Book of Hours

Winner of the The Barbellion Prize 2022 Over the course of the pandemic, a complication with her chronic illness left Letty McHugh alone in a darkened room for three weeks. She drew comfort from an imagined Book of Hours. Half Almanac, half prayer book, medieval Books of Hours offered guidance for every situation and every day of the year. As Letty recovered she started to wonder, where was the spiritual guidebook for people like her; lost, sick, artists who watch too much reality TV? She couldn't find one, so she made her own. Borrowing wisdom from Anglo Saxon hermits, contemporary artists and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Book of Hours explores what it means to have faith, why we chase suffering and how to take solace in small joys. - "Funny, moving and profound - this is a vital contribution to writing on illness that everyone should read" - Polly Atkin author of Some of Us Just Fall " Letty McHugh writes with intellectual rigour, with curiosity, and hope. She writes of our struggles and joys while interrogating the intersections between disability, suffering, and faith. Book of Hours is a small gem of a book with huge power." - Lynn Buckle Barbellion Prize Judge and author of What Willow Says "Absurdly ambitious - but also disarmingly self-deprecating, plain-spoken in matters of pain and death, as pretty as a pebble beach, and a unique response to the collision of global pandemic and chronic illness. It was a delightful surprise for us, and in the end we hope to extend the surprise." - Ray Davis Barbellion Prize Judge