Always the Love of Someone
Always the Love of Someone by Huw Lawrence. Design:www.theundercard.co.uk. Image: Gordon Crabb
ISBN:9780955527296£9.99 Published on 30 May 2010
Stopped me in my tracks... masterful throughout... I will be filing this collection on my bookshelf next to Raymond Carver. http://americymru.ning.com
Author Interview
Crisp, clear and illuminating.Emyr Humphreys
A range quite unlike anything I have read by a Welsh writer in recent years.Meic Stephens
Sinister impulses lurk behind Greg's acclaimed portraits of his wife. Mair, an unemployed actress, loves her unemployed husband, but sleeps with a television producer. A divorced couple find themselves staring at reunion. A tramp in a dirty pyjama jacket shares lentil soup with an architect in full view of the neighbourhood. Noi is an escapee Thai 'bride' who learns just how 'different' Britain really is.
As new girls did, she sat on the pier in Pattaya South, a stone's throw from the Notorious Marine Bar. She was lucky, because Roland, who was quite good looking for an older guy, decided to long-time after just three nights with her. Long-timing wasn't easy, neither from the girl's point of view nor the falang's. For the girl it was hard to find. For the falang it often just didn't work out....
Fifteen stories on relationships explore the nuances of class, exile and sexual exploitation; the civilising if intrusive influence of women on men, and the accommodations made necessary by old age. Voices range across gender, age and ethnicity. The tone of Always the Love of Someone is subtly upbeat: as optimistic in spirit as Mike Leigh's Happy Go Lucky.
A range quite unlike anything I have read by a Welsh writer in recent years.Meic Stephens.
Huw Lawrence's stories have three times won in the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition, have gained three Cinnamon Awards and a Bridport prize. He was runner up for the 2009 Tom Gallon prize. Born in Llanelli, he trained as a teacher in Swansea, continuing his education at Manchester and Cornell Universities. He spent several years doing a variety of labouring jobs in Manchester and the Ffestiniog area of north Wales and now lives in Aberystwyth.
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