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A Terrible Kindness
When we go through something impossible, someone, or something, will help us, if we let them . . .
It is October 1966 and William Lavery is having the night of his life at his first black-tie do. But, as the evening unfolds, news hits of a landslide at a coal mine. It has buried a school: Aberfan.
William decides he must act, so he stands and volunteers to attend. It will be his first job as an embalmer, and it will be one he never forgets.
His work that night will force him to think about the little boy he was, and the losses he has worked so hard to forget. But compassion can have surprising consequences, because - as William discovers - giving so much to others can sometimes help us heal ourselves.
It is October 1966 and William Lavery is having the night of his life at his first black-tie do. But, as the evening unfolds, news hits of a landslide at a coal mine. It has buried a school: Aberfan.
William decides he must act, so he stands and volunteers to attend. It will be his first job as an embalmer, and it will be one he never forgets.
His work that night will force him to think about the little boy he was, and the losses he has worked so hard to forget. But compassion can have surprising consequences, because - as William discovers - giving so much to others can sometimes help us heal ourselves.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 20, 2022
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March 15, 2023
I mostly feel annoyed and manipulated by this book.
To be fair, I probably should have known not to venture near A Terrible Kindness given its mawkish appearance, but I was very intrigued by the mention of Aberfan.
Though neither I nor my parents were around for it, the Aberfan disaster has gone down in British history as an horrific tragedy quite unlike any other. For those who don't know, in 1966 a huge coal mine spoil tip collapsed down a hillside and engulfed a primary school where 109 children and 5 teachers were killed. Rescuers had to pull out the destroyed blackened bodies of children, many of whom had to be identified by scraps of clothing or a hairband.
It was horrific. And the blurb of A Terrible Kindness leans heavily on Aberfan, making you think this is historical fiction about the disaster. The truth is, however, that the book has very little to do with Aberfan and, instead, uses it as a dramatic backdrop for William to rethink his life and reminisce about his adolescence.
After the powerful beginning, we spend the rest of the book moving between William's past at boarding school and the present where something has happened to make him estranged from his mum. I did not find William's boarding school/choir boy adventures particularly interesting, so I was reading on only for the something that is teased throughout.
It all culminates in what I found to be a very anticlimactic-- and predictable, for that matter --scene.
The more I think about it, the more I struggle to see any reason why Aberfan needed to be part of this story. The fact that it is used and discarded as needed in order to attract readers to a rather dull story about a boy's dispute with his mother just feels wrong.
To be fair, I probably should have known not to venture near A Terrible Kindness given its mawkish appearance, but I was very intrigued by the mention of Aberfan.
Though neither I nor my parents were around for it, the Aberfan disaster has gone down in British history as an horrific tragedy quite unlike any other. For those who don't know, in 1966 a huge coal mine spoil tip collapsed down a hillside and engulfed a primary school where 109 children and 5 teachers were killed. Rescuers had to pull out the destroyed blackened bodies of children, many of whom had to be identified by scraps of clothing or a hairband.
It was horrific. And the blurb of A Terrible Kindness leans heavily on Aberfan, making you think this is historical fiction about the disaster. The truth is, however, that the book has very little to do with Aberfan and, instead, uses it as a dramatic backdrop for William to rethink his life and reminisce about his adolescence.
After the powerful beginning, we spend the rest of the book moving between William's past at boarding school and the present where something has happened to make him estranged from his mum. I did not find William's boarding school/choir boy adventures particularly interesting, so I was reading on only for the something that is teased throughout.
It all culminates in what I found to be a very anticlimactic-- and predictable, for that matter --scene.
The more I think about it, the more I struggle to see any reason why Aberfan needed to be part of this story. The fact that it is used and discarded as needed in order to attract readers to a rather dull story about a boy's dispute with his mother just feels wrong.
May 31, 2023
It's October 1966, still wet behind the ears embalmer William Lavery, and his date Gloria, are at his first real adult event, a black tie dinner of embalmers when they get the call; it's the night of the Aberfan Disaster where the village, primarily the junior school is engulfed by a man-made fatal mud and slurry slide. Despite his lack of experience William feels he must to help, hoping that he can aid, what turns out to be over 100 children and over 25 adults, have some dignity in death.
Volunteering at such a horrendous disaster changes William and Gloria's lives, but in a bad, or good way? The book shares the highs and the many lows of mostly William's and some of Gloria's pasts. The Disaster leads to retrospection and re-analysis of past choices and climatic events. Trigger warning for the details of an embalmer's work at the Disaster site. This is a pretty sober read with a like affirming message at its heart. although I felt too many, if not all, of the supporting cast were one-dimensional cut-outs created to fill the plot. A well written read though it must be said. A 5 out of 12, Two Star somewhat historical read that deals with the Aberfan Disaster, the impact of life changing moments, 1960s attitudes to homosexuality, pregnancy out of marriage, loving from afar and of course the life and times of an embalmer.
2023 read
Volunteering at such a horrendous disaster changes William and Gloria's lives, but in a bad, or good way? The book shares the highs and the many lows of mostly William's and some of Gloria's pasts. The Disaster leads to retrospection and re-analysis of past choices and climatic events. Trigger warning for the details of an embalmer's work at the Disaster site. This is a pretty sober read with a like affirming message at its heart. although I felt too many, if not all, of the supporting cast were one-dimensional cut-outs created to fill the plot. A well written read though it must be said. A 5 out of 12, Two Star somewhat historical read that deals with the Aberfan Disaster, the impact of life changing moments, 1960s attitudes to homosexuality, pregnancy out of marriage, loving from afar and of course the life and times of an embalmer.
2023 read
January 11, 2022
On 21 October 1966, the primary school at Aberfan in Wales was engulfed in slag from the slippage of a coal mining dump on the hill behind the town. In total 116 children and 28 adults were killed that day in the school and nearby houses. Nineteen year old William Lavery, a recently graduated embalmer, now a member of his family firm of funeral directors, an annual dinner dance, when the call went out for embalmers to volunteer to help with preparing bodies for burial. William rushed to Wales with a car load of embalming supplies and chid sized coffins to find not just dead bodies of little children, but bodies covered in slag that had to be cleaned first so parents could identify them. As time went on, the bodies became more mangled, making them a horrific sight not only for the parents but also the undertakers.
William would suffer from the trauma of that day for years afterwards, with nightmares and visions of mangled children, which would affect his relationships with women and young children. What made it even harder for William, was that he was already bearing scars from his childhood before he went to Aberfan. His father died when he was eight and after being encouraged by his mother to develop his musical talents rather than go into the family business, he was accepted into a chorister school in Cambridge two years later. However, his musical career came to an abrupt and traumatic end, causing William to sever ties with his best friend Martin as well as with his mother, Evelyn and to later train as an embalmer and join Robert and Howard in the family business he has come to love.
This is a well written debut novel telling a heartfelt story on one man's coming of age after some difficult times. It wasn't so much about the Aberfan disaster as about the effects of PTSD on those who are involved in recovering bodies after such disasters. I felt the novel would have benefitted by dealing with the Aberfan disaster more sensitively by integrating it into the rest of the novel, rather than putting it aside until the end of the novel, when the aftermath and subsequent inquiry had such a big impact on the UK at the time.
I enjoyed the role of music in the book, as redemption for both William and Martin. As well as William’s gentle, caring nature, I also loved Martin’s cheeky character and the man he became. The novel really made me feel William’s pain both at losing his musical future and the PTSD he suffered after Aberfan. I admired the author’s gentle touch in dealing with William’s issues but did feel he was somewhat immature and stubborn in his relationships with his mother and his wife Gloria, while everyone around him seemed to be so tolerant and forgiving of his behaviour for so long. This is a very original book which has managed to bring together the diverse topics of the Aberfan disaster, the life of a boy chorister and embalming as a career choice and meld them into a delightful novel.
With thanks to Faber & Faber and Netgalley for a copy to read
........................................................................................................
If you'd like to know more about the Aberfan disaster of 1966, Wikipedia has a good article complete with photos of the village after the landslide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberfan...
