Poems of famous men – and the women who married them – by the Poet Laureate.
The World's Wife
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Amazon Review
Elvis's wimpled sister rocks on in a convent she calls Graceland; Nancy Sinatra gets out her boots made for walking with the Kray Sisters; Mrs Midas misses the touch of her now dangerous golden-handed husband; and Queen Herod decrees the killing of each mother's son to protect her baby daughter in Carol Ann Duffy's startling new collection The World's Wife. Doubling is one of the most common themes--and stylistic ploys--of Western culture and thought, and the concept around which Duffy has ingeniously organised this profoundly playful collection. Mrs Midas, Mrs Aesop, Mrs Darwin, Frau Freud, Anne Hathaway, Mrs Rip Van Winkle, the Kray Sisters; these are some of the wives, and sisters, whose stories are told. These inventive, metaphorically precise poems offer much more, however, than just a recovery of the historical voice of her (supposedly) silenced indoors. Duffy dexterously rewrites Judao-Christian and classical mythologies, subverts fairytale and zestfully reinterprets the more modern myths of Darwin and Freud.
Humour is the abundant keynote of this accessible collection. Mrs Rip Van Winkle enjoys the freedom to travel and paint allowed by her husband's permanent slumbers, "Until the day / I came home with pastel of Niagara / and he was sitting up in bed rattling Viagra." Frau Freud analyses her over-exposure to "ding-a-ling, member and jock, / of todger and nudger and percy and cock," and confesses with irony to being, "as au fait with Hunt-the Salami / as Ms M. Lewinsky." Mrs Aesop groans about her husbands unstoppable garrulousness: "By Christ, he could bore for Purgatory," and Mrs Darwin evolves the following summary her husband's research:
"7 April 1852
Went to the Zoo.
I said to Him--
Something about that Chimpanzee over there
reminds me of you."
The World's Wife throws open the windows on the stuffy annals of historical myth and breezes through some of its highlights with a sense of revelry and laugh-out-loud observation. In this wry take on the historical ubiquity of heterosexual coupledom that permeates so many cultural myths, Duffy has separated vibrant women from the shadows of their more famous husbands and brothers, and divorced them from the distortions of historical silence. --Rachel Holmes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'Sparkes with wit, intelligence and an impressive lightness of touch, while drawing on some weighty emotional experiences’ -- Independent
‘A melange of history lesson, fairy-tale and modern-day domestic tragedy’ -- Scotsman
‘These poems vibrate with intense colloquialisms, physicality, energy, freshness and cheek’ -- Sunday Telegraph
‘A melange of history lesson, fairy-tale and modern-day domestic tragedy’ -- Scotsman
‘These poems vibrate with intense colloquialisms, physicality, energy, freshness and cheek’ -- Sunday Telegraph
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first discovered Carol Ann Duffy when presented with a copy of her selected works during my A Level English Literature and haven't looked back. She's a sly, intelligent yet not over dramatic poet, rather like Sylvia Plath with the British sense of humour.
The World's Wife is her most accessible collection to date - a collection of delightful parody tales from the world's most important (and least recognised) women. Before you get too enthralled by the humour, take a look at her style - she's precise, accurate and at times, stunning. If this floats your boat, try the Selected Works for a more rounded view of her poetry (much of which is less light hearted and lyrical than this offering).
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a collection of poems all on the same theme of overturning male-centred history, literature and myth, and looking at familiar stories from the neglected wife's perspective. So, for example, we have Mrs Aesop tiring of her husband's constant boring fables, and Delilah explaining why she cut off Samson's hair (he'd complained to her that he didn't know what it was to be gentle, and so she'd done it to help him change, to take away the pressure of always having to be strong). There are also more modern characters, like Frau Freud, the Kray sisters, and Elvis's twin sister.
