The Long Woman

Charlotte Gann

The site of emotional revelations and unspoken domestic subplots, Sussex is a dreamlike and mysterious place in Charlotte Gann's telling.

Combining iconic readings of the Sussex landscape with a finely tuned sense of narrative, the poems give the reader momentary but telling glimpses into lives of their characters, often evoking the trajectory of entire lives with a few exactly turned phrases.

While the pieces often scathingly splinter the facade of suburban domestic harmony, the distinctive character of the Sussex landscape is never far away; from the chalk paths and motorways that criss-cross the downs, to the family that makes a driftwood bonfire on the beach in the abandoned village of Tide Mills.

Commended by poet Abi Curtis as “bristling with beautiful menace” and “a wonderfully uncanny treat,” this is a highly impressive poetic debut that will linger in the imagination long after the first reading.