Description
Book SynopsisValerie Bence’s latest poetry pamphlet is a testament to ordinary lives, and a meditation on grandmothers. Part memoir, part family history, Overlap is a series of vivid vignettes from the poet’s childhood, courtship, motherhood and grandmotherhood, spanning the 20th and 21st centuries. Bence’s grandmothers Winifred and Harriet are at the heart of this book. She reflects on their hardy, steadfast lives as she too becomes a grandmother, in very different times. Stranded from her family in the Covid-19 pandemic, the poet conjures up their ghosts, walks in their footsteps and – sometimes – feels herself become them.
Trade Review‘That Bence had her first successes later in life has perhaps impacted how the writer deals with memory and displays perspicacity. Bence’s writing is always canny, attentive, and imbued with high emotion.’ Alan Parry, The Broken Spine.
Table of ContentsFrench cricket at Grandma’s, circa 1960 ; Collusion ; The man with a hook for a hand ; Witch ; The changing nature of friendship ; Not as posh as I thought we were ; Unease ; Choosing a pen ; Observation ; The summer of ’72 ; Default ; Piano ; Overlap ; Eggs ; Before the fall ; On not being a twin ; Cocktails ; I must remind myself that this is a good thing ; A grandmother in isolation ; Red ; Press me in peat
