A beautiful and searching debut collection.

Rachel Long's much-anticipated debut collection of poems, My Darling from the Lions, announces the arrival of a thrilling new presence in poetry. Each poem has a vivid story to tell - of family quirks, the perils of dating, the grip of religion or sexual awakening: stories that are, by turn, emotionally insightful, politically conscious, wise, funny and outrageous.
Long reveals herself as a razor-sharp and original voice on the issues of sexual politics and cultural inheritance that polarize our current moment. But it's her refreshing commitment to the power of the individual poem that will leave the reader turning each page in eager anticipation: here is an immediate, wide-awake poetry that entertains royally, without sacrificing a note of its urgency or remarkable skill.

'I loved reading these poems. They are immediate and necessary, but also joyful, witty and elegant. They tell stories we so much need to hear.' Kate Clanchy

Rachel Long's first collection of poems sings with a sharp, sensual energy, grappling with subjects as cosmic as salvation and as quotidian as playground fights and Zoopla wish lists. The intimacy of her poetic voice enhances its power to disarm; the stabs she takes at the evils of society are precise, and alive with demotic sound patterning and loose rhythms.