The Heiress/Ghost Acres - by Lightsey Darst (Paperback)

About the Book

"In the nebulous space between collective and autobiographical memory lies family memory-the rituals and routines, places and plants, that bind us to the generations before. In The Heiress/Ghost Acres, Lightsey Darst examines her Southern ancestry and the legacy of white womanhood. As she navigates pandemic isolation and political upheaval, Darst reflects on how history-familial and national-shapes parenting, and interrogates that history in search of more ethical, transformative ways to mother. The Heiress/Ghost Acres points toward a tenable and connected future, one that acknowledges past evils while finding present, potent ways for love to counter violence."--

Book Synopsis

In her most intimate poetry collection yet, Lightsey Darst considers the many facets of maternal power and whether it might guide us toward healing in the wake of history's horrors.

In the nebulous space between collective and autobiographical memory lies family memory-the rituals and routines, places and plants, that bind us to the generations before. In The Heiress/Ghost Acres, Lightsey Darst examines her Southern ancestry and the legacy of white womanhood. As she navigates pandemic isolation and political upheaval, Darst reflects on how history-familial and national-shapes parenting, and interrogates that history in search of more ethical, transformative ways to mother. The Heiress/Ghost Acres points toward a tenable and connected future, one that acknowledges past evils while finding present, potent ways for love to counter violence.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Heiress/Ghost Acres

"'Why was I unprepared to be so loved?' Where parenthood is the catalyst to politics, Lightsey Darst's conjoined book grows question after question. How might we survive in a motherland designed to purchase motherlessness? How can we-connected in both silence and radiance-be worth our children's light? In the bloody midst of a magicless empire, 'What magic empire might I still build from my blood?' Dissenting what's given, she asks and asks and asks. And every so often an answer flowers out: 'My child is climbing my everything, / climbing the tree of my mind / so I must furiously grow / this apple she's seeking.' In other words, Darst is offering us the seeds we need most: restlessness, honesty, awe, and reckoning." -Chris Martin

Selected praise for Lightsey Darst

"[Darst] has the unique ability to express motion with words." --MPR

"This is a vital poetry of the Deep South ripe with bones, blood and bogs . . . a harrowing stew of lust, dusk and summer." --The New York Times

"Simultaneously vulnerable and self-assured, Darst's verse will have you clamoring for everything she's ever written." --Bustle

"For Darst, to remember is to claim ownership of one's pain and, by extension, one's humanity." --Publishers Weekly

"As they carve their way through this markedly contemporary landscape, Darst's readers will likely have trouble separating the dreams, desires, and fears the speaker expresses from their own--the text of these poems is everything you might catch yourself thinking, and everything you might hope someone else could share with you." --The Arkansas International

"[Thousands] has an intimacy about it that speaks to the tenderness inside the reader. . . . Don't be surprised if there's a catch in your throat when you read." --Signature Reads

"Dear fear, dear darkness, dear misunderstandings, dear life, dear lost-in-myself, I am no longer afraid of you. Now I have this book. I have Lightsey Darst's amazing and ecstatic meditation on being a person in the world, I have these poems to guide me, I have her bravery and wild mind, I have her spells and wisdom, I have these incredible poems to carry with me wherever I go." --Matthew Dickman

About the Author

Lightsey Darst has published three previous books of poetry with Coffee House Press, including Find the Girl, which was awarded a Minnesota Book Award for Poetry. She is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, one for dance criticism and one for poetry. She lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her family.