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Twenty
Thousand Saints
(Alcemi)
ISBN: 0955527228
Archaeologist
Deian returns to the island of his childhood, where
his mother disappeared without a trace. Sister Viv,
closet heretic and host of the annual conference of
hermits, has erected for her a gold memorial declaring
her unofficial sainthood. Documentary-maker Leri, meanwhile,
is pursuing a story she is keeping from her assistant
and lover, Greta. This has less to do with birds and
saints' bones than with real bloodshed. During one hot
August week, lives collide as Bardsey twirls once more
for the cameras. A black comedy about finds, losses,
secrets, privacy and intrusion...and how the most important
things always happen off-camera.
"The
most compelling novel I've read in years: a love-story,
a thriller, and a profound meditation on language and
identity."
- Peter Florence, director, Guardian Hay Festival
"A wild, exhilarating read."
- Catherine Taylor, The Guardian
"Wry, engaging and perceptive, Twenty Thousand
Saints is a beautifully rendered story of multiple forms
of enquiry and excavation – spiritual, linguistic,
filmic and sexual. Dafydd's laid-back narrative voice
seems perfectly tuned to her cast of characters and
the changes that befall them when they encounter this
novel's most dominant personality, the isolated island
of Bardsey herself, and all the secrets and history
she holds."
- Owen Sheers
"A
true artist with a talent for dialogue, atmosphere and
character... and a mesmerising lyricism."
- Grahame Davies
"The
prose is luminous and Dafydd writes with a poet's eye
- a beautifully crafted piece of writing imbued with
a strange power to hold the attention of the reader
on the eternal questions of love, loss, communication,
passion and what it is to be alive. Anyone with an interest
in the human condition should have it on their shelves."
- Dai Blatchford, Swansea Life
Reviews / More:
» 'Twenty
Thousand Saints': Catherine Taylor, The Guardian
» 'Twenty Thousand Saints':
Author's Notes, Western Mail
» 'Twenty Thousand Saints':
Diva
» 'Twenty Thousand Saints':
Western Mail
»
'Twenty Thousand Saints': SwanseaLife
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