Wind in the Aspens

Wind in the Aspens is a different Gina Browning. This collection of her poetry allows us to perceive a woman growing into an understanding of the sparseness of life. Without blinking, she lets us observe secrets usually kept concealed beneath the folds of flamboyant opera dresses and personifications kept hidden away in operatic characters. What we find here are not pretty song lyrics, but rather a deep wondering, a certain coming to grips with the rawness of life, and the questions left behind, unanswered and chilling. Denise Kusel, journalist, author of Only in Santa Fe Gina Browning's poems in Wind in the Aspens are personal, raw and immediate, powerfully and unabashedly feminine, and so gut-wrenchingly honest that I felt guilty while reading them, as if I had filched her journal from her bedside. Whether painting pictures of her sometimes-bucolic, small-town childhood, sharing the unspoken sadness of miscarriage, or revealing-and reveling in-her sensuality, Browning tells stories with the authority of a goddess, casting word-spells that melt in the mouth like chocolate. Wind in the Aspens is about life, naked-and perhaps best read under the covers with a flashlight and some tissues. Hollis Walker, journalist, author of the book Zink: The Language of Enchantment This collection of poems by Gina Browning invites the reader to travel beyond everyday life into the world of luminous spirit, love and immense joy. The author uses lyricism and intense imagery as she delves unflinchingly into many different facets of human existence. Her insistence on unwavering beauty even in the darkest moments of despair confers a heartbreaking grace upon the reader. Anne Whitehouse, author of the novel Fall Love and the poetry collections, The Surveyor's Hand, Blessings and Curses, and Bear in Mind