A review by owlette
Thrall: Poems by Natasha Trethewey

5.0

I highly recommend reading this poetry collection with the interview of the poet published on World Literature Today. I didn't know that Natasha Trethewey’s father was also a poet, nor had I read her previous works; it would have been harder to notice the subtexts if I hadn’t read the article. But even without reading the article first, one can readily recognize common phrases and motifs scattered throughout thrall that give the collection a certain sense of coherence dedicated to her (white) father. I’m eager to read other published works of Trethewey.

My favorites:
- "Elegy" (the first poem)
- "Illumination" (the last poem)
- "Knowledge"
- "Enlightenment"
- "Fouled"
- "Rotation"
- "Thrall"
- "The Americans"