The Unbroken Beauty of Rosalind Bone

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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.

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

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. 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.

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.

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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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... Love, in all its forms, plays a significant role in this captivating tale. Love serves as a healing force, providing comfort and moments of joy amidst the characters' trials and tribulations. 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. 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]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. 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.