BALLADZ

Sharon Olds is noted for the extent to which she exposes her inner world in her poetry, and this collection is no exception. The poems are intensely personal and sometimes extremely sexual, but never pornographic. They examine a woman in her 70s who is looking back to see how she got where she is; she is also mourning the death of the man who may prove to have been her last lover. Olds's narration never threatens to distract from the text. Instead it leads listeners gently in a suggested direction--free to follow her or not. There is great sadness here but also a willingness to look to the future with guarded optimism. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2022]