Insightful and inspired, Whitney Vale’s Sermon of Swallows: memoir of fragments, excavates the heart of a woman’s journey through life. Lyrical imagery and stunning phrasing make this chapbook sing. A book that “breaks into a thousand vessels of light,” and leaves the reader with “a residue of grace.”

“I dare you to read Whitney Vale’s “Sermon of Swallows: Memoir in Fragments” and not be deeply moved by the exquisite language in her poems, their evocative imagery, and emotional honesty. Vale allows herself to be vulnerable as she writes about her childhood as a navy brat struggling to fit in at each new location and dealing with a mother prone to rages and a disconnected father, as a young girl dealing with rejection and disappointing lovers, and as a woman dealing with multiple losses.  But if there is sadness here, there is also so much beauty, as she writes about her love of art and nature and always, hope.”  Lynn Slaughter, Award-Winning Author