"If it's the beginning or the end, it doesn't matter as long as you tell it all."
Frank, funny and poignant, Kate B Hall's new collection is a lifetime in the making. From her wartime beginnings as a 'difficult child' to the tentative joy of early great-grandmotherhood, the power in these poems shines through in the tension held between the tough and the tender.
Finding no truth untouchable, Hall squares up to mortality, dementia and unloving mothers, yet almost always unearths a seedling of hope growing amongst the wreckage. Resilient and playful to the last, this is a book that loves hard, a long-awaited chronicle from a well-loved writer.
"In this debut collection you'll find a glorious mix of the historical, quotidian, humorous and tragic. Kate B Hall confronts the often-devastating realities of life and death with a surprising lightness of touch, always leaving room for the reader to 'experiment with rejoicing'. Whether she is describing children's gas masks, the National Health Service, true love, the experience of cancer or the texture of pomegranate seeds, she writes with a beguiling and intimate directness. Pour yourself a cup of tea, put your feet up and read on." Jacqueline Saphra
"As the title suggests this is an important document in recording the history of marginalised women in the UK. Part archive, part life map, The Story Is is eloquent, honest and passionate, and strong testament to a life well lived. Brilliant." Joelle Taylor