The Niobe Poems

For her second collection of poems, Kate Daniels drew upon personal experience and Greek myth. Writing about the drowning of a friend's son, she used the myth of Niobe as a leaping-off point for the imagination. In the book's conclusion, Daniels changes the myth to provide both her contemporary heroine and Niobe a redemption they deserve, and that we, the readers, need. Loss, motherhood, grief--these are popular themes in poetry, but it's a tribute to Daniels that she uses them in new and interesting ways.