“to break: a: to defeat utterly and end as an effective force : DESTROY. b: to crush the spirit c: to make tractable or submissive: such as (1) past participle often 'broke' : to train (an animal) to adjust to the service or convenience of humans. Reader, have you ever been broken? Have you ever trusted someone more than yourself? In The Attic Bedroom poet Rebecca Griswold tells us the terrifying story of a common man cult run in the common man town of Cincinnati. Here, it could happen to anyone. Here, people turn up their TV sets, look the other way. Here, like the rest of America, it is our girls, our girls, who they try to break. The poet asks, "...when women / are reduced to nothing, / where do they go?" Here, they come back—roaring. Rebecca Griswold's remarkable debut reveals: no matter what it takes—even if she has to bend time—a woman cannot, cannot leave herself behind."

— Rebecca Gayle Howell

"There's an authority and sureness to these poems that draws the reader in, inspiring confidence and fascination. They crackle with humor and vibrate with unsettling insights. The language is exact and expressive, the formal experimentation sure-footed and memorable. The subject matter is original and often startling. What a debut!"

— David Young