It is hard to imagine this latest book not being as appreciated as the earlier ones. Ehin's fresh voice is part of the ancient Estonian tradition of female singer-poets, and her work evokes the reality of the life of that Northern region - both the defensive closing-in against the winter cold, and the almost ecstatic joy at the return of tender fresh spring growth. The history of the Baltic states during the Second World War, and the years of Nazi then Soviet occupation, form a dark background to the vivid images of the skies, ebaches, rivers and bogs of her native region, and of Tartu, the city where she now lives. [...] Kristiina Ehin's ardent and complex poetry should have many readers in this excellent translation.