The Paper Girl by Jessica M. Brophy

Jessica Brophy’s The Paper Girl is hidden in plain sight. These poems about growing up are shy, yet direct; raucous, yet deceptive. In this provocative collection, Brophy examines delivery, fragility, the markings of gender, the origami of living, the longing for self-discovery—what it means to be a paper girl. This slender collection leaves us wanting more from the narrator who is both wise and lost like a heroine from a fairytale.

–Monifa Love Asante, author of poetry collections Dreaming Underground and Provisions and Freedom in the Dismal, an award-winning novel

Marked by frank scrutiny and keen intuition, these poems conjure up a unique vision of a childhood. From “dirty miracles” and “craving for a wild substance” to the careless cruelty of adults, Jessica Brophy reveals deep aches, comforts, and questions through a girl-turning-woman’s eyes. Discoveries such as the “choreography” of sex and “why God/lost his touch” become freshly mysterious in these perceptive poems. Here, daughters “have no choice but to discover details/ out of their own fiery imaginations.” These poems, by turns bold and delicate, gift us with Jessica Brophy’s own fiery imagination. The Paper Girl is a marvelous debut.

–Laura Long, author of The Eye of Caroline Herschel and Out of Peel Tree

By twining an adolescent girl’s outside world—the foyers of the families on her newspaper route—with the inside world of her own working-class home and family—eight siblings, a parents’ failing marriage, and religion-turned-fundamentalist—Jessica Brophy’s The Paper Girl delivers a collection of searing yet heartfelt poems that are as much memoir and cultural critique as they are poetry. The “eye” of these poems deflects from the “I” as we come to know the speaker through her quiet observations of other people’s lives. Her sociologist’s sense of truth in the details quickens our understanding of her place in the world—a rich home smells like “some mix of wild cherry bing, imitation vanilla, and lemon Pledge” while “chicken roll is a delicacy for kids on peanut butter and pasta diets.” Brophy crafts language the way a photographer employs light: she gives voice to the shadows and, with deft and subtle turns of her lens, coaxes the oft-hidden stories of human experience to life.

–Marilyn Bousquin, author of “Sweet Cream and Vanilla: A Breast Eulogy” and founder of Writing Women’s Lives™ (http://www.writingwomenslives.com)

Rating: ***** [5 of 5 Stars!]