Rachael Boast's first collection is dominated by astral influence and divine chance, by unseen or remote causes; but despite its celestial title, <I>Sidereal</I> is full of terrestrial concerns, the traffic and chaos of the human and natural worlds. Ultimately, however, it is the work of a poet who believes that we must also turn our gaze skywards to make sense of who we are, and these poems pursue their elliptical but inevitable orbits through a world where the earthly and transcendent are thoroughly interfused. Above all, <I>Sidereal</I> impresses through Boast's lyric faith, which through even the worst pain and despair can still offer its clarities and revelations, and announces an important new voice in British poetry.