Explodes the paradox of emotional isolation suffered by those living close together, the conflicting demands of family and farm, and this disruption of old ways by the new.
Waking up early to check the cattle, Gareth notices one of the calving cows is missing and sets off to find her before the sun gets too strong. What follows is a search through memory and anxiety about losing what he has as Gareth walks the land looking for the missing cow. Increasingly, the narrative is disturbed by arresting and often brutal imagery as things chip away at Gareth's patience and the need to find the cow becomes more pressing. The day unfolds, and the cow's behaviour emerges as a metaphor for the relationship between Gareth and his wife Kate as they stumble on desperately in their changing care for each other. Only the reader is aware of the tragedy that awaits the family a few days down the line, throwing the story into shadow with a terrible poignancy.
Recenzijos
a serious, thoughtful and, at times, genuinely moving work.New Welsh Reviewbold and punctuated with some scintillating imagery, this is a near perfect debutWestern Mail(this) story reinvigorated my belief in humanity and in men.Tracy Falke TV Presenter
Cynan Jones was born in Wales in 1975. The Long Dry is his first published novel. He currently works freelance in the wine industry, part time on a building site and has a small wine shop in Aberaeron.He determined that at twenty-eight he would makewriting his primary drive for two years. This he did. The Long Dry is the third novel to becompleted but the first accepted for publication. It was written in a blaze of clarity in ten daysin May '05, after completing Dance to This - a novel about bin men - which will be publishedby Parthian in Spring '07.Cynan writes increasingly. His children's story 'The Piano Player's Hands' was included inRichard & Judy's Winning Stories (Chrysalis Books, 2003) as one of twenty-five winners oftheir national competition. 'The Babysitter' a section from his first novel After the Factory, wasincluded in Parthian's 'Urban Welsh' anthology to a great review from Robert Nisbet in Planet(issue 125). 'The Rabbit' won an honourable mention in the 2004 Lorian HemingwayInternational Short Story Competition and was later worked into The Long Dry. Cynancurrently lives and works near Aberaeron, Wales.Published work- 'The Piano Player's Hands' Richard & Judy's Winning Stories, Chrysalis 2004- 'The Babysitter' Urban Welsh Anthology, Parthian 2004
