Catherine Sophia's Elbow

This historical fiction novel-in-verse introduces readers to Catherine Sophia Boucher at the moment she marries poet-painter William Blake. The once-illiterate daughter of a market gardener faces poverty and obscurity while she devotes herself to learning the book-making trade, eventually becoming Blake's partner in every way. Through meticulous research and masterful word-craft, Darla K. Crist lifts the veil on the woman behind the man, revealing the bitter and the sweet of marriage to an intense visionary. Steve Kash (TERRE HAUTE LIVING) says, "...In CATHERINE SOPHIA'S ELBOW [Crist] has succeeded in guiding her readers on an exquisite language tour through a mosaic word temple ventilated by the blank white spaces of her pages. The temple's architecture invites the visitor to linger a while in each room, marveling at its tiles instead of rushing to get to the end of the tour. Much of the writing is so superb that readers will want to go back into the temple again..."