In this powerful new poetry collection, Andrea MacPherson deftly explores—and skewers—the ways in which a woman’s experience is invalidated by contemporary culture.

Visceral, candid, and revelatory, Reckless follows the complex trajectory of female identity in a world that consistently denies women their right to assert it. Tackling an array of urgent topics, including reproductive rights, the trials of motherhood, the pain of divorce, and sexual emancipation, MacPherson details the realities women face throughout their lives and conjures both their fear and bravery in the face of relentless judgment.

By urgently unpacking the impossible weight of gendered expectations, Reckless strips back limiting definitions consistently thrust upon women. Together, these poems become an unflinching portrait of “what a girl means” and a striking commentary on what the female body wants and endures.