Feminine Endings

This witty and absorbing novel is set at Crackenthorpe Hall, a creative writing center in the north of England. A group of would-be poets of various ages, sexes, and backgrounds arrive there to spend a week under the tutelage of two established poets. Some of the students are present for bizarre reasons unconnected with the art of poetry. The characterization and plot are gripping, but the novel is essentially a penetrating satire on the contemporary poetry scene, and it includes brilliant parodies and pastiches of the work of many well-known literary figures of our time.