There's a playful, humorous tone to the poems, and I enjoyed reading them on a quiet afternoon recently in a sun-drenched beer garden. A lot of them had the same basic premise, of a wife wryly mocking her husband's posturing and self-aggrandisement, and this got a bit repetitive after a while. My favourite poems were those that truly brought a new twist to a familiar story, imputing new and more interesting motives to the characters, as in the Delilah example already mentioned, or my favourite of all, Queen Herod. In this poem, we learn that it wasn't the King who ordered the killing of all first-born male children after all, but the Queen, who does it to protect her own newborn daughter: "No man, I swore, will make her shed one tear." I found it a powerful and poignant reworking, and loved the last few lines:
We do our best,
we Queens, we mothers,
mothers of Queens.
We wade through blood
for our sleeping girls.
We have daggers for eyes.
Behind our lullabies,
the hooves of terrible horses
thunder and drum.
There's a playful, humorous tone to the poems, and I enjoyed reading them on a quiet afternoon recently in a sun-drenched beer garden. A lot of them had the same basic premise, of a wife wryly mocking her husband's posturing and self-aggrandisement, and this got a bit repetitive after a while. My favourite poems were those that truly brought a new twist to a familiar story, imputing new and more interesting motives to the characters, as in the Delilah example already mentioned, or my favourite of all, Queen Herod. In this poem, we learn that it wasn't the King who ordered the killing of all first-born male children after all, but the Queen, who does it to protect her own newborn daughter: "No man, I swore, will make her shed one tear." I found it a powerful and poignant reworking, and loved the last few lines:
We do our best,
we Queens, we mothers,
mothers of Queens.
We wade through blood
for our sleeping girls.
We have daggers for eyes.
Behind our lullabies,
the hooves of terrible horses
thunder and drum.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Duffy here exploits to the full her extroadinary understanding of the English language to provide an amazingly humorous collection of poetry. She profiles numerous well known male figures, such as Aesop, King Midas and even King Kong from the viewpoint of their wives. The intimacy and detail such a relationship would provide is well portrayed, pointing out the fallibility of even the most legendary figure and providing laughs for females around the world! Although some of the selection do add to Duffy's already well established reputation of an anti male attitude, they are on the whole subtle enough to be innoffensive. If you enjoy humour of a satirical brand with lashings of irony and Duffy's individual twist, you cannot fail to be impressed with this compilation. If on the other hand you are a newcomer to Duffy's work, this would be the perfect piece to give you a gentle introduction.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thank you
Great book, great price.
I started to read Carol Ann Duffy's work after being introduced to her through Jackie Kay, another great poet, really funny and warm. Read more
I started to read Carol Ann Duffy's work after being introduced to her through Jackie Kay, another great poet, really funny and warm. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Emmanuel Mango
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous book
I bought this for a friend after receiving the book myself as a gift. A great concept for a poetry book, with wonderful word play.
Published 2 months ago by Sazzle
5.0 out of 5 stars
As described
Was bought for a Xmas present - it arrived safe and sound in plenty of time for Xmas - thank you!
Published 4 months ago by Diane Thomas
4.0 out of 5 stars
Poems by Carol Ann Duffy
Intended as a Christmas present for myself.
Arrived in good order and in good time for Christmas. Read more
Arrived in good order and in good time for Christmas. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jan
5.0 out of 5 stars
irrreverent but hilarious
Women will surely relate to these wonderful poems. If you understand the historical and mythical allusions, they are great. Read more
Published 6 months ago by mitzi
5.0 out of 5 stars
As expected!
Clever, funny and all you would expect from Carol Ann Duffy. If you are a fan of her poetry you won't be disappointed.
Published 8 months ago by J. Clark
5.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining and thought-provoking.
This is (probably!) my favourite book of poetry. Ms Duffy's idea of taking various well known male figures and looking at them through the eyes of the women that know them best is... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Jan
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Other Half speaks
This witty collection takes the proposition that "history is written by the winners" and runs with it. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Ms. Fiona Allen
1.0 out of 5 stars
Vicious man hating
This collection of poems would seem like a good idea at first. Poems that look at the point of view of the wives of some of the greatest characters we have within literature. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Blue Shoes
5.0 out of 5 stars
Forgotten stories of famous men
Have you ever wondered about Queen Herod, Mrs Midas, Mrs Aesop, Mrs Darwin and others? What stories can they tell living in the shadows of their more famous spouses? Read more
Published 14 months ago by burnsbarber
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