Long Going

"A moving and thought-provoking account of an impossible situation." Louis de Bernières, author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin
At 50, Sophie Calon's father was a high-flying lawyer. At 55, he was found dead in Cardiff city centre at Christmas. Meanwhile he had pinballed between tents, homeless shelters, and prison cells. His story is a lesson in how alcoholism can consume a person - and a family.
Long Going is a powerful, unflinching memoir that sings with Calon's love for her eccentric, witty father while recounting his drink-fuelled disintegration. In telling his story, Calon explores her family's instability and pain as well as her own survival.
"This portrait pulls no punches... profoundly life-affirming. Everyone who has an alcoholic in the family should read this book for its compassionate awareness of the damage and chaos caused by addiction, while never forgetting the humanity of the person caught in that trap. A wonderful book." Gwyneth Lewis, author of Nightshade Mother
"Hugely impacting and searingly honest, Sophie Calon's work is a powerful piece of memoir: bold, bruising and yet beautiful." James Canton, author of Grounded
"Sophie Calon's writing is deeply real and moving - she is a talent to watch." Jessica Andrews, author of Milk Teeth
"Searing and poetic, Sophie Calon's prose sparkles in this elegiac, gripping memoir. Draws you in and takes you on a journey. Calon is an immensely readable writer to watch." Maeve McClenaghan, author of No Fixed Abode

Sophie Calon is a new young Welsh writer, born and raised in Cardiff during the Cool Cymru era. Her writing was published in the anthology Tales of Two Londons, and has been shortlisted for the 2021 Wild Writing Prize and published by Short Fiction. She lives with her husband, daughter, and their two cats on a hilltop near Hay-on-Wye, where they are bringing nature back to their farm. Long Going is her first book.