Geologists and archaeologists use spirit level tools to locate elusive horizontal levels in ground or rock. Similarly, the poems in Spirit Level search for the tenuous points of balance between memory and lived terrain - between past and present lives, between grief and moments of enlightenment. Drawing on the constructed and fragmentary nature of remembering, this poetry forges connecting threads between how we live in the now, and how we can create meaning from past histories and experience. 'In poems that are crisp, tangible and haunting, Marcelle Freiman ranges across family history, migration, childhood discovery, bodily resonances and loss. This sensuous and moving book is attentive to the clarity of memory alongside the shimmer of dislocation. A captivating work of presences and absences to be savoured on many levels.' - Jill Jones