Imagine The Outsiders. Now Set It In A Poetry Commune. That's largely how I wound up seeing this book. Our main character is a great fish out of water that gets sucked into this world she really has no clue about and finds herself navigating new friendships and controversies along the way, all while trying to understand the enigmatic leader of the group and uncover what this leader is hiding. There is quite a bit of meta commentary here, both generally and in the final reveal of exactly what had been happening for all these years, but even that didn't really ascend to "preachy" levels, more just spice to the overall story. Yes, there was quite a bit of humor in this book too, but for me the humor made it more readable without taking away from the overall serious tone I was getting for some reason. But perhaps I'm just weird. (I know I am, but maybe my reactions to this book were particularly weird?) Very much recommended.

Carla is working a landscaping job, even though her mom and her boyfriend make her feel like she should be doing more with her life.

Her current client is Viridian Boone, an aging but elegant poet. Carla sets out to plant the Salvia and Shasta daisies when she suddenly finds herself in the gravitational pull of Viridian and her quirky but endearing group of poet friends.

Carla is fired from her landscaping gig and now feels like a total loser. But when she is offered to work for Viridian, she’s excited but intimidated. Carla knows nothing about poetry; in fact, she has a reading disability that has always held her back. Soon Viridian’s world of poetry opens up something new within Carla.

Let me first say I loved the writing in this book! Jean Thompson writes in such a natural, genuine manner that you just melt into the narrative. I adored Oscar, Viridian’s friend and fellow poet; eccentric, yes, but I loved how he viewed the world. Carla is young, searching for what the future holds, and Viridian wisely and poetically encourages her. This story shares incredible insight with both humor and heart.


Thank you @algonquinbooks for a spot on tour and a gifted copy.

Carla's life changes when she overhears Viridian read a poem. Now 21, Carla struggled and more or less abandoned reading because of a learning disability and she's now unhappily working with a landscaper. Viridian, a 70 something dynamo, takes Carla under her wing and brings her into her circle of poets. Viridian's long dead lover Mathias, also a poet, was famous for love poems about her and for burning his poetry after reading it but the other poets believe that Viridian has a stash of his poems somewhere. Thompson has turned a very sharp eye on poets- each character stands out and will either make you smile or shake your head. This is less about those poets, though, than about Carla coming into herself. She's a fine creation, a young women who didn't expect much of herself and now wants so much more. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Great read.

Carla is a young woman in her late-twenties living in California and working as a landscaper. She enjoys the work and is content for the time being, but is not so sure what her future looks like. After completing a job at the home of Viridian, a poet with a certain gravitas, Carla gets drawn into the lives of Viridian and her friends in the poetry community. While Carla is becoming more involved with this group, she never exists as more than a young helper - a free assistant at a poetry magazine and a coordinator for a local poetry retreat - further exacerbating her questioning of self.

The Poet's House received a rave view on NPR, which propelled this book to the top of my pile. The book is being advertised as similar to Lily King's Writers and Lovers which is one of my favorites. While there are some similarities - both follow young women attempting to find themselves and both take place on the fringes of the literary world - I personally liked Writers and Lovers much more, mostly because I cared more about the stakes of the story and the characters contained therein. The Poet's House is certainly well-written, but I was not particularly attached to any of the characters or the central conflict.

You know that feeling when a book draws you in and you’re not sure why? That is exactly what I experienced in reading The Poet’s House. I became mesmerized by the words, the sentences. This story revolves around a group of writers that the main character, Carla, inadvertently becomes acquainted with as a result of a landscaping job. Carla has always struggled with reading but after hearing a poetry reading a whole world opens up for her. We not only see a writer's world through their eyes, we see it through Carla’s eyes also as she tries to navigate her path in life. All the characters bring so much to the story along with the setting. This is one of those books that has messages throughout if you are paying attention.

I adored this book. Jean Thompson has a similar writing style to one of my favorite authors Lily King so I felt at ease. Thank you NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC!

“I thought that poetry must be love, or maybe love was poetry.”
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This is a fun summer read about a young woman, who during a transitional phase of her life is swept up in the lives of artists. We watch her get more and more immersed in a circle of poets, discovering the beauty of written work and performative art.

I loved Viridian’s character and the welcoming yet mysterious aurora that she projects. Wish I could sit on her porch with her and a glass of lemonade while listening to her life stories.

The main settings, Viridian’s house, and the retreat were so summery and fun. The varying personalities of the cast, from Carla and Oscar to Boone and Gil, was array across the board that just made me laugh.

At times I found the plot a tad slow-moving but it eventually picked back up. The ending also left me feeling a bit let down, the MC, Carla’s, character arc felt like it was building up to something throughout and then just kinda fell flat (which wasn’t the case for other characters).

This book explores the weight of an artist’s legacy and what it means to be a member of the poetry community. It is a perfect summer read with some added twists and turns.
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Some of my favorite quotes that I highlighted while reading:

“I thought that poetry must be love, or maybe love was poetry.”

“You need to get over the idea of supposed to be. You need to develop your own standards, your likes, and dislikes. That’s part of critical thinking.”

“You think writing poems has something to do with talent? Not much at all. It has to do with pure, stubborn determination to keep doing it, to not be discouraged by the thousand things that are meant to discourage you. Nobody cares if you do it or not. No guarantees that anybody is going to read any of it.”

“How much was a legacy of poems worth anyway? Was it the exact weight of a short life subtracted from a long one, the difference in years?”

“I was thinking that maybe I liked poetry more than I liked poets.”
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**review to be posted on my IG soon**

Lovely read about a young woman who falls for a famous poet and meets his poet-friends as part of the bargain. Through their conversations, she inevitably changes, discovering the beauty in the power of poetry. Worth the read for this discovery alone. Recommended for those who love language and literary society! Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

Carla, a young woman in her twenties, is feeling aimless and not at all on track for a career or a plan for her future. While working for a landscaper, she meets the world-renowned poet, Viridian, who sort of takes Carla under her wing and provides her with some interesting opportunities. In the process, Carla, who has always struggled with school and reading in particular, finds herself falling in love with poetry and fascinated by the process of understanding it. She also gets a glimpse into the world of artists and poets through Viridian, a character with a whole host of unusual friends and acquaintances. It changes Carla in ways she never would have thought. This is such an engaging story, with a good, briskly-paced plot and well drawn characters. I look forward to recommending this title to readers who prefer literary fiction, but I also think it will find a lot of readers who are more drawn to traditional women's fiction. It's just great!

Very interesting take on the lives of writers, especially poets, as well as aspects of aging. I liked that the narrator was an outsider and would have a different view than a person from academe. Somehow though, I couldn't really buy into the plot.

I really adored this book and can't say enough good things about it. The prose is smart, subtle, and intoxicating. I really love having an "outsider" narrator tackle poetry, as so many books about writers are from the perspective of a self-regarded intellectual. I really enjoyed the way this book also looked at the reality of aging in the U.S., and especially aging in an arts-related field. Overall, I found this book surprising and engrossing, and really recommend it to anyone. It's much more than any summary can deliver.

This was a beautiful dance between poetry and prose. Jean Thomason’s writing shines in this book. It is smart, and funny, and heartbreaking.

We’ve seen the lost 20 something done countless times before but here Thompson uses the perspective as objective commentary on artists, poets specifically.

4 stars: The concept that Clara found her way was unconvincing and felt a little slapdash. She used the phrase “retarded children” in the beginning (which I wish she hadn’t) but I wish there could have been a stronger connection to who she was and who she WANTS to become. Instead, we see only past and present.