Heirloom (Carcanet Press) by Catherine-Esther Cowie maps generations of St Lucian women’s stories in poems, across the colonial and postcolonial history of that island. Employing Kwéyòl and nation language, Cowie examines the persistence of violence, fear, and faith in mother-daughter relationships, using evocative language to illustrate their spiritual connections. Through each woman’s quest for autonomous love and identity, the poet shows how inextricably these journeys are bound to St Lucia’s own self-determination. Heirloom delves deep into the past, revealing secrets that often feel too potent to be shared, asking whose responsibility it is to bear them.