Hot on the heels of her previous collection Men Who Feed Pigeons, Selima Hill's Women in Comfortable Shoes is her 21st book of poetry, presenting eleven contrasting but well-fitting sequences of short poems relating to women:Fishface: A disobedient young girl is sent to a Catholic convent school to give her mother a break. My Friend Weasel: The 50s. A girls' boarding school where the girls are somehow managing to make new friends.

Susan and Me: On friendship. Two close friends, one of whom, Susan, is heading for a nervous breakdown. Dolly: Dolly is a duck.

The other 29 women are, in their various ways, human. My Mother with a Beetle in Her Hair: A daughter's passion for swimming - despite of her mother hating every minute. Fridge: Lorries, geese and fridges speak of death, grief and absence.

My Spanish Swimsuit: A daughter fears her rabbit-trapping father.. The Chauffeur: A pair of bad-tempered sisters, a parrot and a cat. Girls without Hamsters: An older woman's obsession with a spider-legged young man.

Reduced to a Quivering Jelly: Vera is old, and getting older, but she doesn't seem to care. Dressed and Sobbing: A woman is surprised to find herself getting older and lazier. The book is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation.