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 With several other items in this collection of short fiction and poetry, McPhail also rose up from the depths of her own pain and anguish by including other work that deals with death and destruction. There's the poem, Mother, which addresses her mother's battle with cancer and the poems Rex and Unlikely Comfort, both of which focuses on the death of her beloved cat, Rex.
Reviewed by Robin M. Buehler
Children of Morpheus, a Collection of Poetry and Short Fiction
by Danielle Ackley McPhail
illustrator: Ruth Lampi
publisher: Lite Circle Books
cost: $4.95, available at: www.litecircle.com
Keeping in form with her debut novel, Yesterday's Dreams, Danielle Ackley McPhail has released a collection of poetry and short stories that show off her knowledge of different types of mythology. Stories such as Enchainedment, Green with Envy and Desert Dancer, and poems Odd Jason Out, Luna dote on Greek and Roman mythologies whereas other pieces touch upon what her debut novel is greatly influenced by: Celtic mythology.
The prime example of this in this collection of work is the story, Birth of Tuatha de Danaan, Even though it wasn't derived from any particular Celtic myth, it best illustrates what had influenced this particular piece and her earlier novel. She utilized what she knew of the Sidhe (which she's told a reporter recently occurred after the timeframe that Birth of Tuatha de Danaan took place) and drafted this moving tale that not only depicts a people with mythical powers but also something we can all relate to: the power of family ties. This is most evident, in this particular story, when Anu urges her twin to go on without her. "I'll na be lost to ye forever, then. Now away with ye! I canna last much longer an' I've one more task to see to." Yet, Danu couldn't seem to break herself away from her dying twin. "She wanted to cry out and deny the truth," McPhail wrote of Danu, while Anu, despite her physical anguish continued to ground Danu. She did so by saying, "Sorrow has blinded ye; 'tis only for now ye'll stand alone, an' ye survive the hunt. 'Tis yerself that'll see the Daoine Maite rise again from the very depth o' ye."
With several other items in this collection of short fiction and poetry, McPhail also rose up from the depths of her own pain and anguish by including other work that deals with death and destruction. There's the poem, Mother, which addresses her mother's battle with cancer and the poems Rex and Unlikely Comfort, both of which focuses on the death of her beloved cat, Rex. Others are fictional tales of a young girl who doesn't quite understand the meaning of death in A Portrait of Black Velvet, and then there's Haunted by a Memory, where readers meet Frank, a detective coming to terms with his own death.
"Children of Morpheus is a sampling of my work that shows the diversity of what I'm capable of," she recently told an interviewer (Hammonton News). "The variety of topics that are addressed are from my mother's cancer to working in Manhattan on Sept. 11. There's something that speaks to everyone." That, it certainly does.
About the reviewer: Robin M. Buehler is a journalist from New Jersey. She's had reviews appear in SabledrakeRobin M. Buehler is a journalist from New Jersey. She's had reviews appear in Sabledrake, Gothic Revue, Poetic Voices and Tangent Online. She is also a poet and writer with work appearing in various print and online publications including but not limited to Sigla Magazine, ByLine Magazine, Taj Mahal Review, Sacred Twilight, Writers Post Journal and Poetic Hour. Her short stories have appeared in Wide Open Spaces, Fantasies: Collection of the World's Greatest Stories and Dark Walls. Her one story, Weekend in Pocono Mountain will be in the anthology No Longer Dreams which will be released in April by Lite Circle Books.
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