A Room Above a Shop

It was a joy to read, such a tender story, the finespun prose and meticulous description -- Sara Baume
An atmospheric portrayal of gay, working-class life in a South Wales Valley, to read A Room Above a Shop is to feel held within the hands of a master craftsman in control of his form. I dare anyone to read this and not feel the ache of M and B's story, their solitude and their desire -- Joshua Jones, author of Local Fires
There's a moving uncertainty, a vulnerability on the page that allows the reader to hear, and to listen. There's a quiet, brave strength in that -- Cynan Jones, author of Cove
An achingly intimate story, rich and ragged with emotion, told with loving intricacy and delicate precision... it winded me -- Megan Barker, author of Kit
Like looking into a kaleidoscope, every tiny twist in Anthony Shapland's novel results in a cascade of new colour and light. A story to savour, from a writer in total command of his powers -- Mike Parker, author of On The Red Hill
One of the most beautiful and original gay novels I have a read in a long time. Spare, sad and intensely poetic, like a Swimming In The Dark for grown-ups -- Neil Blackmore, author of Radical Love
An extraordinary evocation of love, and of life in South Wales in the years following the miner's strike. Anthony Shapland is a master at rendering sensation in a language that is unique, precise, and ultra-perceptive. A devastating, erotic and beautiful novel -- Francesca Reece, author of Glass Houses
A tender portrait of a love story not often heard. Shapland's writing is intensely poetic, chapters unfurl like precious flowers. Joyful and painful all at once, A Room Above a Shop gifts us a Welsh story steeped in that universal yearning for connection -- Hanan Issa, National Poet of Wales
A taut, poetic and profoundly moving tale of love. Written with restraint and care, A Room Above A Shop marks the arrival of a distinctive and compelling literary voice -- Noel O’Regan, author of Though the Bodies Fall
An essential new voice in Welsh literature. A tender and crucial love story that gives voice to the enforced silences of the past we should always remember -- Tiffany Murray, author of My Family and Other Rock Stars