Rapture

Winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize essential reading for the broken-hearted of all ages (The Guardian). The effortless virtuosity drama and humanity of Carol Ann Duffy''s verse have made her much admired among contemporary poets. Rapture is a book-length love poem and a moving act of personal testimony. But what sets these poems apart from other treatments of the subject is Duffy''s refusal to simplify the contradictions of love and read its transformations-infatuation longing passion commitment rancor separation and grief-as either redemptive or destructive. This is a map of real love in all its churning complexity simultaneously direct and subtle showing us that a song can be made of even the most painful episodes in our lives. With poems that will find deep resonance in the experience of most readers it is a collection that can and does speak for us all.