Book Review
Title: Low by Chrissy Williams
Genre: Poetry
Rating: 5 Stars
I don’t normally read a lot of poetry and this collection is very short so my review is going to reflect that but Low and another collection on Edelweiss really caught my eye. Low caught my attention because it is a collection of poems about loss, specifically following the loss of a child which I haven’t really seen before. I find it quite difficult to review poetry because of how individual it is, obviously the poet had themes they wanted to convey in mind but it will be interpreted differently by everyone who reads it but Low was gut-wrenching in ways I didn’t expect and it really took me by surprise especially with how much I loved this.
The message at the heart of this collection is the desolation of miscarriage and being unable to become a mother even when it is the thing they desire most in life. Even though I personally don’t have any children I know people very close to me that that been in this very situation and I have seen first-hand how soul destroying it is for them and it moved me. These poems are trying to convey not only what Williams is thinking and feeling but also looking at the ways we try to understand each other through language. Low really draws on many forms of language including the language of comedy, improvisation, and much more. Low interrogates humour’s role in enacting the possibility of change and how it can be used to mask the emotions we are really feeling and don’t want to show to the world even the people closest to us.
Low for me was a little too short as I would have liked some of the themes Williams touches upon to be expanded but it was heart-breaking in a more than a few places and at one point almost moved me to tears. Low is exactly the type of poetry I pick up when I am in the mood for it and I hope to read more from Chrissy Williams in the future.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
I received this review copy from Edelweiss
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