LADY SATURN

Advanced Reviews

"This chapbook is a rich experience of Wanda's attempts to weave her way past the increasingly complex nature of anxiety, the feeling of being unloved and unwanted by those dear and the drowning shadows of depression to find solace. 

 

Her words are strikingly beautiful, overly emotional and passionate about her human condition. A highly recommended read for anyone who currently find themselves in a hard place and desire a new way of hoping. 

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A constellation of bright and positive energy." 

 

~ Michael Akuchie, 

Contributing Editor for Barren Magazine

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"Every page of Lady Saturn feels packed full with hurt, healing, and hope. From the first poem, we see Wanda vow to “taste every bit” of her sadness, “down to its last sickly sweet drop,” and she does—showing us all the complexities in the middle, and still coming out swinging. 

 

This chapbook is for anyone who’s ever lived in the contradictions between their internal self and the external world, between sick and sweet, between the darkness of depression and the coming daylight. This chapbook is recovery and promise in itself. This chapbook is a new favorite home."

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- Courtney Felle,

Editor-in-Chief, Body Without Organs

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"Lady Saturn is a wrenching and deeply personal look at the cycle of repetition: of pain, illness, trauma and, like the overturning of a wheel, the rising triumph of healing, hope, and growth. Wanda Deglane writes with the kind of cadence that guts and soothes, twisting the knife of forgiveness deep within your heart. Yet, her voice is full of quiet promise, reaching out towards a time where everything seemed kinder, while bracing to stand tall despite the coming storms."   

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~ Kanika Lawton, 

Editor-In-Chief of L'Éphémère Review

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"Lady Saturn grapples with the flurry of thoughts that fly through Wanda Deglane’s head as she struggles with her mental health. The poems mirror the shifts in mood and concentration that anyone who has likewise wrestled with such inner demons can recognize as they flit like gnats tingling one’s ears on a hot summer night, the world promising a season’s warmth while all you can appreciate are the relentless buzzing, the unbearable itch of their bodies on your flesh. A vibrant portrait emerges, imbued with the dual anguish and hope that penetrate such reflection. It culminates in a sensation akin to allowing — for one moment — the glow of the sun to caress your skin, the gnats forgotten, the summer again a season of possibility. It serves as a sharp, eye-opening collection well worth the read."

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~ Marilee Goad

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"Wanda Deglane’s work is full of honesty & humanity, & this chapbook is no exception. Lady Saturn reads tender like a healing bruise: a glimpse of hope amongst the ache & fear. Wanda tells her story of girlhood in-between worlds, from the depths of the ocean to the wideness of stars; of welcoming 'all these scars' & making a home out of her body. This is a portrayal of every facet of depression; both looking towards the future with bright eyes, & the hidden face of the moon, far from recovery. The side that, on the heaviest days, makes you feel tired & hopeless & stops you from getting to the person you wish you were, next to the rising sun, learning to dance.

 

So to everyone who has struggled in the night, anyone who has 'tried to be a sunset [...] but caught on fire instead', all of whom have faced their reflection in the mirror & felt like a crushed spider: this chapbook is for you."

~ Caroline Grand-Clement

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"Lady Saturn is a dark, deep read that readers shouldn't take lightly. It takes a lot of courage for someone, in this case, a poet, to share their experiences of mental health, especially when it has drawn them into dark places."

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- Melissa Jennings