Publisher's Synopsis
★★★★★
"Hillery writes like Kurt Vonnegut or Joseph Heller when they write about the War. Only the bravest veterans take an unflinching look back and dare tell the whole unglamorous truth, in direct opposition to the 'good vibes only' paradigm. She shapes her stanzas with purpose; her words draw great pain and characterize our futile efforts to shrink by shrinking ourselves. She levels her stanzas at all ranges to show how big it feels to heal. Only someone who has tried to find their footing knows this uneven climb well enough to tell about the route. She speaks to all of her parts: a teenage ghost, a lion cub of a child, and a phoenix of a woman on fire- and through this speaks to fractured readers." -Emily Hannah, mental health blogger
"The Medicine That Burns details a beautiful, sometimes painful journey from broken to healed. The emotion conveyed throughout the book's several sections was communicated in a way that felt both deeply personal and abundantly universal. I enjoyed how the author wove together a narrative of pain and then showed her journey into healing & light. The language she uses is stunning and relatable. I highly recommend this poetry collection to anyone who has experienced pain or trauma and wants a companion to walk with them through it." -Purple Phoenix Poetry, Canadian author of Tears of Ash and Light "I almost never share new books on my page because most work I see on Instagram lacks substance and is redundant. Molly S. Hillery is a dear friend and someone whose work I hold in high regard. She writes about trauma and healing and writes from the perspective of someone that has put in the work." -Madalina Coman, author of Words Unspoken and Unforgettable From the author: "If you read bare roots, you are familiar with the deeply personal nature of my poetry. I pour myself onto the pages in hopes that you no longer feel alone. This is what happens next. The Medicine That Burns carries a piece of every one of us inside it. If a breakup nearly broke you, if you live with past pain, if you engage in maladaptive coping to deal with the violence of being human...this book is for you. It is a raw declaration on what a life of trauma can look like after the dust settles and the poems have happy endings. It is an unflinching narrative on how hurt is cyclical, how recovery must be redefined repeatedly, and how shame can poison us in the worst ways. Heartbreak, addiction, memories, therapy, epiphanies, and on good days, acceptance. That is what I leave here for you. Within these pages I share my poetry, prose, and inner-most thoughts as I navigate the world with mental illness and internal wounds not yet cauterized. It is a song I never thought I would sing, yet slowly and steadily teach myself the tune as I go along. This is not an ordinary poetry book, but my hurt is as ordinary as yours. You may just not know it yet." Warning: This book contains graphic material that may be triggering to some readers.
