Missing mother, fondest friend.

From start to finish, this first book of poems shines with brilliance, poignancy, and the power of visceral memory. Part elegy, and part recollection, Lia Patricia James's poems ring with strength, cleareyed vision, and the joy of language. The collection takes the readers on a healing journey from the depths of loss to the embrace of the comfort words can bring. In this first chapbook, the writer demonstrates her versatility with language. She brings her readers right to where she is with the sharpness and clarity of her images. As she "grasp s] at ginger-flavored memory," she draws us all into a universe she creates, a universe filled with sorrow, beauty, and the extraordinary gifts her words can bring.-Heather Corbally Bryant, PhD Lecturer, Writing Program, Wellesley College