Heirloom by Catherine-Esther Cowie PRE-ORDER
Published 24th April 2025. Available for pre-order.
Set in colonial and post-colonial St. Lucia, this collection examines how violence shapes four generations of women and how each generation resists the dysfunction, tyranny, and terror inherited from the previous one. As each woman strives to chart her own course, she grapples with how she both subsumes and inhabits the stories of her mother(s). Divided into four sections, each representing a successive generation, the collection uses a series of persona poems to explore themes of lineage, post-memory, colonialism, mother-daughter relationships, mental health, and physical and sexual abuse. The collection raises poignant questions: Should the stories of the past be told? Do they bring redemption or ruin? Who finds freedom in the telling, and who becomes further entrapped? This collection elegizes and celebrates the lives of women who resist destructive forces, both within and without, and who are fiercely determined to live, live, live. updated version: Set in colonial and post-colonial St. Lucia, this collection examines how violence shapes four generations of women and how each generation resists the dysfunction, tyranny, and terror inherited from the previous one. As each woman strives to chart her own course, she grapples with how she both subsumes and inhabits the stories of her mother(s). Divided into four sections, each representing a successive generation, the collection uses a series of persona poems to explore themes of lineage, post-memory, colonialism, mother-daughter relationships, mental health, and violence. The collection raises poignant questions: How can memory and how it is conveyed lead to further dehumanization and continued trauma? Should the stories of the past be told? Who finds freedom in the telling, and who becomes further entrapped? Central to the book is the theme of violence. Violence has not only shaped the national and cultural identity of these women but also serves as a point of origin for their lineage. The collection explores how an initial act of violence reverberates across the four generations. This collection elegizes and celebrates the lives of women who resist destructive forces, both within and without, and who are fiercely determined to live, live, live.
Set in colonial and post-colonial St. Lucia, this collection examines how violence shapes four generations of women and how each generation resists the dysfunction, tyranny, and terror inherited from the previous one. As each woman strives to chart her own course, she grapples with how she both subsumes and inhabits the stories of her mother(s). Divided into four sections, each representing a successive generation, the collection uses a series of persona poems to explore themes of lineage, post-memory, colonialism, mother-daughter relationships, mental health, and physical and sexual abuse. The collection raises poignant questions: Should the stories of the past be told? Do they bring redemption or ruin? Who finds freedom in the telling, and who becomes further entrapped? This collection elegizes and celebrates the lives of women who resist destructive forces, both within and without, and who are fiercely determined to live, live, live. updated version: Set in colonial and post-colonial St. Lucia, this collection examines how violence shapes four generations of women and how each generation resists the dysfunction, tyranny, and terror inherited from the previous one. As each woman strives to chart her own course, she grapples with how she both subsumes and inhabits the stories of her mother(s). Divided into four sections, each representing a successive generation, the collection uses a series of persona poems to explore themes of lineage, post-memory, colonialism, mother-daughter relationships, mental health, and violence. The collection raises poignant questions: How can memory and how it is conveyed lead to further dehumanization and continued trauma? Should the stories of the past be told? Who finds freedom in the telling, and who becomes further entrapped? Central to the book is the theme of violence. Violence has not only shaped the national and cultural identity of these women but also serves as a point of origin for their lineage. The collection explores how an initial act of violence reverberates across the four generations. This collection elegizes and celebrates the lives of women who resist destructive forces, both within and without, and who are fiercely determined to live, live, live.
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