Hiddensee

Hiddensee cover
Good Books rating 4.33
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Technical
  • ID: 2290
  • Added: 2025-10-13
  • Updated: 2025-10-13
  • ISBN: 9781529037692
  • Publisher: Pan Macmillan
  • Published: 2021-01-07
  • Formats: 1
  • Reviews: 3

Hiddensee is a profound poetry collection by Annie Freud, delving into themes of ambition, self-discovery, and cultural identity. The book explores her German Jewish heritage and her connections to influential figures, offering a multilingual and international perspective. Named after the Baltic island where her grandmother spent summers, Hiddensee reflects on a rich artistic history and counters modern cultural insularity. It celebrates the work of Jacques Tornay, emphasizing the complexity of artistic voices and influences.

Reviews
The Guardian · Fiona Sampson · 2021-01-09
insightful 4.50

The poems are modest, gentle, and universal, offering a small masterclass in synthesis. They are often witty and light-hearted, sometimes worried and sad, and highly evocative of a complicated life.

Fiona Sampson from The Guardian praises the collection for its understated elegance and profound depth. She highlights how the poems are modest yet universal, offering a masterclass in synthesis. The reviewer appreciates the emotional range, from wit and light-heartedness to moments of worry and sadness, which makes the collection deeply evocative. Sampson finds the poems to be highly evocative of the complex life led by the author, making it a compelling read.


Quick quotes

    Modest, gentle and universal, these understated poems are a small masterclass in the art of synthesis.

    Often witty and light-hearted, sometimes worried and sad, Freud's poems are highly evocative of the complicated life she has led.

    This collection speaks to me as the daughter of German Jewish parents.

Morning Star Online · Andy Croft · 2021-01-09
resonant 4.50

The poems are suffused with energy, humour, and scholarship, resonating deeply with the reviewer's personal background.

Andy Croft from Morning Star Online finds the poems in Hiddensee to be full of energy, humour, and scholarship. He particularly connects with the collection as the daughter of German Jewish parents, finding it deeply resonant with his personal background. The reviewer appreciates the emotional and intellectual depth of the poems, making it a standout collection.


Quick quotes

    The poems in Hiddensee by Annie Freud (Picador) are suffused with energy, humour and scholarship.

    This collection speaks to me as the daughter of German Jewish parents.

    The poems are highly evocative of the complicated life she has led.

The Telegraph · 2021-01-08
nostalgic 4.00

The collection is seen as a nostalgic reflection on a safe, familiar world that has vanished. It is noted for its ambitious exploration of ambition and its necessity.

The Telegraph's reviewer delves into the nostalgic undertones of the collection, describing it as a reflection on a safe, familiar world that has vanished. The poems are seen as a nostalgic glow, capturing the essence of a lost time. The reviewer also notes the ambitious nature of the work, exploring themes of ambition and its necessity, making it a significant addition to Freud's body of work.


Quick quotes

    For the emigrée, Hiddensee represented a safe, familiar world that had vanished forever.

    It takes on a nostalgic glow in a painting by Freud.

    Hiddensee represents Annie Freud's most ambitious work to date, not least because it is a book about ambition and its necessity, the need to go beyond oneself.