News from Nowhere
Published on 1. March 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
300 pages
978-1-910836-54-5 (ISBN)
Description
Inspired by letters from family members who served on the Western Front and written home to Bangor, News From Nowhere describes the impact of war on a family, including Bronwyn, the sister coming of age as her brothers and father endure the torments of the trenches and the battlefield.
Sometimes we get fed up in these shallow, narrow windings and run around on top, which isn't too bad as this part of the line is comparatively free of corpses. I've learned to control my stomach, but will never overcome my horror of the stench. Dodging bombs is surprisingly easy, when you can see them coming. One of the sentries shouts, coming over Right, or Left, and we clear into dugouts. At first you see a heavy puff of smoke, then the bomb, which looks like a champagne bottle, turning over and over as it flies.
Sometimes we get fed up in these shallow, narrow windings and run around on top, which isn't too bad as this part of the line is comparatively free of corpses. I've learned to control my stomach, but will never overcome my horror of the stench. Dodging bombs is surprisingly easy, when you can see them coming. One of the sentries shouts, coming over Right, or Left, and we clear into dugouts. At first you see a heavy puff of smoke, then the bomb, which looks like a champagne bottle, turning over and over as it flies.
Reviews / Votes
It is 1914 in Bangor, North Wales. Bronwyn is sixteen and her three brothers, Huw, Glyn and Aubrey, and Tada, her Methodist Minister father, will leave for the Western Front. Bangor, a quiet backwater, sees the arrival of destitute Belgians, men coming home wounded, and women in leading roles. Bronwyn takes on responsibility at the Methodist Book Room as well as helping Mam send endless parcels to the front. The war is brought home in her brothers' letters, by turn light-hearted and searingly honest.As the family copes with uncertainty and loss, Bronwyn finds first love and becomes involved in political activism, going on to volunteer at a London Military hospital run by suffragists and travelling to France. Bronwyn knows that one day she will write about the aftermath of war, but when the war ends its toll on her family continues and Bronwyn faces new losses and challenges before she can move on with her life.
Poignant, authentic and gripping, this is a debut novel from an author to watch for.
"News From Nowhere does vividly what historical novels can do better than history books - offering the reader an imagined window onto one particular field in the vast landscape of the past.
This is a moving depiction of the Roberts family - their love of each other and of their piece of North Wales and its landscape, their fierce and particular Methodism - and of the terrible impact of World War I and their battle with War itself.
I enjoyed Bronwyn's independent spirit and developing sense of self, fostered by her family, and her feminism."
Fiona Shaw -- Cyhoeddwr: Cinnamon Press
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Blaenau Ffestiniog
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 127 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
316 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-910836-54-5 (9781910836545)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Jane Austin was born in Liverpool, studied French, and lives with her husband in London. In the 1980s she was a political activist. She has since worked in a number of settings including schools, adult education and the University of York. Her debut novel, News from Nowhere (Cinnamon Press 2017), was showcased by New Writing North.