Books : Scars Upon My Heart

Rating: - Poetry's Forgotten Voices
A long overdue anthology of women's poetry from a time that seemed for along while, to belong exclusively to the more famous and tragic male war poets. This collection is a poignant answer to Wilfred Owen's condemnation of women as almost extraneous to the horror taking place around them. There are poems which reflect loss and the fear of loss. Poems by nurses and VAD's about the terrible injuries they treat and witness. Poems which are valid social statements by women working in munitions factories and as clippies. Poems by mothers, sisters, sweethearts and wives. The overwhelming feeling of being part of Vera Britain's 'lost generation', and the bitterness of losing their own claim on the future through the loss of their menfolk. Most of these poems are moving, some of them truly heart-wrenching. This book is a treasured member of my library and the inspiration for hours of searching through dusty poetry sections of second-hand bookshops for the forgotten women poets of this time.

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Rating: - An attempt to bring FWW poetry by women to public attention.
This anthology is the result of the bibliographical work of its editor, Catherine Reilly, who discovered no less than 532 published women war poets existed for the FWW period. Here we have an attempt to make up for the incredible lack of women's war poetry in the majority of the mainstream anthologies (most of which are edited by men). For those interested in women's poetry, or poetry of the FWW period this anthology is worth having - it conveys some of the range of poetic expressions of the FWW experience by women, and shows that some women poets at least (such as Rose Macaulay and Carola Oman) did have a good idea of what the FWW was like for those on active service, contrary to the accusations levelled at women by 'trench' poets such as Owen, Sassoon and Rosenberg. I recommend it strongly.