Wild Mercy

admin — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 17:18:00 +0000

Wild Mercy is a compilation of poetry that is directly inspired by the art of Tarot. It is artfully written and beautifully paced. Those unfamiliar with Tarot reading will definitely have their interest sparked and will appreciate Cunningham's exquisite execution of the collection. Wild Mercy had me spellbound from start to finish, with every poem being a unique spiritual endeavor. The journey of the compilation is unique in itself. Cunningham has divided the book into eight distinct parts, each part correlating with a specific Tarot card and are as follows: Empress, Hanged One, Moon, Judgement, Devil, Star, Hermit and Death. Cunningham imbeds some of her own life into each chapter. One I particularly loved was Devil, in which almost all of the poems were about her father.

The book possesses a free spirited feel of femininity and liberation. Each poem is definitely told from a woman's perspective and celebrates womanhood in all her moods, seasons and glory. Each themed chapter brings about a fresh new feel and mood which is perfect for different kinds of rituals or meditation. I have enjoyed my own journey with the book and feel doubly inspired. Cunningham approaches each poem from a position of strength, beauty and power, and each poem should inspire all who read them. Perfect for sharing or for leisurely reading, Wild Mercy is definitely for the free of heart.

Written by: Adrione N. Council, April 14th 2007

Legacy

admin — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:03:00 +0000

By Kerrigan Valentine

Creatrix Books

Legacy is a captivating book both sour and sweet. The placement of women puts an ugly taste in readers’ mouths, forcing a need to step back and savor just how decent we live. Sweetness comes in the form of poisonous flowers and a well needed rebellion.

The opening line “My mother died before I was born,” followed by an overwhelming “She was fifteen when I was born, the first in a long line of unwelcome daughters,” already expresses the strict starved environment Shannon lives within. In the town village of Legacy this is the case with all child bearing women. Women are taught to be wives, birthed for nothing more than to have more children, preferably boys. It is a practice dulling sugar-filled eyes, destroying the spirit of the women who once were dreaming children playing in fields, demoted the night of marriage to be viewed as nothing more than a homemaker, only finding beauty in the flowers she is allowed to plant in the spring.

Shannon Wrightsdaughter finds herself on the verge of this inevitable situation holding her newborn sister and telling the others that their mother has died. Forced from home to learn the wifely arts she sought to avoid, she soon finds herself faced with the reality that she will be married of to a man who will never love her and will only beat her until he has destroyed every ounce of spirit she owns. Shannon decides to run off with her infant sister only to be found, near death, by a clan of warrior women known as the Ilari. The Ilari take them in as their own, renaming her Shannon Tresdaughter, in honor of her mother. In the Ilari camp she learns that the monsters the men of her village fight year after year are really clans of women fighting for freedom. Every year a peace treaty is offered and denied by the men who relish in the comfort of the power they have over women in their society. “It was not lack of courage or weak wills that made many of those women what they were. It was fear and ignorance of anything different.”

Valentine’s words are brash and to the point. She creates a tale through the eyes of a rebellious child that every woman, old and young, can relate to. It is action packed until the end, keeping the reader on edge, dreaming of it even after the book has ended and is laid to rest on a shelf or bedside table.

Written by: Susan Wilson, March 29th 2007