A Quarter of an Hour

by Leanne O'Sullivan

In 2013, Leanne O'Sullivan's husband Andrew suffered a severe infection in his brain. He spent just over three weeks in a coma, during which time his temperature soared to 42 degrees. When he finally woke it immediately became clear that his memory had been almost completely destroyed; he didn't even know his wife. More present and visual to him were the birds and wild animals that he believed he could see during his recovery: foxes, wildcats and herons - animals that seemed to be guiding him back.

This became the starting point for poems that deal not simply with personal memory and recovery, but also the ways in which, collectively, even globally, we are trying (or not) to save entire species of plants and animals that we are now actually losing because of human activity. Nature has a voice that can speak back. This is a collection that celebrates the earth's intoxicating wildness as well as the richness and preciousness of human experience. Overall, we can rejoice in the fact that we're here, whatever the challenges.

Genres: Poetry

64 pages, Paperback

Published February 22, 2018

Reviews

[Alba de Juan i López]

It ripped my heart and soul into pieces 10/10

[Raquel]

I couldn't help myself so I ended up reading it in one go because it was just so captivating.
Made me want to cry in quite a few occasions. For such a short book, I have underlined soooo many fragments.
So so so so so beautiful.

[Laura]

Gorgeous <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

[Katie Player]

Glorious