At the heart of many of these poems lies an apprehension of things being lost or destroyed, and with this a need for consolation. The question of how we look for, or create, such solace – whether in faith or the rain, by doing a puzzle or watching TV – is one that threads through the book.

In this her second collection there is an increasing scope and depth to language as Stoddart seeks to explore paradoxes: poems of motherhood are double-edged celebrations, grief must come to some good. The ambivalence at work in her first book comes to intriguing fruition here in a collection of original and distinctive poems.

Greta Stoddart’s first book At Home in the Dark won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize in 2002. She lives in Devon and works as a poetry tutor.