Shadow Puppets

In this book of poems, one speaker explores her roles as a daughter, mother, wife, and more with emotional honesty. She examines both her effect on the members of her family and their effect on her, good and bad, in an attempt to discover universal experiences of contemporary families. The poems are mostly free verse with the exception of "Sonnet." The title poem inspires the structure of the book. This book attempts to communicate what it's like to be part of a family. Mothers of older children will recognize the bittersweet experience of being left behind in "Growing Pains" and "Replaced at Dollywood." Lovers will identify with the speaker's desire to hide her faults early in a relationship. Daughters will remember their own battles between claiming their own identity and embracing their roots in "Her Garden" and "Homesick for Indiana."