The fierce belonging of home – Poetry chapbook
About the book
From rural Cornwall to rural Brazil, the poems in The fierce belonging of home are a celebration of place as much as they are a look at love, loss, longing and belonging.
About the author
Ruth Callaghan do Valle writes about the landscapes around her – natural and relational, past and present – and the threads that draw them all together.
The fierce belonging of home poetry chapbook
Poems from Cornwall and Brazil about the landscapes of love, loss, longing and belonging. Price includes postage to UK addresses.
£5.00
If you would like to purchase a hard copy but do not have a UK address, please fill out the form below so postage costs can be calculated.
The fierce belonging of home – E-book version
The fierce belonging of home is available worldwide in digital format from Amazon.
Reviews
“Ruth Callaghan do Valle’s debut chapbook isn’t so much a collection of poems, as it is poignant fragments of memory drenched in nostalgia, like looking through a family photo album. Throughout each piece the reader is invited, no, transported to bucolic scenes of an idyllic childhood in the pastoral, English countryside, then thrust into the thick of grief and loss as the poet comes to terms with the passing of family, then back to childhood as we encounter the oh-so relatable struggle to exist as women outside of our children. With a smattering of Brazilian Portuguese, and a faith-tinted hue, Callaghan do Valle’s debut is an exquisite exploration of family love, loss, and a very ardent need to belong.”
Elizabeth M. Castillo
“This poetry collection is heart-full. Full of longing and belonging, loss and love; these poems tug and touch at your heart and cross country boundaries as well as generations. Callaghan do Valle has dedicated this collection to her father and many of these poems are in celebration of his life, and echo the emptiness of his loss. Ultimately it is love that infuses this collection of words – of family, of nature, and of home.
Callaghan do Valle is an astute and sensitive observer of nature, birds in particular, and it is here we find so many wonderful images: “the dark river an unceasing symphony”; the “mexerica tree … hung with a hundred citrus suns”; and “the mountains … a soft dove-grey wash, to be inked in later.” A beautiful collection, one to be savoured.”
JP Seabright
Please remember to include the country you would like the chapbook sent to in your message if enquiring about postage to an address outside the UK.
Brazil from the outside in 