With
an unerring eye and ear both for the urban and for the coastal and rural,
Danielle Hope is an explorer reporting from many diverse worlds. Like Hardy, the presiding spirit of the
second section of this collection, she is someone ‘who notices such
things’.
The varied realities,
tribulations, griefs, and muted triumphs of life are portrayed here with
confidence, wit and lyricism. There’s a
beautifully-steady and cleanly-stated respect for and questioning of life
present throughout.
This is developed to
its furthest extent in the poems given to Mrs Uomo, an alter-ego of the
poet. The unsinkable Mrs Uomo’s
experiences, reflections and actions refract the bad stuff of contemporary
concerns; her year takes us through recognizable
and difficult territories all lifted into a better perspective by Mrs Uomo’s
life energy and her instinct as to what is right and what is ridiculous. Mrs Uomo possesses the quality of joy mixed
with apprehension. Her methods of
tackling present-day meanness and
cruelty have unique purpose and grace.
Here
is a guide to travel with as we struggle to make sense of life. Note in particular Mrs Uomo’s preference for
St Jude, the patron saint of lost causes. I highly recommend Mrs Uomo’s Yearbook.
