The Ghosts of 16 Larkin Street

Poetry. Linda Scheller's fourth collection explores memory, family, home--all the ways these shape us, fail us, lift us up. Says Cyrus Cassells, "A wizard at revelatory domestic portraiture and telltale family incidents, Scheller reconstructs home and examines, with artfulness and agility, her German American heritage-not out of mere allegiance and nostalgia but in an intrepid quest for compassion, clarity, and authentic identity."Lee Herrick adds, "This powerful memoir-in-verse charts the generational haunting of this brave poet's lineage. From a family tragedy to secrets, depression, and recovery, Scheller has done the difficult work of engaging her ghosts. About her mother, she writes, 'Before hanging up, I force myself to chirp/love you, short for I wish I could love you.' This is how memory liberates. This is an honest, sobering, revelatory book."