A touching and humorous collection of poems about fathers and father figures, from one of the most exciting Scottish poets writing today.

This extended sequence of poems explores eccentric fathers and other adult relationships through an examination of patriarchal values that includes such figures as the 19th-century explorer David Livingstone, Irish patriot Roger Casement, and the poet's own father. The second part of this collection includes a long narrative poem that celebrates the relationship between two 17th-century Englishmen--a diplomat and a doctor. Inspired by portraits hanging in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, the verses detail their passionate and erudite life together in Constantinople.