I’ve been a fan of Rachel Kelly since I stumbled across the cookbook, The Happy Kitchen, which she published with Alice Mackintosh back in 2017. I remember having a really low day at work and finding the recipe for Dark Chocolate Brazil Nut Brownies (the recipe can be found on Rachel’s website here). I spent the rest of the evening devouring all the information in that book (and the brownies).
I appreciated how open she was about her own mental health struggles and journey and generally felt intrigued by her advice and words of wisdom without the whole ‘this will make you better guaranteed’ speel. Rachel Kelly is a bestselling author and mental health campaigner. Numerous times Rachel’s mentioned that poetry has played a huge role throughout her life and was an integral part of her recovery with depression, so it’s no wonder that she’s published a collection of poetry.
Words can be a way to unlock our feelings. Poetry allows us to be in touch with our emotions and helps us unlock and explore our vulnerability.
You’ll Never Walk Alone is a collection of the kind of inspirational texts – mainly poems – that can accompany us, whatever we are feeling, from sorrow to delight. The texts are not just about words which can console us or comfort us – though they often do this too. Rather these are poems that allow us to enjoy a full range of emotions. The poems are organised according to the season in which they ‘belong’: we all have seasons of our minds, be they wintery and dark, or more spring-like and hopeful. Comprising 52 poems, with analysis by Rachel, You’ll Never Walk Alone introduces a poem for each week of the year plus tips on bringing poetry into your life.
This book will show you how to bring poetry into your everyday emotional reality, where it can be a new tool for wellbeing. And one that means you’ll never walk alone.
Review in 5
- Beautifully designed – I love the cover and illustrations dotted throughout.
- A little like the first bullet point, but I adore the setup of this book where it’s separated into seasons (both mirroring the seasons of the year and seasons of our moods) for you to dip in and out of.
- A mixed bag of poetry – ranging from classics to more modern poets, so something here for everyone.
- Rachel’s own additions to the poems are thoughtful and thought-provoking, adding insight and a little food for thought to each poem you read.
- A book to pick up again and again and again.
Huge thanks to Midas PR for gifting me a review copy.
You’ll Never Walk Alone: Poems for life’s ups and downs by Rachel Kelly was published 3rd November 2022 by Yellow Kite, Hodder and is available in hardback, ebook, and audio book.
Our First Year Here 