A debut poetry collection, Indigo Thumbprint draws from a lifetime of writing. The moods and forms are varied, tending toward the delightful. Beneath Bowman's keen appreciation of beauty, however, lies a subterranean solidity asking big questions about life and love, and ultimately about the artist's role in it all.

Set in two continents, this is a story about an idealistic couple for whom the new Irish Free State, increasingly dominated by the Catholic Church, becomes an alien place. Even within the family, ruptures are caused, so deep they cannot be breached.