adulteress

"The poems in Adulteress work in fragments, some in lists that layer varying perspectives, others that explode in the white space to form gasps of words. The contrast of numbered sequences and words falling across the page creates the feeling of an attempt to find order, to re-examine from all angles, and return again to something that cannot be fathomed. Hanks captures a quietly passionate and furious voice, as she transforms fruit into the extended metaphor of a relationship and describes the practical-fierce response to the unfairness of the term adulteress with blackberries being blended, reduced to a liquid, and swallowed as a smoothie. Love, and betrayed love, blush like the juice of the metaphorical berries that are being considered in this collection, detailing an affair the reader, perhaps, shouldn't be privy to, yet all is now laid bare in forensic detail and fury-a compelling read."

-Ruth Stacey, Lecturer in Creative Writing: r.stacey@worc.ac.uk