Carol Ann Duffy's collection, The World's Wife, is thought-provoking, insightful but most of all, funny.
The poems are a witty, sideways look at history and myth of 'great' men, as seen through the eyes or lives of the women attached to them. It makes you think, though, doesn't it, how much of history is about heroes and not so much heroines? Also makes you think how we learn about isolated individuals and isolated events. We never really get to see the people on the periphery.
Mrs. Icarus is one of my favourites. Hillock/pillock - excellent! I mean, we've all thought it, haven't we? "Sure, fly up to the sun, why not? What could possibly go wrong?"
"I wanted to use history and myth and popular culture and elements from cinema and literature, but also to anchor it in a deeply personal soil and make an entertainment."
Carol Ann Duffy.
Amusing the poems are but they're also tales of love, excitement, anguish, incredulity. Much of human life is in there.
It's a collection that I will dip in and out of for ever, I imagine. If you need a little pick-me-up, this is the place to go.
More info here: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/carol-ann-duffy/the-world-s-wife/9781509852666
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