Woman Drinking Absinthe

These poems explore the lives of women who challenge conventional norms, facing the consequences of their choices. They draw inspiration from a range of sources, including Russian literature, German folk tales, Greek drama, and the Old Testament, and seek to answer questions about love, art, and healing.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 72 pages
Publication date: 01 March 2021
Publisher: Santa Fe Writer's Project

From the naïve girl who willfully ignores evidence of Bluebeards crimes, to Manets dispirited barmaid at the Folies-Bergère, to the narrator of the books opening sequence, who sacrifices domestic security for a passionate lover who will eventually abuse her, the women of these poems brush abandon convention at their peril, even though convention also imperils their bodies, their spirits, and their art. In this second collection, Young—whose earlier Day of the Border Guards explored Russian history and literature—continues to employ what shes learned from the great Russian writers she often translates. Like Marina Tsvetaeva, who makes a cameo appearance here, Young finds literary touchstones among sources as varied as German folk tales, Greek drama, and the Old Testament. Whether tracing the elements of Euclidean geometry or the terrain of a Civil War battlefield in Tennessee, these poems ask the hard questions: Why does love fail? How can art come from pain? What heals the soul?

From the naïve girl who willfully ignores evidence of Bluebeards crimes, to Manets dispirited barmaid at the Folies-Bergère, to the narrator of the books opening sequence, who sacrifices domestic security for a passionate lover who will eventually abuse her, the women of these poems brush abandon convention at their peril, even though convention also imperils their bodies, their spirits, and their art.

In this second collection, Young—whose earlier Day of the Border Guards explored Russian history and literature—continues to employ what shes learned from the great Russian writers she often translates.

Like Marina Tsvetaeva, who makes a cameo appearance here, Young finds literary touchstones among sources as varied as German folk tales, Greek drama, and the Old Testament.

Whether tracing the elements of Euclidean geometry or the terrain of a Civil War battlefield in Tennessee, these poems ask the hard questions: Why does love fail? How can art come from pain? What heals the soul?

Dimension: 215 x 9 x 139 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781942892243