The Favorite

The Favorite is, in Cig Harvey's words, "an arrow to the heart." Its sixty-four poems are gently shaped into three parts as Watson leads readers into her childhood's world of social privilege, recognizes the psychological costs inhabitants pay, and demonstrates a wide and wonderful range of reactions.

Most of the fifteen poems in Part I are based on childhood memories. Four sisters ride uncomfortably in the back seat of the big car, ordered not to wrinkle their Sunday dresses, while their br...