Mississippi Library Association

Unmentionables

Fennelly, Beth Ann. Unmentionables.
New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2008.
126 pp. $23.95 (hardback)

Fennelly’s work is a breath of fresh air.
The author of Tender Hooks and Great with Child: Letters to a Young Mother has again made an impression with her descriptive book of free verse poems. Her individual insight into common occurrences and human nature unfold beautifully in her poetry written more like a diary, naturally expressing her innermost thoughts.
Fennelly consistently engages the reader throughout the work with her own simple yet complex descriptions of her surroundings. The section entitled “Kudzu Chronicles” combines an inside look at this ever-persistent plant with truths, stories, and native opinions. Fennelly herself is an outsider who has made her home in Oxford, Mississippi. Her poetry, like kudzu, wraps around “unmentionable” subjects as well as the more inviting ones.
Her childhood reflections and family tributes are also easily relatable. Through effective breaks in her writing style mixed with everyday language – sometimes raw – Fennelly connects her world to our own.
She also has the ability to read other greats of our time. “Bertha Morisot: A Retrospective” is dedicated to disclosing the “what might have been” thoughts of the famous painter.
Whether unveiling the fibers of other beings or her own, Fennelly uses her words to speak the truth that sometimes goes unheard. It is our Mississippi to which she speaks, and she is a superb storyteller. Unmentionables is 126 pages of mind-reading wonder. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.

Melissa Dennis
Outreach/Reference Librarian
University of Mississippi Libraries

Entry Filed under: Book Reviews
Posted on: January 5th, 2009