Elizabeth Jennings
'The Inward War'
Dana Greene
Reviews and Awards
"Dana Greene's new biography fills a large gap in literary scholarship. She provides the first full account of the life of Elizabeth Jennings, a major woman poet who has been beloved by readers but neglected by critics. It is a superb book -- exactly the right length, thorough but never overlong. It tells the fascinating and often harrowing story of Jennings' troubled life and prolific writing, covering each stage of her complicated career. The book is a real achievement. Unlike so much scholarship, Greene has done something both new and necessary" -- Dana Gioia, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and current California Poet Laureate
"[A] triumph, for several reasons. First, there's the covering of the ground so thoroughly -- the depth of the research, no stone left unturned, including absorbing that vast number of unpublished poems for their autobiographical significance. Then there's the mastery of making order and sense of so much material, all written elegantly and clearly: for instance, I like the way the relatively short chapters of near equal length become stepping stones on the journey, encouraging the reader to follow; and amongst the stylistic features that I noticed is a knack of following a longish sentence with a short one of snappy comment, sometimes bringing the reader up short. Beyond these matters, and because of the completeness of the investigative work, is the 'mere' feat of telling a compelling story out of a life of relatively little outward incident or glamour." -- Roger Pringle, Executive Director Emeritus, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
"A brilliant job. I read it solidly for two days and am still thinking about it. Knowing how difficult Elizabeth Jennings is as a subject, how much material there is, plus the sensitives, I don't think it could be better. I really enjoyed it." -- Dr Jane Dowson, De Montfort University, UK