The Terrible
From the celebrated poet behind bone, a collection of poems that tells a story of coming-of-age, uncovering the cruelty and beauty of the world, going under, and finding redemption
Through her signature sharp, searing poems, this is the story of Yrsa Daley-Ward and all the things that happened. “Even the terrible things. And God, there were terrible things.” It’s about her childhood in the northwest of England with her beautiful, careworn mother Marcia; the man formerly known as Dad (half fun, half frightening); and her little brother Roo, who sees things written in the stars.
It’s also about the surreal magic of adolescence, about growing up and discovering the power and fear of sexuality, about pitch-gray days of pills and powder and connection. It’s about damage and pain, but also joy. With raw intensity and shocking honesty, The Terrible is a collection of poems that tells the story of what it means to lose yourself and find your voice.
“You may not run away from the thing that you are
because it comes and comes and comes as sure as you breathe.”
Reviews
“Devastating and lyrical.” —The New York Times
“Though her plainspokenness resembles Rupi Kaur’s accessibility, Daley-Ward has a specific story to tell, one that is suspenseful and affecting in its details.” —The New Yorker
“A coming-of-age memoir . . . of particular lyricism and bracing honesty.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A powerful, unconventionally structured memoir recounting harrowing coming-of-age ordeals . . . Daley-Ward resists classification in this profound mix of poetry and prose. . . . [She] has quite a ferociously moving story to tell.” —Kirkus (starred review)
“I tore through Yrsa Daley-Ward’s poetic memoir The Terrible in a matter of hours. . . . An impressive take on the memoir that prioritizes emotion over Event.” —The Paris Review (staff pick)
“Profoundly beautiful . . . [Daley-Ward] interweaves verse and prose to great effect, offering less a simple retelling of her life, and more of an impression of it, a sense of how it must feel to live it. Much of what Daley-Ward recounts of her childhood is devastating . . . and she has a unique ability to tell these parts of her life with an unflinching intensity, the kind that sears itself onto your skin; and yet this is not a story without hope or love.” —NYLON
“Absolutely stunning . . . a poetic look at someone’s life.” —Lauren Christensen, CBS This Morning
“[Yrsa Daley-Ward] makes the emotional brutality of dealing with family, ado- lescence, addiction, and sexuality accessible to her readers. . . . She continually incorporates gut-wrenching imagery in her work, and in both bone and The Ter- rible, she packages heightened emotion into just one or two lines.” —Ploughshares
“Unflinching . . . The Terrible’s raw yet lilting prose draws the reader in at once. Unpredictable shifts in form and structure—from prose to poetry and script— are refreshingly disorientating. This is both a defiant book and a defiantly in- ventive one.” —The Times Literary Supplement (London)
“Open up the first page of Yrsa Daley-Ward’s genre-defying memoir, and you’ll find yourself immediately transfixed by her rhythmic language. Daley-Ward unspools the story of her difficult coming-of-age as it felt, forgoing the pacing of a conventional memoir for something more poetic and visceral. . . . In this book, her unique voice has room to grow roots on the page.” —Refinery29
“Devastating, in the very best way . . . generous, utterly human, and, eventually, hopeful.” — BuzzFeed
“Daley-Ward splits herself wide open in her lyrical memoir.” — Bustle
“Yrsa Daley-Ward is laying her pain bare and turning it into uplifting, uncon- ventional poetry. . . . If readers thought she bared her soul through bone, her memoir The Terrible will be another lesson in how to fearlessly turn the pain of her past into uplifting prose.” — POPSUGAR
“Yrsa Daley-Ward has left all of herself on the page yet again. . . . An emotional look at growing up.” — HelloGiggles