...a distinctive and accomplished piece of work... an extended sequence which takes its general shape from the eponymous composition by Shostakovich (Op. 87 for piano).

[Joanna Boulter's] fine sequence of poems is a study in the demands of private and public in Shostakovich's work and life, of how the music is a place in which the dictates of artistic conscience meet another kind of dictatorship. In the Process the figure of Shostakovich serves to express the larger experience of living in a state (State) of fear.

...range from the utterly simple and lyrical... to the formally and intellectually more complex... though the work never becomes obsure or needlessly difficult. There is a wit in Boulter's work, a grim humour...

The whole is an eloquent study in the working out of a complex pattern of relationships... This is a richly enjoyable and thought-provoking volume, warmly recommended.