tender when they speak, “I wonder what all of this will look like when completely healed.” Here is gentle longing, they shape it as both touch and desire. I believe Robin when they write, “There are bones in dirt they’re sure of if they just knew where to dig.” The body is alive, “viciously creating a future.” Here, we lean in to listen to the music of all that we don’t remember happening. The music is as real as it is indelible, and it speaks to you, “There’s so much hunger here, my love. They feed us well, but not what we need, and if I don’t get out soon I fear I may starve.” And if this isn’t the truth, I don’t know what is.
-Tanya Singh, author of Heaven is Only a Part of Our Body Where All the Sickness Resides
Read the cycle of poems here in Robin Sinclair’s Letters to My Lover From Behind Asylum Walls and be immersed in its passages of rawness, brutality, wry humor and truths and you will find it as foreboding, palpable, and as freeing as when you first read The Bell Jar. Unlike The Bell Jar, Sinclair’s collection is wholly of our times, scraping as it does beneath the messy surface, seeing life as it is when the carapace of wellness and serotonin blankets is ripped away and we see the damage done. Read this book because it is so vital to exorcising many ghosts—yours, mine and ours, past and present!
-G.E. Schwartz, author of Only Others Are: Poems, World, Thinking In Tongues and the forthcoming Murmurations
PRAISE FOR LETTERS TO MY LOVER FROM BEHIND ASYLUM WALLS
Written from an asylum, these epistles provide something more “delicate and wrathful” than the expectation that our interned speaker has a tenuous grip on reality. Instead, we witness moments of wisdom and lucidity made possible because the strength of Sweet Jane’s love for Eleanor is greater than the weight of her trauma. These poems guide us through the questions we must ask about how memory and isolation work after a severe tragedy, in order to determine which truths we are most invested in preserving, perhaps more than which are worth discovering.
-Kristi Carter, author of Cosmovore and Daughter Shaman Sings Blood Anthem
Robin Sinclair’s poetry reveals, in careful construction, the movement in grief. This is Robin’s homage to the human body. They are ruminant, reflective, hauntingly tender when they speak, “I wonder what all of this will look like when completely healed.” Here is gentle longing, they shape it as both touch and desire. I believe Robin when they write, “There are bones in dirt they’re sure of if they just knew where to dig.” The body is alive, “viciously creating a future.” Here, we lean in to listen to the music of all that we don’t remember happening. The music is as real as it is indelible, and it speaks to you, “There’s so much hunger here, my love. They feed us well, but not what we need, and if I don’t get out soon I fear I may starve.” And if this isn’t the truth, I don’t know what is.
-Tanya Singh, author of Heaven is Only a Part of Our Body Where All the Sickness Resides
Read the cycle of poems here in Robin Sinclair’s Letters to My Lover From Behind Asylum Walls and be immersed in its passages of rawness, brutality, wry humor and truths and you will find it as foreboding, palpable, and as freeing as when you first read The Bell Jar. Unlike The Bell Jar, Sinclair’s collection is wholly of our times, scraping as it does beneath the messy surface, seeing life as it is when the carapace of wellness and serotonin blankets is ripped away and we see the damage done. Read this book because it is so vital to exorcising many ghosts—yours, mine and ours, past and present!
-G.E. Schwartz, author of Only Others Are: Poems, World, Thinking In Tongues and the forthcoming Murmurations
65 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 12, 2019
14 people want to read
About the author
Robin Sinclair
6 books12 followersRobin Sinclair (they/them) is a queer, trans writer of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Their debut full-length poetry collection, Letters To My Lover From Behind Asylum Walls (Cosmographia Books, 2018), discusses themes of identity, gender, and mental illness.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 6, 2019
This book of poetry is exceptional! So-much-so, that I had to put it down to reflect on the powerful words it contains when I was just about half way through. I put it down for a week, then read it from the beginning, and again was submerged in this book to the point of chills, smiles and tears, both happy and sad. Loved it!
The reviews written for this book by, Kristi Carter, Tanya Singh & G.E. Schwartz (all whom are authors) express with perfect words the exceptional quality of Ms. Sinclair's writing ... "... delicate and wrathful ... " writes Kristi, "... ruminant, reflective, hauntingly tender when they speak ..." writes Tanya, and G.E. encourages us to, "Read the cycle of poems here in Robin Sinclair's Letters to My Lover Behind Asylum Walls and be immersed in its passages of rawness, brutality, wry humor and truths ..." And compares it to the feeling one has upon first reading, "The Bell Jar." Agree, Agree, Agree!
I implore you to acquire this book, TODAY!
Thank you so very much for this powerful book of letters written by Sweet Jane to Dear Eleanor.
Loved it!
The reviews written for this book by, Kristi Carter, Tanya Singh & G.E. Schwartz (all whom are authors) express with perfect words the exceptional quality of Ms. Sinclair's writing ... "... delicate and wrathful ... " writes Kristi, "... ruminant, reflective, hauntingly tender when they speak ..." writes Tanya, and G.E. encourages us to, "Read the cycle of poems here in Robin Sinclair's Letters to My Lover Behind Asylum Walls and be immersed in its passages of rawness, brutality, wry humor and truths ..." And compares it to the feeling one has upon first reading, "The Bell Jar." Agree, Agree, Agree!
I implore you to acquire this book, TODAY!
Thank you so very much for this powerful book of letters written by Sweet Jane to Dear Eleanor.
Loved it!
September 20, 2019
What to read when you experience the loss of a loved one...
I've lost my beloved father this August, and I wasn't sure what my first read after that loss could be.
It is deeply intimate to read the letters of a person who suffers, who experiences a loss; The loss of a loved one, the loss of self.
I will be rereading those letters, especially now that the autumn has just arrived.
Stunning work, Robin!
Thank you!
I've lost my beloved father this August, and I wasn't sure what my first read after that loss could be.
It is deeply intimate to read the letters of a person who suffers, who experiences a loss; The loss of a loved one, the loss of self.
I will be rereading those letters, especially now that the autumn has just arrived.
Stunning work, Robin!
Thank you!
March 19, 2020
The poetry was dark and dreamlike and gritty. The story had me on edge the whole time. Reading Letters felt like trying to assemble a puzzle. I LOVED that Sinclair didn't shy away from difficult topics like violence in the mentally ill. I am about to give it a re-read!
February 4, 2021
This book was deep. It's crazy because I was getting Edgar Allen Poe Vibes. I felt the authors pain, confusion, and sorrows from being in a place that treated humans like animals. Also, the resentment of being away from a loved one.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews