Look Behind You

In Elaine Reardon’s book, Look Behind You, there are images of food that string like beacons throughout the book, wonderful foods from two cultures, the speaker’s Armenian grandparents on one side, and her Irish grandmother on the other. In the poem “Refugees from Endearments” the Armenian grandfather “…tended gnarled quince trees, attempted mulberries and silkworms” while her grandmother “simmered okra with lamb on the cookstove.” In another poem, “Nan” her Irish grandmother gives her a tin to use while picking blueberries. Her family also gives her the gifts of myth and story. There is a teller of fortunes with coffee grounds, faeries, a banshee, and Halloween spirits. Readers will find themselves satiated with tastes and smells, and myths and fables gleaned from an American childhood enriched with deep roots in both cultures. Lori Desrosiers Publisher, Naugatuck River Review "Reardon's poems are elegiac in the unfolding of life in its multitudinous everydayness. Here you find her immigrant parents' pasts expressing themselves in the everyday habits and rituals of "old country" and their assimilation into an American present that both distorts and keeps them alive as well as allowing Reardon to express them in delightful and engaging cadences. Enjoy." Mu Soeng Previous chapbook, The Heart is a Nursery for Hope, won an award for being the best seller of 2016 from Flutter Press.

Readings set up, couple blog tours, available on Lulu.com and Amazon, and several local bookshops & galleries.