Readers of Captain Lavender, especially if they are among the enthusiastic followers of the four previous volumes, will find McGuckian here, for various reasons, easing into clarity, even relaxing into a vulnerable openness. First, as do other truly innovative writers, McGuckian has taught us to read her vision of the world. Secondly, McGuckian's recent experiences teaching political prisoners - self-styled "saviors" of their causes - enter indirectly into many of these poems, particularly in section two. As her comment on this volume, McGuckian chose as epigraph a statement from Picasso's letters: "I have not painted the war...but I have no doubt that the war is in...these paintings I have done".