Book Review: Into Her Wild by Nilam Patel

Reviewed by Elizabeth Zender

Short, sharp, and dynamic—Nilam Patel’s poetry packs a punch.

You are going to find something you love within the pages of Into Her Wild. With themes of womanhood, family, and finding yourself, Patel’s poetry collection is accessible and contemporary, challenging the standards of what poetry can and should look like. And yet, the collection still maintains what we love most about reading poetry: finding the heart of the matter.

This book is split into five sections: Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space. The sections correspond with aspects of life deemed important by Patel, such as the fervor and passion involved in being a mother of a daughter or healing and finding your inner light. 

Patel does not name her poems, but that doesn’t make them any less memorable. It creates a cohesive, gathered quality to the collection as a whole, yes, but when a singular poem shines, like the last poem of the section, “Water,” you’ll cling to its power and remember it long after you’ve finished reading. It focuses on the idea of striving to be great, maybe even more than that, only to learn that “good was home.” This poem resonates as its readers work tirelessly toward success, rather than joy or healing.

Patel’s poems do not mince words. The majority of her poetry is short, punctual, and succinct—always easy to understand the deeper meaning. With her linear and smooth stylings, Patel’s poems have the power to make you feel affected. The way she plays with punctuation and emphasis within the structure of her work amplifies each poem’s meaning.

Empowerment is a focus for Patel—a consistent undercurrent connecting each poem to the next. She writes of the struggles of womanhood while highlighting the importance of owning oneself and one’s identity. In this, one thing seems to stand out: owning yourself means learning to live with your past. One poem in particular allows this statement to ring out, stating that the subject of the poem “decided to live in her old life, written with new ink,” pushing the reader to consider whether it is their life that causes pain, boredom, and the like, or it is the outlook they have that does this.

With a modern poetic sensibility, Nilam Patel’s Into Her Wild can act as a vital stepping stone on any reader’s healing journey. From trauma and relationships to feeling yourself and knowing your power, every poem is its own treasure.

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