News from Nowhere

It is 1914 in Bangor, North Wales. Bronwyn is sixteen and her three brothers, Huw, Glyn and Aubrey, and Tada, her Methodist Minister father, will leave for the Western Front. Bangor, a quiet backwater, sees the arrival of destitute Belgians, men coming home wounded, and women in leading roles. Bronwyn takes on responsibility at the Methodist Book Room as well as helping Mam send endless parcels to the front. The war is brought home in her brothers’ letters, by turn light-hearted and searingly honest. As the family copes with uncertainty and loss, Bronwyn finds first love and becomes involved in political activism, going on to volunteer at a London Military hospital run by suffragists and travelling to France. Bronwyn knows that one day she will write about the aftermath of war, but when the war ends its toll on her family continues and Bronwyn faces new losses and challenges before she can move on with her life. Poignant, authentic and gripping, this is a debut novel from an author to watch for. “News From Nowhere does vividly what historical novels can do better than history books – offering the reader an imagined window onto one particular field in the vast landscape of the past. This is a moving depiction of the Roberts family – their love of each other and of their piece of North Wales and its landscape, their fierce and particular Methodism – and of the terrible impact of World War I and their battle with War itself. I enjoyed Bronwyn’s independent spirit and developing sense of self, fostered by her family, and her feminism.” Fiona Shaw -- Cyhoeddwr: Cinnamon Press