The Unbroken Beauty of Rosalind Bone

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Meanwhile, the Clements brothers are causing trouble fuelled by their desperate bid to escape poverty. Whilst old Dai Bevel, continuing to baffle locals through his strangeness, dreams of a girl he used to know. Tensions begin to rise as these characters come together and finally unearth the secrets from the past. So a small treasure I’ve read this week is ‘The Unbroken Beauty of Rosalind Bone’, which I’ve heard compared with ‘Small Things Like These’ and, I think, rightly so. It’s a beautifully written story of ordinary people, a small Welsh village, expectations, assumptions, lives lived quietly amidst gossip, rumour, and eyes averted. It is the story of the Bone sisters, mainly Rosalind whose beauty is unrivaled and a curse, and who goes through the unthinkable. Life is not kind to any of the characters in this novel, but Rosalind especially. It is also the story of a little hamlet where people go about their lives (often willingly) oblivious to what is happening around them and with a tendency to look the other way and judge/label people without knowing them. Pain, both physical and emotional, weaves through the lives of the villagers in Cwmcysgod. As the sins of the past approach, they are forced to confront their actions and face the consequences.

After famed local beauty Rosalind Bone, 16, disappears overnight, it’s rumoured that she’s been lured away from the Welsh valleys by London’s glamour. Her plain sister, Mary, never leaves Cwmcysgod, and decades later, a hidden photo of Rosalind fascinates Mary’s teenage daughter. Over the course of a summer, arson and a murder will reveal the truth, exploding local certainties. Bold storytelling, lyrical observations and a cast that includes an octogenarian drug dealer propel an atmospheric novella full of questions about female strength. God Is an Octopus: Loss, Love and a Calling to Nature Small Things Like These meets Under Milk Wood - this slim but devastating novel captures an entire village, an entire world, and the many ways in which a woman can be trapped. A real gem.' RUTH GILLIGAN, author of The Butchers Surrounded by mountainside, woods, ferns, green light and quiet beauty, Cwmcysgod is like so many rural villages, the world in microcosm; unspoken tensions, misunderstandings, beauty ignored, neglect and pain. The sins of the past are approaching, for it takes a village: to raise a child, to bring down a woman, to hide something monstrous and to look the other way.Where it differs from Keegan is in the following of multiple characters, discovering their truths, Dai Bevel, Daniel Clements and Mrs Williams-Corner-Shop, but predominately this tale belongs to Rosalind - who left many years ago - her sister Mary - whose world has narrowed, constrained by the walls of her home - and 16 year old Catrin Bone - who is beginning to question the version of events she’s been told. Their stories are those of endurance, of secrets, lives repressed and made small by the judgements of others. In the days and weeks following his murder, George Floyd swiftly became a symbol of much that is wrong in the US and abroad. But what of the man himself? In this year’s nonfiction Pulitzer prize winner, two acclaimed reporters bring painstaking rigour and intimacy to bear on their quest to know him, speaking to his family, friends and teachers, and detailing the historical and political events that shaped his experience, from slavery to mass incarceration. In illuminating Floyd’s life, this landmark biography underscores the meaning of his death. Small Things Like These meets Under Milk Wood - this slim but devastating novel captures an entire village, an entire world, and the many ways in which a woman can be trapped. A real gem.'RUTH GILLIGAN, author of The Butchers

Rosalind Bone was a true beauty, desired by every man who saw her, but her beauty was a curse. She went missing years earlier leaving behind her sister, Mary, who went on to have a daughter, Catrin, who is entranced by the one photo that exists of Rosalind. The family mystery about what happened to her aunt is so intriguing for her. The story is based in a small Welsh village and centres around a number of characters. Absolutely none of them appealed to me or drew me in. I am even struggling to write this as still rather baffled about the entire point. The blurb makes it sound intriguing so I was very disappointed. I found the writing very atmospheric and moody, and was drawn in to the dreariness. It was an engaging read for a such a short book. Despite finding parts a little predictable, I did enjoy how it all came together. The writing was SO beautiful, so descriptive, I could picture everything and everyone so vividly, down to the lines on their faces. To be frank, the ending was a tiny bit rushed. I wish [SPOILER ALERT!] we could have witnessed the mending of years of incomprehension and of being apart and the rebuilding of the relationship between the two sisters.[/SPOILER ALERT]Meanwhile the Clements brothers, skint and all out of hope, run rampant across the hills and lanes. And old Dai Bevel, whose frailty masks a dark history, dreams of a girl he used to know... The Clements brothers are trash, or so everyone thinks of them anyway. Deciding they will amount to nothing either way. The youngest use to be Catrin's best friend - and she misses him. Now they are both alone. An old man with dementia walks the town, buying the same items at the grocery store for years, no one questions a man in his condition.

The Unbroken Beauty of Rosalind Bone" is a beautifully crafted novel that captures the heart and imagination. With its themes of love, pain, and secrets, this book offers a powerful exploration of human emotions and the resilience of the human spirit. This story is about jealousy, pain, grief, love and everything else woman have had to endure throughout the ages.This said, the short novel is well written, descriptive without being overly so, intense, painful, uncomfortable. It is neither light nor gentle, for it portrays the dark side of life that can be masqueraded by everyday’s life. During the story you kind of get snippets of different characters and different POV's but not before long they all start coming together in the most moving way. Set in this atmospheric town, Catrin Bone is 16 and lives with her reclusive / Agoraphobic mother, Mary. Knowing only what she has been told her entire life, Catrin starts to wonder what is truth and what is fiction. Sixteen-year-old Catrin Bone knows only what she has been told. Now, she is beginning to question her small world, and a version of the past that seems to entrap and embitter her reclusive mother, Mary.

This short novella had me hooked from the start and I enjoyed the multiple point of views from a diversity of characters. The short chapters coupled with fast pace had me finishing this in one sitting. This Novella was quite strange. It’s extremely slow and in my opinion too wordy. You know like really long flowery paragraphs that could of got the message over much simpler and less complicated? I hate having to stop reading to think “what was that I have just read” and deciphering it. Beautiful, incredibly painterly and full of breathtaking details. A devastating portrait of a particular place, which draws you in with its brutality and beauty' CARYL LEWIS, author of DRIFT There are some really fascinating characters in this book, ones who shape the story and bring the village to life. There's the local shopkeeper, Mrs Williams, who sees everything that happens, Dai Bevel, a village stalwart with lots to hide, and Mary herself, who never leaves the house and who dwells on the past. Her aunt, Rosalind Bone has always been a HUSHED subject no one talks about, not even her mother - who keeps the only photo she has of her sister buried at the bottom of a cluttered kitchen drawer. She doesn't know Catrin knows it's there, but she does. The only thing Catrin knows is that Rosalind's beauty was unmatched and unparalleled - no one knows what became of Rosalind, not even Mary, they just all assumed she left for bigger and better things.

Sixteen-year-old Catrin Bone questions the truths she's been told and unravels the mysteries surrounding her reclusive mother, Mary. The disappearance of Mary's sister, Rosalind, years ago looms over the village, shrouded in shame and unanswered questions. The Unbroken Beauty of Rosalind Bone tells the story of a small village and the secrets of the people who live within it. Cwmcysgod is located in the Welsh valleys and the story is set in 2001. It begins with the tearaway Clements brothers setting fires that lead to consequences not just for them but for all those surrounding them.