Wildgoose

by Sally Evans

Maeve Cartier and Eric Grysewood — fictional poet cousins — are at the centre of this novel about poetry. What makes them want to be poets? How does mutual admiration become rivalry?
Against backgrounds such as Basil Bunting’s Briggflatts, StAnza International Poetry Festival, Sandy Bell’s in Edinburgh, Portree on Skye or Durham’s Palace Green, real and fictional poets mingle, a poem is lost, a cliff is hung onto, a boy band causes problems, and two poets ultimately find their destinies.
A well-known poet and bookseller, Sally Evans edited Poetry Scotland from 1997–2018, and hosted poetry gatherings at Callander. This is her first published novel.

296 pages, Paperback

Expected publication June 1, 2121

Reviews

[Carol McKay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perceptive characterisation and beautiful descriptive language are key features of this novel, set in northern England and Scotland over the course of the last seventy years. I was moved by the author's observations about social class in the poetry scene, and more especially about the invisibility of women there, and how that has been changing over time. All done as part of an engaging narrative about two cousins, both poets, both in some way outside the social norm, growing and maturing. A thought-provoking novel whose characters and their challenges linger in the mind.