A Woman Talks to Her Tongue speaks of a family, its secrets and silences, unacknowledged griefs and inherited traumas. Written from the point of view of the fifth child in a complex family, the early poems catch and release a few moments in a daughter’s life, from her early childhood to parenthood. The second section of the book is a kind and passionate cry for truth-telling, femininity and creativity, and includes a series of remarkable monologues that examine silence and breaking silence in the voices of some women from history. In part three, the poet leads us deftly through painful discoveries and the loneliness of estrangement, toward her reconnection with ageing parents, and her ongoing battle to forgive-a quest for understanding, acceptance and wisdom.
