Homefront (Paperback)

by Patricia Monaghan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
War poisons life on the home front even half a world away from the battleground, a hidden truth Monaghan reveals with emotional acuity and striking imagery in her strongest collection to date. Writing from the perspective of the children of soldiers in stealthy and incandescent poems in which each word has the weight of a fist, a stone, a bullet, a bomb, she envisions a house full of guns where "even dreams weren't safe." In a mythic vein, Monaghan, a citizen of both America and Ireland with a passion for Celtic culture, writes ravishing balladic poems of Ireland's bloody struggles, capturing the romance and tragedy of rebellion. With verve and mastery, she even retells the story of the legendary seventh-century Irish king, Sweeney, who was driven mad by war. Finally, Monaghan writes arrestingly of the terrible legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and all the questionable wars that followed. Disclosing and haunting, Monaghan's exquisitely restrained, powerfully resonant poems of protest articulate the feelings of many on the home front who keep watch and suffer in silence. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Wordtech Communications (October 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933456094
• ISBN-13: 978-1933456096
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,685,230 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Effect of War on Daughters, June 26, 2009

By	Maureen F. Smith (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This short book of poetry is an emotionally packed treasure of poems by my favorite "goddess" author, Pat Monaghan. Monaghan uses a variety of poetry styles, including medieval Irish-language styles, to gain greater impact a she weaves the Irish myth of Mis, the Mad King Sweeney, and her own story as the daughter of an Irish-American Korean war vet. Some of the styles include repeating the word at the end of each lilne as the beginning of the next line, repetetive syllabic quatrain, and my favorite, the very strident "words can kill" style used in "Rage."

The book opens with a short poem "Collateral Damage" that is one of the most powerful and saddest anti-war statements I've heard. That poem alone is worth the price of the book.

The poems that tell the semi-historical story of Mis were put to music by Michael Smith, sung by Jamie O'Reilly to the accompaniement of cello, classical guitar, bass and flute, and are available on a CD called "Songs of a Kerry Madwoman."