A fresh and questioning look at girlhood and its icons, unravelling the millennia of myth woven around girls.

''A sensual exploration of two female archetypes'' Guardian

''One of our most gifted poets ... This is tender and exquisite poetry'' Mona Arshi, author of Small Hands

In Girl, Ruth Padel presents a triptych of interlocking sequences. A moving retelling of the Christian story transforms the Virgin Mary into a girl in a Primark T-shirt, facing a life shaped by divine will. Unearthed from the Cretan labyrinth, a prehistoric Snake Goddess is reshaped at the hands of a male archaeologist.

Between these evocative figures, myth turns personal. Delicately crafted lyrics, sometimes taking adventurous shapes, explore snapshots from the poet’s own life blended with archetypes from India, European fairy tale, ancient Greece and Urban Dictionary: girl as soul, girl as creative energy, girl as the sacred power of nature, vulnerable but unstoppable. ‘Listening to the snowmelt / of the patriarchy’, Girl is an urgent, revelatory work for today.

**A Poetry Book Society Special Commendation**

''Dazzling'' Kim Moore, author of All the Men I Never Married

''Beautiful'' Linda Gregerson, author of The Selvedge