In this poetry collection Hermina Burns reflects on what it means to be a daughter, a mother, a wife, examining themes of identity and the ways in which our mothers simultaneously shape us and are shaped by us, as well as contemplating the potential costs involved in nurturing and self-sacrifice.

Drawing on a lifetime of memories, these poems shine a light on the everyday and the extraordinary to reveal the hidden lives of women – both now and in the past – while posing important questions for us all. How can women create and sustain a sense of ‘self’ separate from their roles as wives and mothers? And what exactly does it mean to bear ‘responsibility for giving life to things’?

Bite of a Bluebottle also considers the compelling nature of memory, and how certain memories simply refuse to be buried – later resurfacing and forcing us to reexamine our present, rewrite our history, and even reshape our future.