In her first full-length collection, award-winning poet Ruth Daniell
offers work that is both earnest and hopeful, even in the face of
trauma. In formally exquisite and lyrical poems, The Brightest Thing
tells the story of a young woman who is raped by her first boyfriend and
her struggle afterwards to navigate her fairy-tale expectations of
romantic love. This contemporary story of hurt and healing is paired
with poems that give voice to silenced princesses from fairy
tales--including Rapunzel, Donkeyskin, The Little Mermaid's sister and
the princess who feels the pea beneath two hundred mattresses. At turns
heartbreaking and joyful, with an unabashed eye for beauty and an
unapologetic hope for love, Daniell questions the pursuit of "happily
ever after," and probes deep into darkness while looking for the light.