William would suffer from the trauma of that day for years afterwards, with nightmares and visions of mangled children, which would affect his relationships with women and young children. What made it even harder for William, was that he was already bearing scars from his childhood before he went to Aberfan. His father died when he was eight and after being encouraged by his mother to develop his musical talents rather than go into the family business, he was accepted into a chorister school in Cambridge two years later. However, his musical career came to an abrupt and traumatic end, causing William to sever ties with his best friend Martin as well as with his mother, Evelyn and to later train as an embalmer and join Robert and Howard in the family business he has come to love.
This is a well written debut novel telling a heartfelt story on one man's coming of age after some difficult times. It wasn't so much about the Aberfan disaster as about the effects of PTSD on those who are involved in recovering bodies after such disasters. I felt the novel would have benefitted by dealing with the Aberfan disaster more sensitively by integrating it into the rest of the novel, rather than putting it aside until the end of the novel, when the aftermath and subsequent inquiry had such a big impact on the UK at the time.
I enjoyed the role of music in the book, as redemption for both William and Martin. As well as William’s gentle, caring nature, I also loved Martin’s cheeky character and the man he became. The novel really made me feel William’s pain both at losing his musical future and the PTSD he suffered after Aberfan. I admired the author’s gentle touch in dealing with William’s issues but did feel he was somewhat immature and stubborn in his relationships with his mother and his wife Gloria, while everyone around him seemed to be so tolerant and forgiving of his behaviour for so long. This is a very original book which has managed to bring together the diverse topics of the Aberfan disaster, the life of a boy chorister and embalming as a career choice and meld them into a delightful novel.
With thanks to Faber & Faber and Netgalley for a copy to read
........................................................................................................
If you'd like to know more about the Aberfan disaster of 1966, Wikipedia has a good article complete with photos of the village after the landslide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberfan...
February 10, 2022
Time to clamp his defences back down before the flotsam and jetsam of his own life is washed up by the tidal wave of Aberfan’s grief; his father’s death, the abrupt end to his chorister days, the rift with his mother, with Martin. And now, Gloria. The cold hardens around him and the weight of the white sky seems to push down on the hillside. He can tell by the rise and fall of their voices that the villagers are singing ‘Jesu, Lover of My Soul’
William makes himself look at his old friend. ‘I’m a head case. Lots of things do funny things to me, including choral music and in particular, you won’t be surprised to hear, the “Miserere”. I’m estranged from my mother, I haven’t spoken to you, my best friend, since I left here, and I won’t have children. Some days I’m fine, others not. I get palpitations, tunnel vision and flashbacks; awake or asleep, they get me any which way.’
This book featured in the 2022 version of the influential annual Observer Best Debut Novelist feature (past years have included Natasha Brown, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Douglas Stuart, Sally Rooney and Gail Honeyman among many others) and was also picked out by the New Statesman (and others) as one of the most anticipated debuts of 2022.
I would not be surprised to see it in a number of prize lists this year – particularly perhaps the Costa, as it is a memorable, emotionally impactful as well as ultimately uplifting read.
I’m damned if I’m going to look for songs that aren’t about love and life and loss and pain and joy. This is being human.
The author gave an excellent introduction to and summary of the book in an interview with Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge where she is creative writing supervisor (having previously done an MA at the UEA in 2000 – in WG Sebald’s last year).
A Terrible Kindness was inspired by conversations I had with two embalmers, by then in their 70’s, who as young men had gone in 1966 as volunteers to the Aberfan disaster, when a mining waste tip, loosened by rain had careered down the Welsh mountainside and onto a small village primary school.
The story is about William Lavery, a young, newly qualified embalmer who answers the call to help. The book begins and ends in Aberfan, but in between are 17 years of William’s life, as a boy chorister in Cambridge, in London training to be an embalmer, and after Aberfan, with post-traumatic stress disorder, and his marriage in trouble, William returns to Cambridge and helps with a choir for the homeless, reconnecting with his musical roots and ultimately a return to Aberfan, to try and mend the fractured relationships in his life.
The author’s interest in undertakers first came from her childhood where she lives in a crematorium (her father was a supervisor) and learnt to admire their respectful professionalism.
I think anyone above a certain ages in the UK will be familiar with Aberfan, as it was a disaster that was and still remains seared on the national conscience due to both the huge loss of life – including 116 young children and 28 adults – and the aftermath – in particular the refusal of the National Coal Board to accept their clear corporate culpability.
For those familiar or unfamiliar – this documentary I found extremely moving, very well made and also very pertinent to the novel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR4Vr...
And this article by the author some six years ago gives an excellent introduction to the author’s research and her views that the embalmers were unsung heroes of the aftermath
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics...
I would also recommend this recording of Allegri’s Miserere which is crucial to the plot of the book as well as its themes – listen in particular to the tenor solo at for example 1:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piPiV...
Miserere mei, Deus: secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.
Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum, dele iniquitatem meam.
Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea: et a peccato meo munda me.
Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognosco: et peccatum meum contra me est semper.
Tibi soli peccavi, et malum coram te feci: ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis, et vincas cum judicaris.
The book is also I think about characters (in particular William and his mother) that try to simplify difficult and complex issues into their life into a single point of focus and resentment, and adopt a policy of avoidance as well as blame rather than forgiveness (of themselves and others).
For William’s mother – after the early death of her beloved embalmer husband – she focuses her mourning on hostility to her husband’s identical twin brother Robert and his partner (in both business and life) Howard, openly resenting the way in which Robert reminds her of her husband, how Robert and Howard seem to her to flaunt their togetherness in contrast to her own solitude and most of all the close relationship with William which excludes her (and seems to have taken over from a similarly close bond between them and her husband) and which she fears might suck William into the family business (something which becomes a greater issue for her after his nascent musical abilities are uncovered).
For William his resentment is focused on his mother due to a traumatic event which occurred in the College Chapel culmination of his Cantabrigian choral career – a solo performance of Miserere. What exactly happens is only revealed towards the book’s end, but it leads to William breaking all ties with his mother to the despair even of those more directly impacted by the incident (William’s Uncle Robert and William's closest Cambridge friend Martin). As an aside I initially felt this was an authorial misstep to withold the information about what happened in the incident from the reader when it is known to all of the book’s characters even those not there like William’s later wife Gloria (the daughter of another undertaking/embalming dynasty) – but I think this is so that we can first of all understand its consequences and judge for ourselves if it fits the incident (which while not doubt hugely mortifying should not have lead to a lifetime of damage). William also has a horror of having children – which he ascribes to his experiences at Aberfan which leads to an eventual breach with Gloria – at around the point he rediscovers the friendship of Martin.
In the final third of the book a series of set piece scenes and important conversations cause William to come to terms with the hurt in his life, his anger and guilt and to start to forgive himself and others and seek to repair and heal his various broken relationships. Some of the scenes either slightly strain credibility or seem to involve perhaps rather too much coincidence but there is no doubt that they are powerful in their impact and in their message: there is a particularly clever scene I felt when Robert uses the recording of Miserere to convey his understanding of the hurt he has caused to his mother as well as I think starting to understand the need to forgive; and later a very powerful one in Aberfan when he realises that he does not have to stay trapped in his memories.
What if he’d chosen differently? What if all that had happened could have made him a bigger person? If each disaster had been a crossroads at which he could have taken a better path? It’s too painful to dwell on.
What a terrible mess we can make of our lives. There should be angel police to stop us at these dangerous moments, but there don’t seem to be. So all we’re left with, my precious son, is whether we can forgive, be forgiven and keep trying our best.
Finally note that the book has something rather coincidentally in common with another of the Observer Top 10 Debut Novelists feature – “Trespasses” by Louise Kennedy also features a main character with the surname Lavery (who also lost their father, has a very difficult relationship with their mother and who ends up working in the family business). And to add another coincidence I spent four years at Cambridge – as a mathematician not a chorister (!) – and spent the fourth year living in the old superintendent’s lodge in a cemetery.
My thanks to Faber and Faber for an ARC via NetGalley
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January 20, 2022No rating.
I've found this a very difficult book to review because there were bits I did enjoy and bits I disliked. Ultimately, after finishing it on netgalley I decided to return my pre-ordered special edition because it just doesn't sit well with me that someone can make profit from a disaster such as Aberfan unless they have a very good reason.
I need to mention that although the author has done lots of research and spoken to people who were there and visited Aberfan, she has no personal connection to Aberfan, or Wales. She was 3 when the Aberfan disaster happened.
