In Mr. Genoways's hands the sonnet is pleasingly elastic. . . . Formally astute and emotionally resonant, Anna, Washing is a fine example of the historical narrative in lyric form.

While in conversation with excellent books that have come before it--Rita Dove's Thomas and Beulah, Ellen Voigt's Kyrie, and A. Van Jordan's Macnolia, for example--its framework, balance of thematic material, its scaffolding of form and elegantly shifting perspectives make it wholly original. Quite simply, a beautiful book.

Genoways has evoked history very well in this work. . . . The language here is spare, but it needn't be anything else. Throughout this book, Genoways is consistently able to convey large ideas and a range of feelings with an absolute minimum of words. It's a talent very few writers possess. . . . Honing this story down to its essentials without losing its essence could not have been easy, even if the author makes it look so.