Mother, Nature

"Here’s a debut collection with a voice that is very much its own, and a way of writing that is subtly daring. These poems are staggeringly tender. They are open, vulnerable and emotionally raw – and with this, they are poetically precise, exactly crafted gems. These are poems that want to give to the reader – my advice is to open this book and let them." – Niall Campbell

"There are poems in this collection that knocked me clean to the ground, as others offered me a warm hand up and others still, which stroked my backbone as I sobbed. The subject is crucial, but it's the beauty of the poems which hold it all together. 'By law she carries you' is a line that I will never get out of my skin." - Hollie McNish

"Deceptively simple and gentle poem here, one long metaphor about the treasure of a new child. It’s a great thing how many layers can be revealed in such few words, in a mere 16 lines. This is a skill that’s hard to grasp and it’s perfected here in a poem that is wistful, airy and gossamer light, like its subject. An antidote to bad times, a poem of hope." – Hugh McMillan, Editor Best Scottish Poems 2021, on Aoife Lyall’s poem ‘Treasure Island’