Treatment Island by Jessica Maich

“Thee unflinching poems take us straight into the heart of human experience and the vagaries of human response. As a woman faces her own death, the persons who surround her face the unexpected emotions that impending death calls forth. Writing with both compassion and astute insight, Jessica Maich gives us the richness and complexity of a novel in precise, well-honed verse. This is a sequence to treasure.”

–Sonia Gernes

“Treatment Island is an intense and unflinching portrait of a family coping for better and worse with a terminal cancer that at first interrupts, then slowly destroys the rhythms and certainties of domestic life. Through a series of terse interior monologues, these twenty-five poems reveal the confusion and helplessness of the characters, but also their stubborn humanity. Jessica Maich approaches this dark and discomforting subject with honesty and reverence. In the end, there is a harrowing sense of loss, but also moments of surprising grace and clarity. You will not soon forget the experience of Treatment Island.”

–Max Westler

“In Treatment Island, Jessica Maich listens in on the separate voices of a family as it responds to an unfolding tragedy. Like the records of an expedition lost in the wilderness, these poems sound fresh, honest, and intimate. Writing from several perspectives with compassion, humor, and perfect pitch, Maich brings novelty and great warmth to the oldest and coldest of human subjects. These touching poems feel like the mortal truth.”

–Jan Seabaugh

Rating: *****  [5 of 5 Stars!]