This is what I struggled with the most. The small parts of the book written about the Aberfan disaster in 1966 were very emotional to read. They were handled sensitively and respectfully and I am aware of what research the author has done. I like that a light has been shone on the work of the volunteer embalmers, something I would never have known about if it wasn't for this book.
But I do not feel the Aberfan disaster was essential to telling this story, which was about a young embalmer William. After the first 10% where William volunteers to help at Aberfan as a newly qualified embalmer, it isn't really mentioned again until towards the end of the book. There is a PTSD link somewhere towards the end but I don't think this was really explored enough.
With much of the story focused on William's time as a chorister at Cambridge, his relationship with his mother, Martin and Gloria, I don't see why this is marketed as "The Aberfan book" other than to just sell more copies. Which makes me feel uncomfortable.
In general I found William a difficult main character to warm to and some events difficult to wrap my head around. Some parts of the middle of the story I found boring and frustrating.
This is by no means a bad book and I feel I am in the minority here as a lot of people have raved about it, even named it their book of 2022! But this is why I felt I had to speak up. If you want to learn about the Aberfan disaster, Google it. Or read one of the non fiction books written by people who were there or affected by it. If this book is the first time you're hearing about it, don't let your learning end there. This was a real tragedy that has had a lasting impact on Wales. 28 adults died. 116 children died. The people of Aberfan deserve our hearts and respect.
I've found this a very difficult book to review because there were bits I did enjoy and bits I disliked. Ultimately, after finishing it on netgalley I decided to return my pre-ordered special edition because it just doesn't sit well with me that someone can make profit from a disaster such as Aberfan unless they have a very good reason.
I need to mention that although the author has done lots of research and spoken to people who were there and visited Aberfan, she has no personal connection to Aberfan, or Wales. She was 3 when the Aberfan disaster happened.
This is what I struggled with the most. The small parts of the book written about the Aberfan disaster in 1966 were very emotional to read. They were handled sensitively and respectfully and I am aware of what research the author has done. I like that a light has been shone on the work of the volunteer embalmers, something I would never have known about if it wasn't for this book.
But I do not feel the Aberfan disaster was essential to telling this story, which was about a young embalmer William. After the first 10% where William volunteers to help at Aberfan as a newly qualified embalmer, it isn't really mentioned again until towards the end of the book. There is a PTSD link somewhere towards the end but I don't think this was really explored enough.
With much of the story focused on William's time as a chorister at Cambridge, his relationship with his mother, Martin and Gloria, I don't see why this is marketed as "The Aberfan book" other than to just sell more copies. Which makes me feel uncomfortable.
In general I found William a difficult main character to warm to and some events difficult to wrap my head around. Some parts of the middle of the story I found boring and frustrating.
This is by no means a bad book and I feel I am in the minority here as a lot of people have raved about it, even named it their book of 2022! But this is why I felt I had to speak up. If you want to learn about the Aberfan disaster, Google it. Or read one of the non fiction books written by people who were there or affected by it. If this book is the first time you're hearing about it, don't let your learning end there. This was a real tragedy that has had a lasting impact on Wales. 28 adults died. 116 children died. The people of Aberfan deserve our hearts and respect.
December 21, 2021
“What if he’d chosen differently? What if all that had happened could have made him a bigger person? If each disaster had been a crossroads at which he could have taken a better path? It’s too painful to dwell on.”
A Terrible Kindness is the first novel by British author Jo Browning Wroe. In a swanky hotel ballroom in Nottingham, in October 1966, as nineteen-year-old William Lavery celebrates his graduation as the youngest embalmer in the country, an urgent call goes out for volunteers. A horrific mine collapse in the Welsh town of Aberfan has taken an awful toll, with many children amongst the dead. Embalmers are desperately needed.
William does not hesitate. A passionate kiss from the student nurse who has captured his heart sends him off on this mercy mission. But William has no idea what the long-ranging effects of this charitable act will be.
Although he comes from an undertaking family, that he would train as an embalmer was never a given. A gifted singer with a stunning voice, William knew his mother was fiercely determined that he should follow a musical career. Exactly what his father had wanted for him was never stated before his premature death when William was just eight.
“Since his father died two years ago, William has had to tighten up his insides and work hard to cheer his mother up” but at Cambridge, he made a real friend: “he is relieved that it seems all he needs to do to be liked by Martin is to be himself.”
How then, after four years as a lauded Cambridge chorister, did his career path change so radically? How could he be estranged from his beloved mother and not have sung a single note in five years?
Browning Wroe easily evokes both setting and era with gorgeous descriptive prose and popular culture references. Her characters, realistically flawed, are worth investing in as they develop and change over the years: a mother so mired in grief and jealousy she is blinded to freely offered love; a boy too consumed by humiliation and resentment to show loyalty; a young man so traumatised he cannot look ahead in hope.
Supporting these are friends and family whose patience, acceptance, devotion and love may be unremarked upon but is ever-present. Eyes may well up and throats may clog with emotion in later scenes: only the hard of heard will fail to be moved and uplifted by this exceptional debut novel.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Faber & Faber.
A Terrible Kindness is the first novel by British author Jo Browning Wroe. In a swanky hotel ballroom in Nottingham, in October 1966, as nineteen-year-old William Lavery celebrates his graduation as the youngest embalmer in the country, an urgent call goes out for volunteers. A horrific mine collapse in the Welsh town of Aberfan has taken an awful toll, with many children amongst the dead. Embalmers are desperately needed.
William does not hesitate. A passionate kiss from the student nurse who has captured his heart sends him off on this mercy mission. But William has no idea what the long-ranging effects of this charitable act will be.
Although he comes from an undertaking family, that he would train as an embalmer was never a given. A gifted singer with a stunning voice, William knew his mother was fiercely determined that he should follow a musical career. Exactly what his father had wanted for him was never stated before his premature death when William was just eight.
“Since his father died two years ago, William has had to tighten up his insides and work hard to cheer his mother up” but at Cambridge, he made a real friend: “he is relieved that it seems all he needs to do to be liked by Martin is to be himself.”
How then, after four years as a lauded Cambridge chorister, did his career path change so radically? How could he be estranged from his beloved mother and not have sung a single note in five years?
Browning Wroe easily evokes both setting and era with gorgeous descriptive prose and popular culture references. Her characters, realistically flawed, are worth investing in as they develop and change over the years: a mother so mired in grief and jealousy she is blinded to freely offered love; a boy too consumed by humiliation and resentment to show loyalty; a young man so traumatised he cannot look ahead in hope.
Supporting these are friends and family whose patience, acceptance, devotion and love may be unremarked upon but is ever-present. Eyes may well up and throats may clog with emotion in later scenes: only the hard of heard will fail to be moved and uplifted by this exceptional debut novel.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Faber & Faber.
April 10, 2024
«Бо у цьому житті не можна розкидатися тими, хто тебе любить»
Я очікувала більшого. Про травматичний досвід головного героя, але наче під лінієчку, дуже вихолощено. Були цікаві побіжні сюжетні лінії, цікаві другорядні герої, але вони не «витягнули» історію. Хотілося більшої глибини. Хотілося більше вірити написаному.
Я очікувала більшого. Про травматичний досвід головного героя, але наче під лінієчку, дуже вихолощено. Були цікаві побіжні сюжетні лінії, цікаві другорядні герої, але вони не «витягнули» історію. Хотілося більшої глибини. Хотілося більше вірити написаному.
November 26, 2021
I thought A Terrible Kindness was excellent: it is readable, insightful, thoughtful and humane.
The story of William Lavery opens at a flashy dinner in 1966 where he is celebrating his qualification, aged 18, to be an embalmer and to work with the newly dead before their funerals. The occasion is interrupted by an appeal from Aberfan for help after the unspeakable disaster which overwhelmed the primary school and many homes and William volunteers. We see his work there, his response to it and its effect on him, and then jump back to his time as a boy chorister in Cambridge as the loving relationships and tensions in his family evolve and where a traumatic event has plainly occurred. It is a book about a decent, kind young man’s inability to deal with his own emotions and about both the difficulty and the possibilities of healing in friendship, love and music.
