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James Merrill Poems
James Merrill Poems
Mar 7, 2026 5:19 AM

Author:James Merrill

James Merrill Poems

James Merrill once called his poetic works 'chronicles of love and loss', and in twenty books written over four decades he used the details of his life - comic and haunting, exotic and domestic - to shape a compelling, sometimes intensely moving, personal portrait. Sophisticated, witty and ironic, his poetry also engages passionately with topical issues - war, terrorism, political corruption, AIDS, climate change and the destruction of nature. An admirer of Wallace Stevens, Elizabeth Bishop and W. H. Auden, Merrill, like them, has left a legacy that will speak to readers for years to come.

Reviews

Elizabeth Fremantle's The Girl in the Glass Tower is a stunning historical thriller set in the chaos leading up to the death of Elizabeth I.

—— from publisher's description

Filled with dense, dark political and social intrigue, this is five-star historical fiction

—— Daily Mail

If you read one Tudor tome this summer, make it this one. Fascinating and vividly drawn, the ending is heartbreaking

—— The Times 'Book of the Month'

A top-notch literary thriller. Shots are fired, troths are plighted, sea voyages taken, escapes dared and mysteries solved

—— Daily Telegraph

An eloquent novel, steeped in Tudor literary culture

—— Express

Beautifully written, completely engrossing and a book that stays with you after the pages areclosed. Highly recommended

—— Historia

An enthralling, powerful tale

—— Antonia Senior

Arbella Stuart was a pawn, at the mercy of the powerful people around her. Hers is a sad and moving tale, and Fremantle tells it beautifully

—— History Girls

Fremantle shows how dangerous it was being closely related to Elizabeth I. A cracking read

—— Prima

A gorgeously readable and oh so captivating slice of historical fiction. Haunting, emotional and thought-provoking, The Girl in the Glass Tower is a beautiful foray into the past

—— Lovereading, 'Book of the Month'

Elizabeth Fremantle is a skilful and beguiling writer. A master of her craft. She perfectly captures a sense of time and place and draws her characters with skill and sensitivity, capturing the reader's attention and holding it right to the end

—— Santa Montefiore

It's not always that we read a novel that so powerfully affirms our human capacity for grace and love and understanding

—— Gary D Schmidt, author of National Award finalist Okay for Now

Poignant and funny . . . propulsive . . . Alex's strong voice drives this compelling personal journey with resonant themes of family, friendship and resilience

—— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Featured in 'Best Books for Children's and Teens 2017

—— Independent Online

This is an original and highly compelling read; heart-breaking on occasions, but ultimately uplifting

—— Teach Secondary

A heart-warming story about a space-obsessed boy's quest for answers

—— Angels & Urchins

Baume’s writing is lyrical and immensely readable ... [her] portrait of a conflicted young woman is heart-wrenchingly real on every page.

—— Yorkshire Post

A refreshing take on the genre, a semi-autobiographical retreat novel about finding something to live for not in nature but in art.

—— The Skinny

With this inventive and fascinating new novel Baume proves that she is the master of describing the intense poignancy of solitude within a noise-drenched world.

—— Lonesome Reader

Baume achieves the feat of making a book about depression, alienation and other cheerful subjects deeply absorbing and, ultimately uplifting. She does this through the elegant lucidity of her prose, the sharp truth of her insights and the wry humour that arise from her character’s associative mind.

—— Literary Review

A masterclass in the power of prose that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt lost.

—— i paper

Baume’s writing is distinguished by remarkable precision and lucidity

—— Daily Mail

A fast-paced, ambitious, hallucinatory mystery

—— Publishers Weekly

Marvellous, original and intelligent. Kunzru writes like a master storyteller... There's simply nothing [he] couldn't manage in prose

—— Literary Review

Publisher's description. Electrifying, subversive and wildly original, White Tears is a ghost story and a love story, a story about lost innocence and historical guilt. This unmissable novel penetrates the heart of a nation's darkness, encountering a suppressed history of greed, envy, revenge and exploitation, and holding a mirror up to the true nature of America today.

—— Penguin

Compulsively readable, masterly - a tour de force

—— Rachel Kushner

Riveting from the very first page, I was completely addicted... A literary thriller and a timely, unsparing excavation of the very real spectre of race in America's past and present. White Tears is proof that Kunzru is one of the finest novelists of his generation...

—— Mirza Waheed

Hari Kunzru is an incredibly versatile writer who is alert to the inequalities in the world... Powerful and complex, White Tears is a novel about abuses of wealth and power. Brilliantly orchestrated, unforgettable and devastating

—— Bernardine Evaristo

Hari Kunzru is one of our most important novelists

—— Independent on Sunday

Kunzru's engagingly wired prose and agile plotting sweep all before them

—— New Yorker

Elizabeth Strout's My Name is Lucy Barton shouldn't work, but its frail texture was a triumph of tenderness, and sent me back to her excellent Olive Kitteridge

—— Cressida Connolly , The Spectator

A rich account of a relationship between mother and daughter, the frailty of memory and the power of healing

—— Mark Damazer , New Statesman

This physically slight book packs an unexpected emotional punch

—— Simon Heffer , Daily Telegraph

A novel offering more hope

—— Daisy Goodwin , Daily Mail

My Name Is Lucy Barton intrigues and pierces with its evocative, skin-peeling back remembrances of growing up dirt-poor.

—— Ann Treneman , The Times

Masterly

—— Anna Murphy
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