Ampersand

Inspired by reading her mother’s World War II diaries, Lydia Fulleylove’s latest collection, Ampersand, creates a unique discourse between mother and daughter. By placing her own diary entries and poetry in conversation with her mother’s, we are introduced to a young woman enlisting in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force at the height of the war, a person Fulleylove finds both curious yet quietly familiar. Upon discovering their shared rhythms and unexpected connections – the sea, their temperament, a fierce love of place – she keenly weaves their words together to present a portrait of a relationship that continues to evolve even in death. A startling counterpoint, their words – separated by nearly eighty years – acquire renewed significance in this beautiful book that revels in the bonds between mother and daughter.