The World's Wife Paperback – 1 Jan. 2015

I was introduced to a couple of these poems when I was in school (a long time ago :) and I loved them so much that I bought the actual book and loved the rest of them.There is just something about the women Duffy chose for this that I liked.My favourites are: Queen Herod, Salome, Anne Hathaway, Delilah, and Mrs Faust. There is just something about these ones which stand out more than the others for me.

The copy was very badly bound, with the page edges not guillotined so I had to separate them with a knife. I would have returned the copy if I had not needed it urgently for study.

The best of Duffy's poems in a slim and affordable edition.

Fab poems from the wife’s perspective.

I am enjoying the poetry in this book. A great variety of sadness, real life and humour. Am researching in depth the meaning being portrayed in each poem and listening to readings on you tube.

See if you can find Carol Ann reading on youtube etc so you get her voice when you read these. They are marvellous. Loved "Mrs Midas", or "Mrs Aesop" beautiful mixing of the ancient world and modern life.

I'm not a poet nor do I have any particular interest in poetry. I read this collection under sufferance and from the very first poem (Little red Hat) was hooked. I have heard some say that these poems are anti-men. Well I am a man and I didn't feel that way in the slightest. They are, perhaps, anti stupidity, greed, selfishness and other undesirable traits but women have those traits too and I don't think Ms Duffy is claiming that they don't. What these poems did was take traditional stories or stories from modern life and retell them from the female point of view. They were funny, witty, sad and sometimes downright chilling but I am so very pleased I read them.

I am very pleased to have found these poems - they all make me think, some delight me outright, and I continue to enjoy re-reading them. I expect I'll get more with a little more studious application: the structure and crafting of each poem will probably repay some scholarly attention .... for now, I am thrilled by the frisson of such unexpected takes on familiar characters.