Eileen Lawrence’s debut poetry collection, How to Escape a Burning House, is available to order now from Finishing Line Press.

How to Escape a Burning House is a guidebook for mothers who have sacrificed themselves to their children and their partners. Some poems explore the loneliness and despair motherhood can bring, revealing the traps set by societal and family expectations. The book as a whole, however, invites the reader to redefine motherhood, love, and self, and to forge their own path to joy.