Letdown

by Sonia Greenfield

A hybrid memoir and valentine to her firstborn, Letdown encompasses the story of a woman when fertility issues arise at the same time the diagnosis of her son’s autism, complicating motherhood in unexpected ways. Portrays the transcendence found amidst difficulty.

Genres: Poetry

99 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Christian M · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 —

Really tough prose poetry about loss, autism, grief, motherhood.

This is written by a neighbor of mine, and I’m very thankful for a copy.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. It's hard to define this book...is it one poem? Is it a series of poems? Is it memoir? Yes. Yes to all and a beautiful, accessible book even for people who aren't "poetry readers." I think there are MANY mamas who would want to walk alongside this mother's very personal very intimate path and allow their own to intertwine.

[Camille Dungy]

If motherhood makes us mammal (both the women who bear and the babies who are born) then perhaps we are most connected to the greater-than-human world in the moments of live birth (or pregnancy loss) and just after. The long stretch of carrying and caring for an almost helpless human/animal child. Greenfield’s poems are planted in the earth like the bodies of children in a country graveyard and like the budding crocuses of early spring. Birds fly through them. Sometimes safely, other times greatly imperiled. These taut prose blocks live in hospital corridors, in the East River, on neighborhood streets and subway platforms, in a child’s bedroom, and in the heart of a mother learning—through her remarkable, delicate, human and animal child—about the spectrum of what it means to be alive.

Review published originally with Orion Magazine: https://orionmagazine.org/2021/10/fif...

[Kelly Grace Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This reads like a beautiful and aching memoir in verse. Love the duality of ache and celebration in this haunting collection.

[Queer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredible set of prose poems about giving birth, motherhood, regret, responsibility, acceptance and longing.

[john compton · Rating 5 out of 5]

a masterpiece! one of the best poetry books i have ever read!