There are so many ways in which this could have gone wrong, but Jo Browning Wroe gets it pitch-perfect, I think, never once straying into mawkishness, sentimentality, exploitation, facile psychologising or any other of the traps looming around such a story. The opening section at Aberfan brought me to tears more than once with its delicate humanity and compassion, and I was close to tears at other times in the book, too. Wroe’s depiction of William is quite brilliant and utterly believable, and her evocation of his work as an embalmer is engrossing, moving – and fascinating, too. She is also really good at writing about music; the Welsh song Myfanwy and Allegri’s setting of the Miserere both have a very powerful part to play here and she conveys their power as well as any writing about music I have ever read, as well as the joy and transcendence which can come with performing.
I may have made the book sound a difficult read; in fact, it’s anything but. I was completely engrossed and always wanted to read just a bit more. Wroe’s prose (in the present tense) is poised and unobtrusively brilliant, I think, so that everything from the strongest emotions to the feel of Cambridge in the early 70s (and I was there, so I know) is excellently but quietly done.
A Terrible Kindness is among the best books I have read this year and I can recommend it very warmly indeed.
(My thanks to Faber & Faber for an ARC via NetGalley.)
The story of William Lavery opens at a flashy dinner in 1966 where he is celebrating his qualification, aged 18, to be an embalmer and to work with the newly dead before their funerals. The occasion is interrupted by an appeal from Aberfan for help after the unspeakable disaster which overwhelmed the primary school and many homes and William volunteers. We see his work there, his response to it and its effect on him, and then jump back to his time as a boy chorister in Cambridge as the loving relationships and tensions in his family evolve and where a traumatic event has plainly occurred. It is a book about a decent, kind young man’s inability to deal with his own emotions and about both the difficulty and the possibilities of healing in friendship, love and music.
There are so many ways in which this could have gone wrong, but Jo Browning Wroe gets it pitch-perfect, I think, never once straying into mawkishness, sentimentality, exploitation, facile psychologising or any other of the traps looming around such a story. The opening section at Aberfan brought me to tears more than once with its delicate humanity and compassion, and I was close to tears at other times in the book, too. Wroe’s depiction of William is quite brilliant and utterly believable, and her evocation of his work as an embalmer is engrossing, moving – and fascinating, too. She is also really good at writing about music; the Welsh song Myfanwy and Allegri’s setting of the Miserere both have a very powerful part to play here and she conveys their power as well as any writing about music I have ever read, as well as the joy and transcendence which can come with performing.
I may have made the book sound a difficult read; in fact, it’s anything but. I was completely engrossed and always wanted to read just a bit more. Wroe’s prose (in the present tense) is poised and unobtrusively brilliant, I think, so that everything from the strongest emotions to the feel of Cambridge in the early 70s (and I was there, so I know) is excellently but quietly done.
A Terrible Kindness is among the best books I have read this year and I can recommend it very warmly indeed.
(My thanks to Faber & Faber for an ARC via NetGalley.)
March 5, 2022
How marvellous it is when a book broadens your horizons, takes you to places you would never envisage yourself going, and provides you with an enjoyable reading experience all at the same time. A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe did all of that for me. Horizons were broadened when I learnt about the 1966 Aberfan tragedy which resulted in the deaths of 116 children and 28 adults. I'd never considered the life of a boy chorister boarding and training at Cambridge and I certainly never envisaged being taken into the world of an embalmer. Granted this was all via a work of fiction but it propelled me toward an evening of Googling and YouTubing once I'd finished the book. I truly appreciated listening to the magnificent sounds of various Cambridge choir renditions of Miserere and Myfanwy two songs regularly mentioned in the book. However all I've mentioned so far was the icing on the cake. The book itself was well written with interesting characters having to handle difficult situations and I was super impressed to learn this was a debut novel.
William was the main character and as the book opens he has just completed his training as an embalmer. A celebration is in full swing when news of the terrible Aberfan tragedy is delivered and the embalmers are asked to volunteer their services. William leaves for Wales but his days there, tending to the bodies of the children, are traumatic and have lasting repercussions in the years that follow. This experience wasn't the only one to cause lasting repercussions in Williams life. Some episodes from his time as a chorister resulted in major upheaval and to some extent altered the course of his adult life and indirectly led to his becoming an embalmer.
Throughout the story I regularly thought of William as a kind hearted and genuinely good boy who developed into a man with these same traits. He was loyal and he loved intensely, but he was a complex character who made a few poor judgement calls, made some uncharacteristic decisions and said some things he didn't necessarily mean in the heat of the moment. Instead of moving on from these lapses he severely punished himself (with flow on effects for others). His way of dealing with these situations was to sever ties rather than to mend relationships and at times I wanted to shake him. His boyhood best friend, Martin, said it this way
‘For the gentlest, most kindhearted person I know, you are extraordinarily good at making a pig’s ear of things.’.....
whilst his mum summed it up with ‘What a terrible mess we can make of our lives. There should be angel police to stop us at these dangerous moments, but there don’t seem to be. So all we’re left with, my precious son, is whether we can forgive, be forgiven, and keep trying our best.’
This was a story strong on friendship and family - albeit ones with issues which were sometimes left to fester. It touched upon themes of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, guilt and forgiveness, and of course thread throughout it all there was kindness.
My congratulations and thanks to the author for her work, thanks too to the publishers Faber and Faber Ltd andNetgalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review which it was my pleasure to provide.
4.5 stars on Goodreads
William was the main character and as the book opens he has just completed his training as an embalmer. A celebration is in full swing when news of the terrible Aberfan tragedy is delivered and the embalmers are asked to volunteer their services. William leaves for Wales but his days there, tending to the bodies of the children, are traumatic and have lasting repercussions in the years that follow. This experience wasn't the only one to cause lasting repercussions in Williams life. Some episodes from his time as a chorister resulted in major upheaval and to some extent altered the course of his adult life and indirectly led to his becoming an embalmer.
Throughout the story I regularly thought of William as a kind hearted and genuinely good boy who developed into a man with these same traits. He was loyal and he loved intensely, but he was a complex character who made a few poor judgement calls, made some uncharacteristic decisions and said some things he didn't necessarily mean in the heat of the moment. Instead of moving on from these lapses he severely punished himself (with flow on effects for others). His way of dealing with these situations was to sever ties rather than to mend relationships and at times I wanted to shake him. His boyhood best friend, Martin, said it this way
‘For the gentlest, most kindhearted person I know, you are extraordinarily good at making a pig’s ear of things.’.....
whilst his mum summed it up with ‘What a terrible mess we can make of our lives. There should be angel police to stop us at these dangerous moments, but there don’t seem to be. So all we’re left with, my precious son, is whether we can forgive, be forgiven, and keep trying our best.’
This was a story strong on friendship and family - albeit ones with issues which were sometimes left to fester. It touched upon themes of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, guilt and forgiveness, and of course thread throughout it all there was kindness.
My congratulations and thanks to the author for her work, thanks too to the publishers Faber and Faber Ltd andNetgalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review which it was my pleasure to provide.
4.5 stars on Goodreads
November 20, 2021
This wasn’t a bad book by any means. It’s a nicely written, easy enough read. After a great opening though, it lost pace and plodded along.
William is a young, newly qualified embalmer, following in his father and uncle’s footsteps in the undertaking business, when the disaster in Aberfan happens.
For anyone not familiar, an avalanche of coal waste on a rain soaked mountain engulfed a town and primary school in Aberfan, Wales in 1966, killing 144 people, the vast majority of whom were young children. (You might have seen the episode of The Crown that deals with the Queen’s response to Aberfan.)
William immediately responds to the call for embalmers in the aftermath of the disaster but his experience there traumatises him, leaving him psychologically scarred for years. This, combined with a fractious relationship with his mother, impacts greatly on William’s personal life and holds him back in relationships.
The story is told in flashbacks to William’s childhood as a chorister at a boarding school in Cambridge and I think this is where the book fell down for me. There is a part of the story withheld from the reader concerning a solo, and when it is eventually told, the reveal is underwhelming.
When it circled back to Aberfan at the end, it didn’t have the same emotional resonance for me as at the beginning of the story. I guessed I’d have liked more Aberfan, and less of William (who, btw, for anyone who’s read the book, treats Gloria terribly. I’d have given him the heave-go). An okay read overall.
2.5/5 ⭐️
William is a young, newly qualified embalmer, following in his father and uncle’s footsteps in the undertaking business, when the disaster in Aberfan happens.
