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About The Book

‘A deep and valuable collection that you could rely upon in your time of need’ The Times

Following the success of their anthology Poems That Make Grown Men Cry, father-and-son team Anthony and Ben Holden, working with Amnesty International, have asked the same revealing question of 100 remarkable women: what poem has moved you to tears?

The poems chosen range from the eighth century to today, from Rumi and Shakespeare to Sylvia Plath, W. H. Auden to Carol Ann Duffy, Pablo Neruda and Derek Walcott to Imtiaz Dharker and Warsan Shire. Their themes range from love and loss, through mortality and mystery, war and peace, to the beauty and variety of nature. From Yoko Ono to Judi Dench, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to Elena Ferrante, Carol Ann Duffy to Meera Syal, and Joan Baez to Olivia Colman, this unique collection delivers private insights into the minds of women whose writing, acting and thinking are admired around the world.

About The Authors

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Anthony Holden was an award-winning journalist before becoming a bestselling writer. Best-known for his biographies of figures both living and historical, as well as critical studies of the monarchy, Holden also wrote several books about poker. Big Deal, his account of a year as a professional poker player, has been hailed as a cult classic. A frequent broadcaster, who wrote for a wide range of newspapers and periodicals on both sides of the Atlantic, Holden also published poetry, criticism and polemical pamphlets advocating constitutional reform.

Andrew Crowley

Ben Holden is a writer and film producer. He lives in London and studied English at Merton College, Oxford. With his father Anthony, Ben edited the bestselling Poems That Make Grown Men Cry and Poems That Make Grown Women Cry.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (March 9, 2017)
  • Length: 352 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781471148644

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Raves and Reviews

“The Holdens remind us that you don't have to be an academic or a postgraduate in creative writing to be moved by verse…I defy anyone not to enjoy the Holdens' book: It's plain fun.”

– Wall Street Journal

A deep and valuable collection that you could rely upon in your time of need’

– The Times

‘The art of poetry, as exemplified in this collection, transcends all gender issues, real or disputed

– Guardian

'This anthology has given me fresh pleasure in familiar poems and introduced me to exciting new voices'

– Sebastian Faulks, from his Afterword

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