Genevieve Lehr's debut poetry collection is astonishing in its stylistic range, employing the lyric, prose poem, folk song and fable, as well as several long poems, in her attempt to understand the complexities of human life. The Sorrowing House focuses on her difficulties as a single mother with three children, including a son with special needs. The poems range far and wide in search of metaphors adequate to elucidate the stark contrast between the joys and sorrows of a life constrained by harrowing limitations and challenges.