For anyone not familiar, an avalanche of coal waste on a rain soaked mountain engulfed a town and primary school in Aberfan, Wales in 1966, killing 144 people, the vast majority of whom were young children. (You might have seen the episode of The Crown that deals with the Queen’s response to Aberfan.)
William immediately responds to the call for embalmers in the aftermath of the disaster but his experience there traumatises him, leaving him psychologically scarred for years. This, combined with a fractious relationship with his mother, impacts greatly on William’s personal life and holds him back in relationships.
The story is told in flashbacks to William’s childhood as a chorister at a boarding school in Cambridge and I think this is where the book fell down for me. There is a part of the story withheld from the reader concerning a solo, and when it is eventually told, the reveal is underwhelming.
When it circled back to Aberfan at the end, it didn’t have the same emotional resonance for me as at the beginning of the story. I guessed I’d have liked more Aberfan, and less of William (who, btw, for anyone who’s read the book, treats Gloria terribly. I’d have given him the heave-go). An okay read overall.
2.5/5 ⭐️
June 5, 2024
3.5⭐️
Jauki knyga. Nors anotacija pasakoja, jog laukia klaikus balzamuotojo darbas su vaikų kūnais, tačiau tai tik maža dalelė istorijos. Čia visas gyvenimas, jo metamorfozės, baimės, džiaugsmai, ilgesys ir meilė. Šeima ir jos vidiniai kivirčai, kuriami santykiai ir visos iš to kylančios dvejonės.
Knygos centre - Viljamas. Susipažįstame išvykstant ieškoti nuošliaužoje dingusių vaikų kūnų ir leidžiamės į gilesnę pažintį jam prisiminenant vaikystę ir mylimą moterį. Tiksliau moteris, nes jo mama čia irgi svarbų vaidmenį vaidina. Pats balzamavimas čia tik fonas, visa ko esmė Viljamo gyvenimo iššūkiai, traumos ir joms diriguojant priimami sprendimai. Labai patiko skaityti apie jo metus mokykloje, vaikiškas išdaigas ir kvailiojimus. Ryšį su mama. Autorė viso romano metu leidžia suprasti, kad kažkuriuo metu jis nutrūko ir lėtai, paerzindama ir visko iškart nepasakydama veda link kulminacijos ir atsakymų.
Įdomias temas nagrinėjantis, tačiau lengvas skaitinys, kurio tikrai nereikia bijoti (dėl šiek tiek perspaudžiančios anotacijos). Knyga lengva, šviesi ir gal net kiek dramatiška. Puikiai tinka atostogoms ar norintiems kažko neįpareigojančio dideliam susikaupimui, bet vis tiek nebanalaus.
Jauki knyga. Nors anotacija pasakoja, jog laukia klaikus balzamuotojo darbas su vaikų kūnais, tačiau tai tik maža dalelė istorijos. Čia visas gyvenimas, jo metamorfozės, baimės, džiaugsmai, ilgesys ir meilė. Šeima ir jos vidiniai kivirčai, kuriami santykiai ir visos iš to kylančios dvejonės.
Knygos centre - Viljamas. Susipažįstame išvykstant ieškoti nuošliaužoje dingusių vaikų kūnų ir leidžiamės į gilesnę pažintį jam prisiminenant vaikystę ir mylimą moterį. Tiksliau moteris, nes jo mama čia irgi svarbų vaidmenį vaidina. Pats balzamavimas čia tik fonas, visa ko esmė Viljamo gyvenimo iššūkiai, traumos ir joms diriguojant priimami sprendimai. Labai patiko skaityti apie jo metus mokykloje, vaikiškas išdaigas ir kvailiojimus. Ryšį su mama. Autorė viso romano metu leidžia suprasti, kad kažkuriuo metu jis nutrūko ir lėtai, paerzindama ir visko iškart nepasakydama veda link kulminacijos ir atsakymų.
Įdomias temas nagrinėjantis, tačiau lengvas skaitinys, kurio tikrai nereikia bijoti (dėl šiek tiek perspaudžiančios anotacijos). Knyga lengva, šviesi ir gal net kiek dramatiška. Puikiai tinka atostogoms ar norintiems kažko neįpareigojančio dideliam susikaupimui, bet vis tiek nebanalaus.
March 21, 2022
The start of this story has got to be one of the most powerful I have ever read. I was literally moved to tears as newly qualified embalmer William, goes above and beyond when a huge tragedy befalls Aberfan. There are some things you read that have such an impact that they stay with you and I know this book will be one of them.
Even though William is only a young man when we meet him, the story goes back to when he was at school and what life was like for him growing up. There are some special bonds like the one with his school friend Martin and his uncle Robert and his partner Howard. Things aren’t all straight forward though and what follows was an endearing and heartfelt read.
A Terrible Kindness is a story with a deeper meaning. For me it was about not letting the past consume you and carrying on living your life to the fullest. No one knows what the future holds apart from that none of us are going to make it out of here alive, so grab happiness whilst you can. William is a wonderful character who along with quite a few of the other characters, stole a piece of my heart. A gentle, yet powerful read that grabs hold and doesn’t let go!
Even though William is only a young man when we meet him, the story goes back to when he was at school and what life was like for him growing up. There are some special bonds like the one with his school friend Martin and his uncle Robert and his partner Howard. Things aren’t all straight forward though and what follows was an endearing and heartfelt read.
A Terrible Kindness is a story with a deeper meaning. For me it was about not letting the past consume you and carrying on living your life to the fullest. No one knows what the future holds apart from that none of us are going to make it out of here alive, so grab happiness whilst you can. William is a wonderful character who along with quite a few of the other characters, stole a piece of my heart. A gentle, yet powerful read that grabs hold and doesn’t let go!
May 22, 2024
4/5
Anotacija kiek apgaulinga. Gali atrodyti, kad čia bus ašarų pakalnė, vien ta tragedija, su kuria tenka veikėjui tvarkytis. Viena vertus – taip. Kita vertus, papasakojama beveik trečdalis vyro gyvenimo. Romane gausu veikėjų, kuriuos galima pamilti – nuo jautraus ir geriečio pagrindinio, iki velnių priėdusio geriausio draugo, dėdžių, sužadėtinės. Visgi, daug ir skausmo, daug išgyvenimų, labai dramatiškų nutikimų, nesusikalbėjimų. Gali atrodyti, kad pasikalbėjus viskas išsispręstų, bet autorė ir šiaip tarsi pernelyg reikalus komplikuoja – pavyzdžiui, vis užsimena apie tą didžiąją tragediją (ne anotacijos, kitą), kuri viską pakeitė. Ir kai pagaliau prie jos prieini, supranti, kad joje gi... Nieko labai ypatingo. Todėl kai kurie sprendimai šioje knygoje nuo vidutinių įprastumo skalėje yra išpučiami iki dramblio dydžio problemų, kurios pasunkina skaitymą – ne dėl to, kad netiki, jog taip nebūna – žmonės ir dėl mažesnių dalykų gyvenimus su(si)gadina. Tiesiog dramos tiek prikrauta, tiek daug krašutinumus liečiančių sprendimų, kad juos sudėjus į krūvą supranti, kad vienu užpakaliu pabandyta apsėsti per daug kėdžių. Pritrūksta... tiesiog pasakojimo. Nes ir be visokių sensacijų skaityti tiesiog įdomu ir gera.
Nepaprastai patiko aprašomi mokyklos metai, ta berniukų draugystė ir paikystės, santykiai ir konfliktai. Patiko PTSD pateikimas, realistiškas ir skausmingas. Patiko meilės istorija, net jei aš ir būčiau Glorios vietoje nebuvusi tokia kantri. Ir nors gali atrodyti, kad daug visko priminėjau, kas keista ar neįtikino (tiesa, prie pasakojimo stiliaus irgi reikia įprasti), man šiek tiek nuotaika priminė „Mažus malonumus“ ir bendrai paliko gerą įspūdį – manau, kad išeitų gražus ir neabejotinai pravirkdantis filmas. Nu žinot, gyvenimiškas toks. Skaityti rekomenduoju tai nuotaikai, kai esat pasiruošę nesikabinėti ir tiesiog norit nedurnos, net jei ne visada ant tvirtų logikos ir tikroviškumo kojų stovinčios istorijos.
