Bøker av Amy Key

"My poetry is born from pain and anguish, my source of which is endless...These poems have been written and chosen to reveal a glimpse of the dark world hidden behind the smiling masks we are forced to wear in public to conform to society's masquerade."

Is it possible life without romantic love isn't so bad?An essential memoir about building life on your own terms'Marks an important shift in ideas about intimacy' OBSERVER'The harbinger of real talent' SUNDAY TIMES'A tender, subversive study of love' NEW STATESMANWhen poet Amy Key was growing up, she looked forward to a life shaped by romance, fuelled by desire, longing and the conventional markers of success that come when you share a life with another person. But that didn't happen for her. Now in her forties, she sets out to explore the realities of a life lived in the absence of romantic love.Using Joni Mitchell's seminal album Blue - which shaped Key's expectations of love - as an anchor, Arrangements in Blue elegantly honours a life lived completely by, and for, oneself. Building a home, travelling alone, choosing whether to be a mother, recognising her own milestones, learning the limits of self-care and the expansive potential of self-friendship, Key uncovers the many forms of connection and care that often go unnoticed.With profound candour and intimacy, Arrangements in Blue explores the painful feelings we are usually too ashamed to discuss: loneliness, envy, grief and failure. The result is a book which inspires us to live and love more honestly.5* READER REVIEWS:'It broke and mended my heart simultaneously''Stunning, honest, touching''An astonishing work, brilliantly written'

When Ethel's grandmother dies, Ethel goes to live with her father, brother, and the stepmother and little siblings she has never met. She also must live with, and endure, the spitefulness of Aunt Sophie, who rules the house under a cloud of bad-temper and bitterness. Ethel's Text is a Victorian story edited gently for a modern audience. It is a simple, heart-warming tale of overcoming grief and adversity through the guiding lights of past love, new friends and family and the words of the Scriptures. Also available in large print.

Luxe is a magnificent spree in a bric-a-brac shop. A haul of pre-loved and glittering objets - pralines in a crystal bowl, a handful of tame ladybirds, a portrait in vinyl and cola-cubes - are artfully displayed on the poems' shelves to represent the conflicts and connections of a fabulous circle of friends and lovers, those real, remembered and imagined.

This anthology reflects the scale of intensity within female friendships and captures the defining characteristics of this frequently-overlooked relationship: the intimate and the casual, the life sustaining and the life changing, as well as the tensions and the joys. Above all, this book celebrates the transformative power of friendship among women, considering the moments where friendships are 'made', the relationship between friendship and romantic love and friendship and rebellion, the role of culture - fashion, cinema, music, art - in forming friendships, and feelings towards friendships lost or regained.