Margins
The Long Dry book cover
The Long Dry
2006
First Published
4.01
Average Rating
136
Number of Pages
Waking up early to check the cattle. Gareth notices that 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. The day unfolds, and the cow's behavior 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.
Avg Rating
4.01
Number of Ratings
1,548
5 STARS
31%
4 STARS
44%
3 STARS
20%
2 STARS
4%
1 STARS
1%
goodreads

Author

Cynan Jones
Cynan Jones
Author · 8 books

Cynan Jones was born in 1975 near Aberaeron, Wales where he now lives and works. He is the author of five short novels, The Long Dry, Everything I Found on the Beach, Bird, Blood, Snow, The Dig, and Cove. He has been longlisted and shortlisted for numerous international prizes and won a Society of Authors Betty Trask Award (2007), a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize (2014), the Wales Book of the Year Fiction Prize (2015) and the BBC National Short Story Award (2017). His work has been published in more than twenty countries, and short stories have appeared on BBC Radio 4 and in a number of anthologies and publications including Granta Magazine and The New Yorker. He also wrote the screenplay for an episode of the BAFTA-winning crime drama Hinterland, and Three Tales, a collection of stories for children. The Independent on Sunday declared "There is no doubt that Jones is one of the most talented writers in Britain” and he is frequently acknowledged as one of the most exciting voices of his generation. His most recent work, Stillicide, is a collection of twelve stories commissioned by BBC Radio 4 that aired over the summer 2019. He is also responsible for 'The Fart'.

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