In this new collection of poetry D. M. Thomas celebrates his Cornish mining forefathers in a moving and majestic sequence inspired by his inherited Victorian Family Bible. It laments the passing of old certainties, including a unified Cornwall, now split between the true Cornish and ‘rich interlopers’.
The Cornish theme is taken up elsewhere, as in Letters to my Father and A Letter to Donald, an uncle who died young and passed his name on; and in Rescorla, about the Cornish-American hero of 9/11. War and terrorism feature also in War Graves and Good Stuff. But as always with Thomas, there is space for Eros too, with modern versions of Provencal love poems. Readers will be struck afresh by the amazing variety of his work in theme, form and tone, from sombre to sparkling and witty.
About D.M. Thomas
- D. M. Thomas is the author of the novel The White Hotel, translated into 30 languages, an Orwell Prizewinning biography of Solzhenitsyn, and celebrated translations of Russian poetry.
