How They Fell

In How They Fell, Boutelle's poems combine fantasy and reality in a far-reaching series of contexts: a Scottish girlhood, Adam and Eve's experiences when they are expelled from the Garden, the love between a man and a woman, and horrific events in both Scotland and London. The point of view of the poems is often personal and vulnerable, but there is a strong humorous strain, as in the description of the Pope's toothpaste and Her Majesty's hairdresser. The work is eclectic beyond description, but hangs together by the common thread of emotions experienced.