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Twenty Thousand Saints
By Catherine Taylor
The Guardian, Saturday September 27 2008
Fflur
Dafydd's first English-language novel is set during
one hot summer on Wales's mystical Bardsey Island, as
past and present intersect painfully when the resident
community is joined by a medley of incomers. The poet
Mererid seeks a tranquil writing space away from her
controlling boyfriend. Local curiosity Sister Vivien
apprehensively prepares to host a conference of fellow
hermits. Deian, an archaeologist who spent his youth
on Bardsey until the mysterious disappearance of his
mother, needs urgently to uncover past secrets. Vivien's
son Iestyn has recently been released from prison, straight
into the arms of flirty ecologist Elin. Filming all
of this is Leri, an ambitious documentary-maker, whose
project has a double edge hidden from her assistant
and lover, Greta. It's a wild, exhilarating read. Dafydd
controls her troupe of players without once dipping
into farce.
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/sep/27/fiction.roundupreviews]
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