Eager to disappear …

… Elizabeth Jennings and the Poetry of Faith – Catholic World Report. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

More than Philip Larkin or even John Betjeman (both good popular poets), Jennings was the darling of the general reader, or what Samuel Johnson called the common reader, by whose “common sense… uncorrupted by literary prejudice… must finally be decided all poetical honours.” Certainly, Michael Schmidt was right to claim that his bestselling Carcanet author was “the most unconditionally loved writer” of her generation. Writing of the things that preoccupy most readers – family, faith, love, loss, illness, hope, atonement, redemption – she not only won her readers’ trust but their affection. In light of the many false reputations that disfigure our literary landscape, Jennings’ unfashionably popular work is tonic, especially since so much of its appeal derives from its Catholic character.