Anotacija kiek apgaulinga. Gali atrodyti, kad čia bus ašarų pakalnė, vien ta tragedija, su kuria tenka veikėjui tvarkytis. Viena vertus – taip. Kita vertus, papasakojama beveik trečdalis vyro gyvenimo. Romane gausu veikėjų, kuriuos galima pamilti – nuo jautraus ir geriečio pagrindinio, iki velnių priėdusio geriausio draugo, dėdžių, sužadėtinės. Visgi, daug ir skausmo, daug išgyvenimų, labai dramatiškų nutikimų, nesusikalbėjimų. Gali atrodyti, kad pasikalbėjus viskas išsispręstų, bet autorė ir šiaip tarsi pernelyg reikalus komplikuoja – pavyzdžiui, vis užsimena apie tą didžiąją tragediją (ne anotacijos, kitą), kuri viską pakeitė. Ir kai pagaliau prie jos prieini, supranti, kad joje gi... Nieko labai ypatingo. Todėl kai kurie sprendimai šioje knygoje nuo vidutinių įprastumo skalėje yra išpučiami iki dramblio dydžio problemų, kurios pasunkina skaitymą – ne dėl to, kad netiki, jog taip nebūna – žmonės ir dėl mažesnių dalykų gyvenimus su(si)gadina. Tiesiog dramos tiek prikrauta, tiek daug krašutinumus liečiančių sprendimų, kad juos sudėjus į krūvą supranti, kad vienu užpakaliu pabandyta apsėsti per daug kėdžių. Pritrūksta... tiesiog pasakojimo. Nes ir be visokių sensacijų skaityti tiesiog įdomu ir gera.
Nepaprastai patiko aprašomi mokyklos metai, ta berniukų draugystė ir paikystės, santykiai ir konfliktai. Patiko PTSD pateikimas, realistiškas ir skausmingas. Patiko meilės istorija, net jei aš ir būčiau Glorios vietoje nebuvusi tokia kantri. Ir nors gali atrodyti, kad daug visko priminėjau, kas keista ar neįtikino (tiesa, prie pasakojimo stiliaus irgi reikia įprasti), man šiek tiek nuotaika priminė „Mažus malonumus“ ir bendrai paliko gerą įspūdį – manau, kad išeitų gražus ir neabejotinai pravirkdantis filmas. Nu žinot, gyvenimiškas toks. Skaityti rekomenduoju tai nuotaikai, kai esat pasiruošę nesikabinėti ir tiesiog norit nedurnos, net jei ne visada ant tvirtų logikos ir tikroviškumo kojų stovinčios istorijos.
June 12, 2024
Без перебільшеннь, це неймовірно гарна, шокуюча, болюча та глибока історія. І водночас, дуже емоційно важка книга. Дуже раджу.
June 19, 2022
I was hoping this story would bring a greater understanding of Aberfan, both the disaster itself and the rebuilding of lives afterwards. I found it difficult to read at first but the story moves away so quickly I found it wasn’t really a book about the disaster at all.
William was a difficult character to like. I felt rifts were added between people in the family to keep the story interesting, but really the only purpose they served was to help everything to wrap up nicely by the end of the book. There were a few too many family dramas and not enough Aberfan for this book to really work for me.
William was a difficult character to like. I felt rifts were added between people in the family to keep the story interesting, but really the only purpose they served was to help everything to wrap up nicely by the end of the book. There were a few too many family dramas and not enough Aberfan for this book to really work for me.
December 8, 2021
This novel addresses some very difficult themes, but author Jo Browning Wroe, uses a deft touch and never strays into over-sentimentality. The book begins with William Lavery, our main character, at a dinner for embalmers. He has recently joined the family business and qualified with top marks. However, it is 1966, and the tragedy at Aberfan is unfolding, with elbalmers needed in the small town. Thrown into the deep end, William volunteers and we learn how this event marks his life as he helps deal with the bodies of the victims.
So, from the very beginning, we are aware that William has an unusual job but also that he does it well and that he is a kind, thoughtful young man, who wishes to give the victims, and their families, respect and to do his tasks with care. The author teases out our knowledge with William, as she goes backwards and forwards in the story. So we are aware that he has a difficult relationship with his mother, for example, but are unaware until later why this is. Through Cambridge, where William is a choristor, we meet his friend Martin, and we also learn of his love for Gloria, his relationships with his mother, his uncle and his uncle's partner, and of his decision to join the family firm.
There are some novels which are driven by plot, and others by character, and this is definitely in the latter category. William is a character the reader will come to care for, while also being very involved in his life and relationships. An excellent debut and I will certainly be looking out for more by this author. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
So, from the very beginning, we are aware that William has an unusual job but also that he does it well and that he is a kind, thoughtful young man, who wishes to give the victims, and their families, respect and to do his tasks with care. The author teases out our knowledge with William, as she goes backwards and forwards in the story. So we are aware that he has a difficult relationship with his mother, for example, but are unaware until later why this is. Through Cambridge, where William is a choristor, we meet his friend Martin, and we also learn of his love for Gloria, his relationships with his mother, his uncle and his uncle's partner, and of his decision to join the family firm.
There are some novels which are driven by plot, and others by character, and this is definitely in the latter category. William is a character the reader will come to care for, while also being very involved in his life and relationships. An excellent debut and I will certainly be looking out for more by this author. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
December 27, 2022
I absolutely hate it when writers manipulate their readers into fast-turning pages by A. choosing a real-life tragedy as a mere background and B. withholding a crucial scene yet dangling that narrative carrot in front of them. It only tells me you know the rest of your novel is not as strong as those banging opening chapters. It also misuses other people’s tragedies for emotional weight and character development.
William is very much his mother’s son in that he treats people around him badly… I liked Martin, though, uncle Robert and his partner Howard, Gloria with her family, and their interactions. They deserved better.
By the time the scene™ is revealed, I’d pretty much guessed what went down and was right. The return to Aberfan, at the end, was underwhelming, the “it’s all so ordinary” comment almost disrespectful.
William is very much his mother’s son in that he treats people around him badly… I liked Martin, though, uncle Robert and his partner Howard, Gloria with her family, and their interactions. They deserved better.
By the time the scene™ is revealed, I’d pretty much guessed what went down and was right. The return to Aberfan, at the end, was underwhelming, the “it’s all so ordinary” comment almost disrespectful.
January 21, 2022
It's okay I only cried three times.
April 22, 2022
There is no question that Jo Browning Wroe who, at age 58, has written her first novel (as a woman of a certain age, I love when that happens!) has writing chops.
Her book is steeped in a historical event: in the mid-60s, the Welsh Village of Aberfan suffered a landslide at a coal mine, killing 116 children and 28 adults. The village needed embalmers and William, with his newly minted embalmers designation, answers the call. What he witnesses there is so horrendous that he resolves never to have children of his own. It almost, but not quite, causes him to leave the love of his life, Gloria as well.
But, as Gloria tells William, “This isn’t just about Aberfan.” In fact, William is a very talented choirist, trained at one of the best schools in Cambridge, and singled out to sing the most prestigious solo there. Why did he turn his back on such a promising future and join the family business as a funeral embalmer? Why is he often more comfortable with the dead than the living? And what caused the break with his widowed mother, who seems to have an intense dislike to his father’s surviving identical twin Robert and his life partner, Howard?
There is much to love about this book, which draws you in and moves you along. But too often, just when Ms. Wroe needs to take her theme just a little bit further, she cops out. Homophobia is rampant in the 1960s and it is evident that this must be the main reason why Evelyn (William’s mother) dislikes Robert and Howard and is afraid of their influence on her son. Yet the reason given is that Evelyn can’t bear to see her dead husband’s identical twin be “happy in love” when she has been deprived. I don’t buy it. I think the reason is far darker.
I also thought that William’s pure selfishness – bordering on narcissism – towards his mother and later, towards Gloria – was way out of proportion to what he experienced. In the case of his mother, the incident that took William away from his music career and ended his relationship with his mother is given a great deal of buildup. Yet it fizzes out when the reader finally finds out what happened at Cambridge. Similarly, his treatment of Gloria – which he blames on Aberfan – seems to trivialize the real tragedy there (parents losing their children) as William commandeers it to justify his own loss of innocence.
This book captured my attention but is not without its flaws. I give it a 3.5 rating, rounded up.
