‘To those of us who feared words might not be enough, Time Lived, Without Its Flow delivers its kind riposte. A manifesto for the unbroken promise of language, for a literature of consolation, and above all for empathy, it is a book about listening closely (to oneself and others), a call to the radical, ordinary act of being with: to say with your whole heart, not “I can’t imagine what you’re feeling”, but “I can imagine”.’

Emily Berry, author of Dear Boy

‘A dark jewel of a book in which the mysterious reversals of a life-in-grief are laid bare in language that is both elegantly precise and courageously blunt.’

Katharine Towers, author of The Remedies

‘This book contains far more depth and enlightenment than its slim volume suggests, as it contemplates and rages, moves and soothes. Magnificent.’

Sinéad Gleeson, author of Constellations

‘Time Lived, Without Its Flow derives its immense power from its combination of emotional immediacy and intellectual rigour. To read it is to feel your heart breaking and your neurons firing at the same time.’

Mark O’Connell, author of To Be a Machine

‘A very short book about time and loss, living and telling, that immeasurably expanded my sense of each of those things.’

David Hayden, TLS

‘Riley is an enormously gifted writer . . . a voice that is instantly recognizable.’

Fiona Sampson, Observer

‘She’s a poet whose work . . . never fails to convince new readers with its intelligence, wit and emotion.’

The Times