The Twenty-Ninth Year is a vivid and lyrical examination of looking for home and self in the space between disparate identities. The poems jump through time and space, tackling topics from alcoholism to recovery and from a single woman’s life to a wife’s, using both intensely personal and acerbically political lenses. Alyan, who is also an award-winning novelist and clinical psychologist, uses her expertise to create a raw and emotionally powerful read.