Red Leaves : paperback

An especially beautiful new collection from a gifted poet whose individual voice is unlike any other. Like her three previous books this teems with vivid images often drawn from Indian or Chinese sources or the poet's own experience of those places. The final section, 'The Imprint of India' directly explores the impact of India, so crucial in her origins as a writer. However much of the book is closer to home. At its emotional chore is the deaths of her mother and brother in a single year - these dominate one section but pervade the whole book in a way that is subtle, restrained but deeply moving. Poems about coming home and being a writer blend in very naturally with this overriding theme. Diana Bridge's poems appear effortless but they show meticulous attention to detail and a fine sense of how a good poem works.