Her book is steeped in a historical event: in the mid-60s, the Welsh Village of Aberfan suffered a landslide at a coal mine, killing 116 children and 28 adults. The village needed embalmers and William, with his newly minted embalmers designation, answers the call. What he witnesses there is so horrendous that he resolves never to have children of his own. It almost, but not quite, causes him to leave the love of his life, Gloria as well.
But, as Gloria tells William, “This isn’t just about Aberfan.” In fact, William is a very talented choirist, trained at one of the best schools in Cambridge, and singled out to sing the most prestigious solo there. Why did he turn his back on such a promising future and join the family business as a funeral embalmer? Why is he often more comfortable with the dead than the living? And what caused the break with his widowed mother, who seems to have an intense dislike to his father’s surviving identical twin Robert and his life partner, Howard?
There is much to love about this book, which draws you in and moves you along. But too often, just when Ms. Wroe needs to take her theme just a little bit further, she cops out. Homophobia is rampant in the 1960s and it is evident that this must be the main reason why Evelyn (William’s mother) dislikes Robert and Howard and is afraid of their influence on her son. Yet the reason given is that Evelyn can’t bear to see her dead husband’s identical twin be “happy in love” when she has been deprived. I don’t buy it. I think the reason is far darker.
I also thought that William’s pure selfishness – bordering on narcissism – towards his mother and later, towards Gloria – was way out of proportion to what he experienced. In the case of his mother, the incident that took William away from his music career and ended his relationship with his mother is given a great deal of buildup. Yet it fizzes out when the reader finally finds out what happened at Cambridge. Similarly, his treatment of Gloria – which he blames on Aberfan – seems to trivialize the real tragedy there (parents losing their children) as William commandeers it to justify his own loss of innocence.
This book captured my attention but is not without its flaws. I give it a 3.5 rating, rounded up.
August 26, 2022
Most will know the blurb about this one: It’s October 1966 and William Lavery is interrupted at a black tie do with news of a tragedy. A landslide has occurred in Aberfan and he is needed, as a newly qualified embalmer, to assist with the preparation of the deceased. Little does he know that this decision will haunt him for a long while - and cause him to question other decisions made earlier in his life.
Oh my days, this book this book this BOOK! It’s been getting stellar reviews and I can see why. The writing drew me in from the first page and the characters were so warm, so wonderful and just so damned real that I felt like I knew every one of them. William is such a complicated character and the relationships he has, with his friends, his family and just about everyone else he meets are so layered and complex that it takes forever to unravel them all. There were times I wanted to shake him, but he’s such a good person that despite my occasional frustration I still loved every inch of him.
The book also made me want to find out more about Aberfan. My heart broke thinking of all those lives shattered. However this book isn’t just about that tragedy, huge parts of it focus on William’s earlier life as a chorister, which I found incredibly fascinating.
Finally, the last thing I’ll say about this book is that I’ll never forget sitting by the pool in Fuerteventura this afternoon, reading the last few chapters with tears STREAMING down my face! Not your standard holiday read but hugely recommended nevertheless. Magnificent 🙌
Oh my days, this book this book this BOOK! It’s been getting stellar reviews and I can see why. The writing drew me in from the first page and the characters were so warm, so wonderful and just so damned real that I felt like I knew every one of them. William is such a complicated character and the relationships he has, with his friends, his family and just about everyone else he meets are so layered and complex that it takes forever to unravel them all. There were times I wanted to shake him, but he’s such a good person that despite my occasional frustration I still loved every inch of him.
The book also made me want to find out more about Aberfan. My heart broke thinking of all those lives shattered. However this book isn’t just about that tragedy, huge parts of it focus on William’s earlier life as a chorister, which I found incredibly fascinating.
Finally, the last thing I’ll say about this book is that I’ll never forget sitting by the pool in Fuerteventura this afternoon, reading the last few chapters with tears STREAMING down my face! Not your standard holiday read but hugely recommended nevertheless. Magnificent 🙌
October 23, 2021
Framed around the tragedy of Aberfan, but not hugely about Aberfan, this felt a bit over complicated and clunky. The dates move around all over the place and its quite jumpy. I think the story needed to commit to Aberfan, or not bother as the circling back didn't work for me with very little story in the middle. Living in Wales, this is still a very sensitive subject, and I'm not sure this has the sensitivity that those passages need.
October 28, 2021
I feel that this book wasn't respectful enough of such a tragedy. It was all over the place and too many fictional moments. This disaster is still raw for both the country and the families affected by such a horrendous disaster. It was just too disrespectful.
I would like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I would like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
October 30, 2023
utterly in love with this book and I am still mentally in the world.
January 19, 2022
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read an ARC of this very special book.
I absolutely adored this stunning book! It was only recently that I had even heard of the Aberfan tradegy, so when I read the blurb I was very intrigued to read this novel.
Although the Aberfan tradegy is just horrendous, this book used it as its back drop for telling an impressively uplifting story of what happens to William when he begins to deal with the consequences of his involvement in what happened.
William's character has so much depth. I really felt I was accompanying him on his journey as he worked through his conflicting and difficult emotions. There are a number of interesting characters: Martin, his best friend from boarding school and William's uncle.
Besides, brilliant unforgettable characters, the plot moves along at a good pace. I thought shifting between the past and present worked very well.
For those who feel this may be a depressing book, it is anything but. It is beautiful, uplifting and memorable and in my Top 5 for the year. I will be recommending it to friends and family. I am hoping to see this on The Women's Prize for Fiction in the coming year.
I absolutely adored this stunning book! It was only recently that I had even heard of the Aberfan tradegy, so when I read the blurb I was very intrigued to read this novel.
Although the Aberfan tradegy is just horrendous, this book used it as its back drop for telling an impressively uplifting story of what happens to William when he begins to deal with the consequences of his involvement in what happened.
William's character has so much depth. I really felt I was accompanying him on his journey as he worked through his conflicting and difficult emotions. There are a number of interesting characters: Martin, his best friend from boarding school and William's uncle.
Besides, brilliant unforgettable characters, the plot moves along at a good pace. I thought shifting between the past and present worked very well.
For those who feel this may be a depressing book, it is anything but. It is beautiful, uplifting and memorable and in my Top 5 for the year. I will be recommending it to friends and family. I am hoping to see this on The Women's Prize for Fiction in the coming year.
January 29, 2022
I can honestly say I'd never cried at a book... until now.
The story of William Lavery - from chorister to embalmer, son to husband - is almost fantastical but also sincerely realistic. The friendships, losses, relationships and family are the core of the story, but underneath it all is the experience that the character has in the first few chapters, and the scars that are carved into him; that of attending Aberfan in October 1966 as a freshly qualified embalmer.
I read this novel as part of a Readalong over on Instagram, and it was interesting to hear what others know of the terrible Aberfan disaster. Most knew of it from a mention in The Crown on Netflix, and many went off to read more about it before beginning the novel. I was probably in primary school myself when we were first told of this all-to-recent local history, and so I will undoubtedly have had a different experience to a lot of my reading buddies during those chapters, the site of Pantglas Junior School just 5.2 miles from where I'm sitting right now.
I thought I knew everything there was to know about how 116 children (mostly between the ages of 7 and 10) and 28 adults were killed by the National Coal Board, when 150,000 tonnes of dumped coal slurry buried the small school in a wave that reached up to 80 miles an hour. At morning registration on the last half-day of school before the holidays... just over 2 hours later and the school would have been empty. But there were details I hadn't considered that make it, somehow, even worse. Those were presented to me in the first few chapters of this book and I knew 'A Terrible Kindness' would stay with me for a very long time.
With that said, though it's rooted in tragedy, this is ultimately an uplifting book. Not a fluffy one, no, but a real and raw positive story for real life people and complexity of feeling. It's about a boy growing up, adults who make mistakes, and how there's always life worth living on the other side of it all.
I wholeheartedly recommend.
Further reading on the disaster, and the failings afterwards, if you're interested. I recommend doing research to fully understand when reading this book.
The story of William Lavery - from chorister to embalmer, son to husband - is almost fantastical but also sincerely realistic. The friendships, losses, relationships and family are the core of the story, but underneath it all is the experience that the character has in the first few chapters, and the scars that are carved into him; that of attending Aberfan in October 1966 as a freshly qualified embalmer.
