Review: Looking for Ireland by Laura Treacy Bentley

Looking for Ireland: An Irish-Appalachian Pilgrimage by Laura Treacy Bentley (Mountain State Press, 2017) is a beautiful collection of poetry inspired by travels to Ireland. The short poems are coupled with photographs the author took while visiting Ireland, or while in West Virginia and Maryland.

At a recent family gathering we passed the book around, picking out favorites. One we all enjoyed was “Signs,” a poem that chronicles the changes marking the transition from the end of autumn to the beginning of winter. In West Virginia we all know that moment “when Chicory blossoms/ fade in the ditch line.” Winter is coming, indeed, and the world will be laid bare.

The naturalist poems are short but satisfying. The shortest poem is The Poet Takes A Walk at five lines. The longest, Dissonance, measures thirty lines and takes the reader on a stroll through Dublin. The images range from architectural to sacred spots in the natural world.

This book would be a great addition to a collection of Appalachian poetry or literature.  As a book club selection, it would work well paired with a novel that explored Appalachia’s natural beauty, such as Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. Finally with the holidays coming up, it makes a lovely and budget-friendly gift for those who appreciate the beauty of Appalachia and Ireland.