Book Review: My Heart’s Choir Sings by Maureen Flynn

52 pages

Published 2014

Brave Adventurers,

I’m breaking with tradition today to bring you a review of an amazing debut verse novella by talented writer, Maureen Flynn.

Maureen is a fantasy writer and close personal friend, but I must say that when I read My Heart’s Choir Sings I was blown away by her poetic talent. Before I’d read My Heart’s Choir Sings, I would have said that post-modern verse novellas aren’t really my thing. I like poetry, but I’m a classics kinda girl. Think Tennyson or Coleridge, fantasy in verse, and you’ve got me. So it surprised me when this little verse novella, 25 free verse poems, got to me too.

It was the story that won me, the non-linear narrative of Stewart, a man who has lost his lover in tragic circumstances. Through the poems he reflects honestly on his less-than-perfect relationship and the emotional baggage of loss, betrayal, and disappointment that she has left behind. Each poem is a piece of a jigsaw, coming together like mirror fragments as the reader builds up the whole. This is a parallel journey for reader and protagonist, as both undergo revelation.

To that end, it is almost impossible to pick a favorite poem in the collection as they work together to build the story. It’s hard to go past ‘Blue’, for it sits at the climax of the novel, but I also very much enjoyed the emotionally charged ‘Your Fault’.

Flynn’s poems are carefully and intelligently crafted, and she admits that she left many of the poems deliberately ambiguous, so that the reader could draw their own conclusions.

This is a gutsy compilation, full of heart, complied with love and care, and one that you will want to revisit again and again.

You can pick up My Heart’s Choir Sings at:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/402166
http://www.amazon.com/Hearts-Choir-Sings-Maureen-Flynn-ebook/dp/B00I5LT638

Or Connect with Maureen via:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Hearts-Choir-Sings/490774427698379
Wordpress: http://inkashlings.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/InkAshling
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/14943418-maureen

You can also read my interview with Maureen here.