I read this novel as part of a Readalong over on Instagram, and it was interesting to hear what others know of the terrible Aberfan disaster. Most knew of it from a mention in The Crown on Netflix, and many went off to read more about it before beginning the novel. I was probably in primary school myself when we were first told of this all-to-recent local history, and so I will undoubtedly have had a different experience to a lot of my reading buddies during those chapters, the site of Pantglas Junior School just 5.2 miles from where I'm sitting right now.
I thought I knew everything there was to know about how 116 children (mostly between the ages of 7 and 10) and 28 adults were killed by the National Coal Board, when 150,000 tonnes of dumped coal slurry buried the small school in a wave that reached up to 80 miles an hour. At morning registration on the last half-day of school before the holidays... just over 2 hours later and the school would have been empty. But there were details I hadn't considered that make it, somehow, even worse. Those were presented to me in the first few chapters of this book and I knew 'A Terrible Kindness' would stay with me for a very long time.
With that said, though it's rooted in tragedy, this is ultimately an uplifting book. Not a fluffy one, no, but a real and raw positive story for real life people and complexity of feeling. It's about a boy growing up, adults who make mistakes, and how there's always life worth living on the other side of it all.
I wholeheartedly recommend.
Further reading on the disaster, and the failings afterwards, if you're interested. I recommend doing research to fully understand when reading this book.
July 29, 2022
A Terrible Kindness is a moving literary fiction novel, about the impact working as a volunteer embalmer in the aftermath of the real-life 1966 Aberfan disaster has on the life of a young man and his family. Definitely not my usual kind of read, I got this from Book Club, and didn’t really know what to expect going in. I enjoyed some parts more than others, and struggled to reconcile William’s adult character with the thoughtful boy portrayed in the first half.
William Lavery has only just qualified as an embalmer when the call goes out for volunteers to go to the small coal mining town of Aberfan, Wales. A giant slag heap has collapsed, engulfing the primary school and killing over a hundred people, mostly children. William and others help prepare the bodies for burial, but the experience leaves him traumatised and determined never to become a parent, for fear of facing the same loss. Already scarred by the early loss of his father, a difficult relationship with his mother and a devastating event in his teens, William feels most comfortable with the dead, but through the patience and kindness of those who love him, perhaps he can let go of the past and embrace life.
I’ve read reviews criticising the author for using a true life tragedy as the basis for a book, and I can imagine if you live in Wales it must still be awful to think about it, but the whole plot of the book is about William’s PTSD and perhaps a fictitious event of that magnitude wouldn’t be believable? I felt it was sensitively and respectfully done - but it happened before I was born and was not something I remember hearing about growing up. It would be like saying you shouldn’t write books about the World Wars. I actually found the first section about Aberfan was so compelling that the rest of the book suffered somewhat by comparison - I found the next part, about William’s choir school experiences, rather slow. I was more interested in the undertaking than the singing aspects! The mystery of exactly what happened to or with Martin and Evelyn was also a bit of a letdown.
The writing was skilful even if it was third person present narration throughout, and I enjoyed the sixties setting and associated musical references. There’s a great cast of characters - I liked kindly uncle Robert and jolly irreverent school friend Martin, and admired Gloria who bravely put up with William’s sometimes awful behaviour. Many of the characters’ dilemmas would no longer be issues nowadays. While the ending was a bit cheesy I did like how she wrapped it all up. Overall I’m rounding up from 3.5 because while I didn’t love it, I would recommend it as an original character-led story that explores a side of disasters that we don’t hear much about.
William Lavery has only just qualified as an embalmer when the call goes out for volunteers to go to the small coal mining town of Aberfan, Wales. A giant slag heap has collapsed, engulfing the primary school and killing over a hundred people, mostly children. William and others help prepare the bodies for burial, but the experience leaves him traumatised and determined never to become a parent, for fear of facing the same loss. Already scarred by the early loss of his father, a difficult relationship with his mother and a devastating event in his teens, William feels most comfortable with the dead, but through the patience and kindness of those who love him, perhaps he can let go of the past and embrace life.
I’ve read reviews criticising the author for using a true life tragedy as the basis for a book, and I can imagine if you live in Wales it must still be awful to think about it, but the whole plot of the book is about William’s PTSD and perhaps a fictitious event of that magnitude wouldn’t be believable? I felt it was sensitively and respectfully done - but it happened before I was born and was not something I remember hearing about growing up. It would be like saying you shouldn’t write books about the World Wars. I actually found the first section about Aberfan was so compelling that the rest of the book suffered somewhat by comparison - I found the next part, about William’s choir school experiences, rather slow. I was more interested in the undertaking than the singing aspects! The mystery of exactly what happened to or with Martin and Evelyn was also a bit of a letdown.
The writing was skilful even if it was third person present narration throughout, and I enjoyed the sixties setting and associated musical references. There’s a great cast of characters - I liked kindly uncle Robert and jolly irreverent school friend Martin, and admired Gloria who bravely put up with William’s sometimes awful behaviour. Many of the characters’ dilemmas would no longer be issues nowadays. While the ending was a bit cheesy I did like how she wrapped it all up. Overall I’m rounding up from 3.5 because while I didn’t love it, I would recommend it as an original character-led story that explores a side of disasters that we don’t hear much about.
March 16, 2023
What a beautiful well written debut novel. Sensitively written about the tradegy of Aberfan.
The way this was written had me hooked from the 1st page and just knew it was going to be a 5 star read.
William was such a wonderful character.
Moving thought provoking book based on true events.
Would definitely recommend 💕
The way this was written had me hooked from the 1st page and just knew it was going to be a 5 star read.
William was such a wonderful character.
Moving thought provoking book based on true events.
Would definitely recommend 💕
January 31, 2023
Beautiful book, sad but sensitively done and heartfelt. Loved this!
November 7, 2021
I don’t even know where to start with this review. I feel so emotional and afraid that I will never to able to praise this book enough. I was nine years old when the Aberfan disaster happened. It was one of those moments in time that no one could ever forget. So to conjure up that era just came naturally, how people dressed, talked and the taboos of that time.
The story opens, with the central character William, at nineteen, being awarded the highest grade possible, with perfect marks, as he graduates as an embalmer. The black-tie event comes to an abrupt halt when word arrives that embalmers are urgently needed in Aberfan. A large area of the village and school has been buried with a huge landslide. A call for children's coffins has gone out and urgent help.
It is there where you will connect with William, this tender, caring man, who will forever be changed, with the thing he sees. His gentle manner, his thoughtfulness and respect. He had known where his life was going before that night, but for the second time, outside events would send him on a different path.
William has the most amazing singing voice, and as a child is offered a place to be trained as a choir boy where he will board with other boys like himself. What a wonderful friend he meets there, Martin, who is the same age. The story drops back to this time, and I giggled my way through these chapters.
Family plays a huge part in this story, the dynamics of relationships, love, death and acceptance. It has it all and with such powerful writing that every person feels real. Every event affected me. This story isn’t just memorable. It is unforgettable. It is perfection.
I wish to thank that publisher and Net Galley for an e-copy of this book, which I have reviewed honestly.
The story opens, with the central character William, at nineteen, being awarded the highest grade possible, with perfect marks, as he graduates as an embalmer. The black-tie event comes to an abrupt halt when word arrives that embalmers are urgently needed in Aberfan. A large area of the village and school has been buried with a huge landslide. A call for children's coffins has gone out and urgent help.
It is there where you will connect with William, this tender, caring man, who will forever be changed, with the thing he sees. His gentle manner, his thoughtfulness and respect. He had known where his life was going before that night, but for the second time, outside events would send him on a different path.
William has the most amazing singing voice, and as a child is offered a place to be trained as a choir boy where he will board with other boys like himself. What a wonderful friend he meets there, Martin, who is the same age. The story drops back to this time, and I giggled my way through these chapters.
Family plays a huge part in this story, the dynamics of relationships, love, death and acceptance. It has it all and with such powerful writing that every person feels real. Every event affected me. This story isn’t just memorable. It is unforgettable. It is perfection.
I wish to thank that publisher and Net Galley for an e-copy of this book, which I have reviewed honestly.
July 15, 2022
Prachtig. Ontroerend. Aangrijpend. Indrukwekkend.
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