YOUNG VINCENT

Hood offers a historical novel that explores of the early life of a famed 20th-century poet and feminist.

The future poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, who calls herself “Vincent,” born in 1892, has a childhood marked by strife and hardship. The eldest of three daughters, her parents’ marriage is already falling apart by the time she’s born. Her father Henry’s drinking and gambling, makes it difficult for him to hold down a job, and although her mother, Cora, works as a nurse and weaves hairpieces for money, it’s difficult to make ends meet. As a result, the family frequently moves and Vincent is responsible for the well-being of her two younger sisters from a young age. By the time Vincent’s parents formally divorce, Henry has been largely absent for years. Despite the family’s struggles, Cora makes sure that the girls are well-read, and young Vincent’s love for poetry is clear early on. She begins writing poetry at the age of 5, and in 1904, she assembles a book of poetry as a gift for her mother. Hood’s novel is studded with Vincent’s poetry, with chapter titles pulled from her famous 1912 poem “Renascence.” The author, who interviewed the poet’s sister for the work, portrays her subject in all her complexities and doesn’t shy away from showing how vicious she could be. One scene in particular showcases Vincent’s duality: When a pipe bursts in 1904 and ice coats the first floor of their home, Vincent lightheartedly encourages her sisters to skate through the house to complete their chores. However, when she must empty the basins the girls have been using as toilets outside, she flies into a sudden rage and thrusts a knife into a tree. The author also intriguingly explores Vincent’s sexuality, discussing her attraction to her minister’s daughter and her later physical and emotional affairs with both women and men. Overall, it’s a compulsively readable work, even though some sections move so quickly that they can be disorienting.

An often engaging take on a complex artist.