Book Reviews

Cardiff Bay Lunch Simone Mansell Broome Lapwing Publications ISBN 978-1-907276-44-6 Simone Mansell Broome is well known on the poetry scene in Wales: a talented performer and prolific writer. Not only that, but she co-runs the amazing Ceridwen Centre which nurtures and supports poets, novelists and scriptwriters amongst other groups. Powered by its biomass boiler and tables laid with delicious organic food, we can draw an analogy to Simone herself: Full of energy, and vitality, freshness and enthusiasm. And this collection is a prime example. Fifty five poems hand-bound in Belfast into a beautiful volume published by Lapwing. I love the simplicity of their design - it is so simple I thought I'd received a proof copy. I like that. The poems themselves are a testament to Simone's ability to see poetry wherever she goes; from brown Clarks shoes to lemon curd, from watching women unpack their shopping to driving the hairpin bends in Greece. Her subject matter is well grounded in family, in everyday experiences and in social interaction; this makes them highly accessible and they have an instant appeal. We get a wonderful picture of confidence, delight in her children, pleasure in people and in life itself. Take for example 'On meeting my cousin'. There she is 'grey skirt, pleated, knitted,/ grey 'v' neck, bought,/ red-and-grey tie, striped, far too wide.....'; and there he is 'smooth-skinned,/ too tanned for November.../too unclothed/ to be family'. Even though the subject matter is not always happy, she tells it with gusto which lends an added poignancy to her stories. For example, when she's arranging her mother's funeral, 'I hadn't banked on the organist,/ stubby-fingered, resentful who missed notes/ strangled chords like she was on a mission/ of sabotage'. She can paint pictures that stick in the mind; as in 'Against the Grain' the dog 'drops his boredom like a spent match/races off, white tail a rudder through the green', and this in the title poem: 'soft-soled waiter, buttocks/ tight, unsmiling, bearing trays of foaming Stella'. She plays with language in interesting ways, often using the second person which can be quite alarming (!), and verbs that are striking. For example, in 'Yowl' she is 'skewered' from sleep, and in 'Under the quilt with Rocky 'we Calpolled through endless runs of Annie' - how great to use calpol as a verb! As well as this confidence and jocularity, she maintains a gentleness throughout, which brings to the collection a sense of real honesty, real love for the 'you' in 'your nightshirt/ You're home. Heavy with jetlag'. And underpinning the whole lot a longing, a nostalgia for the past that every now and then comes hurtling to the forefront with a thump. Her mother's death 'not a normal passing'; her child (presumably) with a 'distant look, unreadable... We're worn with fighting'. Simone is not afraid of her emotions. These poems make a deep connection with her past. They simultaneously show her holding on and moving on; that contradictory magnetic balance that releases energy and power. She describes this wonderfully in Tourist where she says she's thinking of her 'children's role/ as marker, for what you've done, for what you've not, / for how much time you've left / to do it in'. Given the range of subject matter, given the amount she is writing, I'm sure it is safe to say she's on track for achieving her ambitions. Review by Emily Hinshelwood (October 2010)

GOOGLE REVIEW ***** (5 star) User Review - kath Nov 2010 Simone Mansell Broome’s first full-length poetry collection, Cardiff Bay Lunch, is no light and insubstantial buffet but a satisfying spread to feast upon and I guarantee there will be something from the extensive menu to suit everyone’s taste. It is an eclectic mix of poems covering subjects ranging from childhood illness to the death of a parent; compassion fatigue from constant demands for donations to offering temporary housing to a relative in need and family members returning home; everyday work and life in rural west Wales to holidays abroad; the joy of living with cats to how dementia sees tigers instead; the visit of a troublesome distant cousin to that of the Pope; an exuberant Hen Party weekend to a more sobering look at the dismal wedding breakfast of the title poem. They cover universal themes of love, loss, dejection, rejection, hope, doubt, guilt and joy in the context of relationships, home, family, community, Wales and the wider World. Simone’s poetry is both immediate and accessible: almost deceptively simple at first sight, peel away the layers and it has real depth; it is observant and insightful, sometimes cuttingly so; it is often funny but with serious undercurrents and concerns; it looks at small events in everyday life yet manages to find the beauty or poetry in those moments, often at times when most of us would struggle to find anything remotely poetic. In doing so, Simone helps you see their importance: that ultimately everyone’s life is comprised of a series of small moments, some seemingly inconsequential, and larger events, such as illness or death, which all combine to make us the person we are and create the world we inhabit. Her poetry is often about the moments we overlook or dismiss or rush past but she clearly shows how it is those that often say more about us and our lives than we can imagine or give them credit for. Cardiff Bay Lunch is a wonderful, vibrant collection of range and insight from a gifted and talented poet. It is full of life and everything associated with it. Together with the energy, humour and vibrancy, you’ll also find those darker elements of death, disappointment, sadness and illness that cast their shadows over it. Because, after all, that’s what life itself is all about. I cannot recommend this collection highly enough. It’s one that I will keep going back to and re-reading.