{"product_id":"the-wash-of-hours-jason-conway-9781913195328","title":"The wash of hours","description":"\u003cp\u003eJason Conway's debut collection \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e'the wash of hours'\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e charts the difficult territory of caring for elderly parents 'drowning by age'. His father's decline impacts the entire family. His mother becomes needy and faces a possible cancer diagnosis and his brother falls into depression. Facing all this the narrator is portrayed like a child overwhelmed by the power and terror of the sea. 'What light can come?' he asks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe feel the pain of a son trying to shore up a disintegrating family and his awareness of the limitations of his sensitivity. 'I wish I were deaf or an unturned stone, surrounded by trees and leaves.' Swimming and drowning are strong themes here but there is also a delicate observation of the natural world; rain in coastal Spain is remembered as 'Demerara dusted caramel sponge spread with apple \u0026amp; blueberry jam with a sea of frosted crests.' \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConway experiments with form and approach. Some of the poems read like prose or disjointed memories. He displays a quiet deadpan humour which lifts this dark story out of melodrama. Titles like 'What my father said while delirious from a urine infection' and the ridiculousness of medical speak in 'What the Doctor Said' give the whole collection a breathing space in mood.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe final poem, the title one, ends in a moment of reflection that all this pain will gradually shift like a stifling hot summer does 'in a season of shedding'. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e- Dr Lucy English - Professor of Creative Enterprise and The Spoken Word. Co-director of Lyra, Bristol Poetry Festival\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jason Conway\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1913195325\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781913195328\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Black Eyes Publishing UK\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/22\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 82\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.28lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.17d","brand":"Jason Conway","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48519624163583,"sku":"9781913195328","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_48bd683d-60d4-443a-aed9-108d925da8f0.jpg?v=1778737871","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-wash-of-hours-jason-conway-9781913195328","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}