Author Description

In this third collection of poetry, Renee Norman inhabits Martha Quest like a spirit, and rewrites her through poems that bring her into being. Martha is Doris Lessing's autobiographical protagonist from her Martha Quest series of novels, and Norman "borrows" Martha and encounters her in the mirror of writing. There she reflects upon, interprets, and reimagines Martha, at times addressing Lessing, too. But within--and in between--the lines and stanzas, she also encounters herself, as she is filtered through Martha's reflection, the Martha who is in us all. Theses poems are about love and loss, birth and motherhood, longing and abandonment, and the compassion and understanding women can bring to one another.