Fleda Brown's No Need of Sympathy is a 'lasting cathedral'
Fleda Brown weaves themes of science, family, and memory into a meaningful collection in her new book No Need of Sympathy.
In a recent issue of The Broadkill Review, Linda Blaskey writes, "This slender volume feels like a coffee table art book. It has that kind of weight. It's images rise from each page gradually..."
Blaskey pays particular attention to "The Grandmother Sonnets," a section in the book, and Brown's use of "the grandmother" instead of "I" when referring to herself. "She is telling us, of course, that, although she is part of the children's lives, she is not at the center, but instead is like the twig in the book's cover art (Twig by Colleen Buzzard). She's done her job, she's participated and now it's time to drop away. The tree will still stand."
"The first two lines of the last poem, 'Photo of Us on the Cottage Front Porch,' tells the whole story...'We were there then, weren't we --/ everything we turned out to be.' And indeed, they are all there, the author along with her sister, the cousins, Aunt Cleone, the cottage ... all mixed together with the science of time and future generations. And they are still there, which is what happens when one builds a lasting cathedral of one's own. Ms. Brown has certainly done that."
Click here to read the entire piece in The Broadkill Review.
Visit the BOA Bookstore to purchase No Need of Sympathy.
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