Review of The Farewell Suites in Studio magazine

Studio magazine has published a review of Andrew’s book, The Farewell Suites, which was published in the United States by Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf & Stock Publisher, in 2024. Written by the editor of Studio, Paul Grover, the review appears in Number 164, 2025, and begins:

‘Love and death are the two great hinges on which all human sympathies turn.’ B. R. Hayden

Within Andrew Lansdown’s new book of poems we discover the power of love intimately connected with the power of death. This very special collection explores the grief, loss and love experienced by the poet as he bears witness to the passing of members of his own family – an older brother at just 21, his two younger brothers, his unborn child, his mother and his father. Each one is given their own suite of poems, reflecting the poet as brother, father and son experiencing the searing pain, the loving forbearance, the anguished farewell and the heartfelt acceptance through this grief and loss. The poem, ‘Knocking’, focuses on the life-changing impact of loved ones:

Knocking

I was eighteen
when my older brother died.
I barely cried, but
from that time on, if not before,
I’ve heard death knocking at my door.

The collection is profoundly personal, intensely honest and richly discerning, speaking to all of us on our own life journey. This comment from the blurb of ‘The Farewell Suites’ invites us to walk with the poet,

‘…These finely crafted poems capture the movements of the heart and are stunning tributes to love, patience, acceptance, and forgiveness. Though focused on the poet’s own loved ones, the poems speak of and to the hearts of all readers, expressing our shared anxieties and sorrows at the passing of those we love. The collection as a whole is deeply comforting, being shot through with both human warmth and heavenly hope.’ …

READ THE REST OF PAUL GROVER’S REVIEW HERE.