A Satisfactory Daughter

In A Satisfactory Daughter, Jane Julius Honchell celebrates the legacy of family, the slow revolution of the seasons, and the sense of order she finds in structures of all kinds. Like candid snapshots, the short poems in this collection create evocative images that bring all our senses into play. Jane confesses that words and their sounds obsess her, and her pleasure in their multiple possibilities is evident in every poem. True to her belief that laughter is our saving grace, she uses flashes of ironic humor as a counterpoint to her darker poems. Above all, like Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman, this poet insists that "attention must be paid," even to the seemingly insignificant, and invites the reader to share the sense of wonder and pleasure she finds in everyday life.