I stand back as the Skipton train advances,
having to choose too fast

between the scorn and sympathetic glances
of my supporting cast

all of whom think boarding this train enhances
my odds. I wave it past.

If I don't take the first of the last chances
I will not fear the last
  

                      'First of the Last Chances' by Sophie Hannah

A new collection of warm and witty poems about pregnancy and contemporary life

Best-selling poet Sophie Hannah returns with a wonderful collection of poems that explore and celebrate strong feelings: love, hate, anger, hope - and which strip away the veils of hypocrisy and pretence from all aspects of everyday life. From relationships to the world of work, motherhood and marriage, Sophie Hannah tells it how it is in her own inimitable style. Funny and moving, these poems combine traditional form and rhyme with a contemporary take on modern life that simultaneously raises a smile and provides thoughts to linger over. This collection also include A Woman's Life and Loves, eight poems set to music by the composer Gabriel Jackson that form a song cycle originally concieved as a contemporary and feminist response to the Schumann song cycle.

Sophie Hannah's first book was greeted with amazement. The Poetry Review declared, 'Shall I put it in capitals? SOPHIE HANNAH IS A GENIUS.' Each subsequent collection has been formally more inventive, thematically more complex, yet each has met with a similar welcome, and she has become that rare thing, a popular and best-selling poet.