Stepmother by Helen Mort
Poetry Book Society Recommendation Autumn 2026 Dean Wilson and – still – desire

and – still – desire

shot through with synaesthesia and fever dream imagery

subversive space where meaning remains in motion

The second half of Virgil's almost-completed epic on the founding of Rome is famously blood-soaked

and avoiding

Stepmother by Helen Mort <br><b>Poetry Book Society Recommendation Autumn 2026</b> Dean Wilson and – still – desireWhen a new relationship casts poet Helen Mort in the role of stepmother, she embarks on a personal quest for understanding; moving across verse and personal essay, from fairytale to modern blended family. Turning a bold and inventive gaze on this neglected dimension of female experience, these are candid dispatches from the shifting terrain of the modern family. As playful as it is moving, STEPMOTHER radiates Morts signature empathetic warmth, but