I first read this book when I was eight and have continued to read it at least once a year ever since. It's a wonderfully cosy tale -- I call it my "comfort" book (like most people have comfort food). It's basically about Mrs Apple and her life in a country cottage with her animals (two pekingese, Tooty and Blackdog; tabby cat brothers, George Fat and Shoosh; and a family of hens led by Mrs Broody). There are neighbours -- Farmer Parsloe, his horse Browny and cowdog Rags, and the cows in the field; and there is Mrs Apple's friend who lives in a nearby town and sends her dog Rex over to visit. The illustrations are beautiful and full of loving and interesting detail -- and the animals' expressions are priceless Mrs Apple bakes and does the laundry, feeds the hens and tends her bees. She enjoys a relaxing cuppa under the damson tree and walks to fetch the milk, pops down to the village shop to do her grocery shopping. It's a quiet and idyllic existence. My favourite chapters describe a midsummer picnic to celebrate Mrs Apple's birthday and Christmas. Both ocassions are viewed through the eyes of the animals (as are most of the situations in the book) and the writing is just wondrous, almost magical, and never fails to produce delicious shivers up and down my spine. More Tales From End Cottage, the sequel to this book, is also a good read.

As volumes of poetry go, The World's Wife is very tightly-themed: each poem is a monologue in the persona of a woman married (or otherwise attached) to a more famous man. The men are more usually from myth or fairy tale (Mrs Sisyphus, Mrs Beast) than from history, although five are biblical and one or two are from history as recent as the 1960s (I think The Devil's Wife may be a portrait of Myra Hindley). Duffy's approach to these monologues is almost absolutely consistent: the women express contempt, irritation, resentment and sorrow for the foolishness and egotism of their partners. Mrs Quasimodo desecrates her husband's beloved bells by fouling them with her own urine; both Penelope and Mrs Lazarus are discomfited by their husbands' return; Mrs Tiresias seeks solace in lesbianism. Only occasionally (as with Anne Hathaway) does the wife feel real love for her husband. The subject-matter, thus paraphrased, looks gloomy and bitter, but in fact these poems are entertaining and very likeable. It is quite important to these pieces that they are funny - and we do laugh because of the constantly-perceived clash between lofty, remote, sacred men and contemporary-sounding, slangy, immediate women. Duffy's language is exactly right for her project. Rhythmically it is strongly pulsing; even more important is the function of rhyme and half-rhyme (the latter perhaps this poet's single-most impressive talent). Reinforcing the wilful, aggressive quality of the rhetoric is Duffy's aptitude for witty puns involving cliches and hackneyed figures of speech (Eurydice is 'out of this world'). At the same time, however, the language is kept aerated and three-dimensional by beautiful off-the-cuff metaphors ('a snapdragon gargling a bee'). I think all this is extremely well-judged poetry; it is rich and confident and if it lacks subtlety, irony or mysteriousness, that is in the nature of its unusually rhetorical mission.

This book of poems was given to me by a friend and now lives on my desk at all times. Each poem is an absolute gem, sparkling with humour. I loved every one of them. They are all so different in tone, from the outrageously funny 'Mrs Icarus' to the achingly poignant 'Queen Herod'. As a woman who lives and works in an all-male environment, i would whole-heartedly say, this is an absolute must-buy.

These poems are so good, witty, smart, it might even turn me on to reading poetry again. But where can I find poems as intelligent and deep and amusing as these? I keep re-reading them for the joy of it. I had never heard of Ms. Duffy, but my sister sent me the book from England. I need more!