A tramp shares Graham’s lentil soup in dirty pyjamas, in full view of the neighbourhood. Noi is an escapee Thai bride who goes from her uncle’s noodle shop via the toilets on Pattaya Soi 7 to a Malmesbury suburb before she learns how “different” Britain can be. A cynophobic lawyer’s brief encounter with an Alsatian that loathes him loses him a case and his wife.

Always the Love of Someone includes fifteen stories on relationships: the nuances of class; exile; sexual exploitation; the civilising influence of women (which can extend into interference) and the accommodations made necessary by old age. Voices range across gender, age and ethnicity. The tone of Always the Love of Someone is upbeat: as optimistic in spirit as Mike Leigh’s Happy Go Lucky.

"Crisp, clear and illuminating."
Emyr Humphreys

Huw Lawrence’s short fiction has won nominations for the Tom Gallon Prize, the Bridport Competition, the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition and the Cinnamon Award. He was born in Llanelli and trained as a teacher in Swansea, later continuing his education at Manchester and Cornell. He spent some years doing a variety of labouring jobs in the Ffestiniog area, north Wales, and now lives in Aberystwyth.