Carol Ann Duffy

I enjoyed reading these witty poems which were much sparkier than I was expecting. I laughed out loud on several occasions as Duffy captures the female cynicism so aptly. The feminine wiles of Euridice flattering Orpheus, Pygmalion's Bride, giving the women strong characters of their own and reducing the men to mere mortals were easy to be in sympathy with. However, I found towards the end, though, that the complete disdain shown towards the men involved began to be wearying and I was grateful for the occasional gentler poems, such as Anne Hathaway, Evis' twin sister and Frau Freud.