In The Blue Armchair, his third collection, John Froy seeks to rediscover his mother after her death in poems widely and wildly various. But which mother? The inspiring painter he hardly saw, a reckless mother he saw too much of? Or an ill, unhappy woman? These complications provide the background, but others too often take centre stage. We meet father, siblings, step-parents, a grandmother and a tragic grandfather, lovers and friends.

In poems written over twenty years that don't flinch from pain, loss, and mental health issues, we also find much family love, art, colour, scented flowers, food and wine. We travel across the world, encounter the earth mother, Gaia, get up to hear the dawn chorus. An artist stepfather shines through, as we end with the joys in being a grandfather.