Arrangements in Blue: Notes on Loving and Living Alone

"The desire for romantic love sometimes builds up behind my temples like a bad weather front." Arrangements in Blue elegantly honors the life lived completely by-and for-oneself. Inspired by Joni Mitchell's seminal album Blue, celebrated British poet Amy Key sets out to examine the volatile scales of romantic feeling as she has encountered them: from the low notes of loss and unfulfilled desire-punctuated by sharp, discordant feelings of jealousy and regret-to the deep harmony of friendship and the highs defined by sexual attraction and self-realization. Key celebrates the bliss of sleeping in an empty bed, the intimate energy required for cooking solo, and the transformative power of traveling alone-especially to the sea. Written with the exquisite finesse of a poet, this bold manual for navigating life alone provides an alternative perspective on a shared human experience so rarely explored.