Review
'There's a fair bit of lying around on hillsides and tramping around harbours and, of course, star-gazing. A clever, lyrical debut'
--Independent on Sunday
`Another important debut was Rachel Boast's Sidereal (Picador, £8.99). Her quietly assured verse demonstrates its real sophistication in the intelligence of its commentary. To put it another way, she says such interesting things that you want to know what comes next.' --Independent
`Her quietly assured verse demonstrates its real sophistication in the intelligence of its commentary. To put it another way, she says such interesting things that you want to know what comes next.' --Independent
`Lyrical, lilting, full of rainfall and starlight (the title refers to the motion of constellations across the heavens), it is nevertheless refreshingly rigorous: curious, questioning, and shot through with mordant humour. Expect a great deal more from her in years to come.' --Guardian
--Independent on Sunday
`Another important debut was Rachel Boast's Sidereal (Picador, £8.99). Her quietly assured verse demonstrates its real sophistication in the intelligence of its commentary. To put it another way, she says such interesting things that you want to know what comes next.' --Independent
`Her quietly assured verse demonstrates its real sophistication in the intelligence of its commentary. To put it another way, she says such interesting things that you want to know what comes next.' --Independent
`Lyrical, lilting, full of rainfall and starlight (the title refers to the motion of constellations across the heavens), it is nevertheless refreshingly rigorous: curious, questioning, and shot through with mordant humour. Expect a great deal more from her in years to come.' --Guardian
Product Description
A stunning debut collection from the acclaimed Picador Poetry list
Book Description
Rachael Boast’s first collection is dominated by astral influence and divine chance, by unseen or remote causes; but despite its celestial title, Sidereal is full of terrestrial concerns, the traffic and chaos of the human and natural worlds. Ultimately, however, it is the work of a poet who believes that we must also turn our gaze skywards to make sense of who we are, and these poems pursue their elliptical but inevitable orbits through a world where the earthly and transcendent are thoroughly interfused. Above all, Sidereal impresses through Boast’s lyric faith, which through even the worst pain and despair can still offer its clarities and revelations, and announces an important new voice in British poetry.
About the Author
Rachael Boast was born in Suffolk in 1975. She currently divides her time between Scotland and the West Country.
