Frances Leviston’s Guardian review of Jen Hadfield’s second collection, Nigh-no-place, certainly makes it sound worth buying. That final image she mentions would be worth the price on its own, and most of the lines she quotes sparkle with dynamic energy and imagination.But the review is also refreshing in that it makes a few critical points. So much of what passes for reviewing in newspapers at the moment appears as no more than a gush or a sales pitch, without a hint of critical analysis, but Leviston has succeeded in giving both a flavour of the book’s obvious strengths and a hint at its occasional lapses. That’s a positive sign and, of course, the imperfections don’t at all put me off wanting to read the collection.
