Palindrome

Poetry. In this wrenching work--sonnet sequences, free verse lyrics, journal entries--Pauletta Hansel confronts the slow and agonizing demise of her dementia-stricken mother. This is not the first time Hansel has taken pen up in an extended confrontation with death; each time she does, we must admire anew her courage, tenacity, and her willingness to give all to art. PALINDROME is the saga of a daughter growing older and becoming the caregiver as her mother declines into a sometimes child-like helplessness. And it is the transformation of suffering, grief, and guilt into expert writing of the highest empathy and honesty. --Richard Hague