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A Terrible Kindness
- Author
- Jo Browning Wroe
- Narrator
- David Dawson
- Publisher
- Faber & Faber
- Publish Date
- 13 January 2022
- Run Time
- 11 hours 3 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Rating
- 5.0 (1 review)
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What to expect
*INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*
*AN OBSERVER DEBUT OF 2022*
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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.
'I LOVE IT! Utterly and completely brilliant.' JOANNA CANNON
'It's a long time since I've read a debut novel that moved me so much.' RACHEL JOYCE
'Extraordinary.' SOPHIE HANNAH
'A brave and tender novel.' JOANNA GLEN
What readers are saying:
'One stunning read to remember.'
'Beautifully written . . . I would recommend this book to all.'
'Utterly heartbreaking and uplifting . . . I loved it.'
'Tremendous.'
Biography
Jo Browning Wroe grew up in a crematorium in Birmingham. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and is now Creative Writing Supervisor at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. Her debut novel, A Terrible Kindness, was shortlisted for the Bridport Peggy Chapman-Andrews award. She has two adult daughters and lives with her husband in Cambridge.
User Reviews
Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
-
5.0 5.0
Well this is another book I was unsure of, but what a towering beautiful work of art, pure genius. Beautifully told and narrated. What a wonder and a gift is a story that starts slowly, gets so you can't wait for it to resolve itself, then you feel a great sadness because it's finished. It's 4 am in the middle of the night the night but I just couldn't stop until I finally got to the end.
We are blessed those of us who read and listen to stories that make you realise what a treasure life is, even with all it's trials and tribulations.
I just loved this incredible tale. Please read it, believe me you will look at your own life with fresh eyes and insights.Johnboy 2023-11-02
Details
- Author
- Jo Browning Wroe
- Narrator
- David Dawson
- Duration
- 11 hours 3 minutes
- Release Date
- 13 January 2022
- ISBN
- 9780571368334
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Faber & Faber
- Genre
- Fiction: general and literary, Humorous fiction
- Rating
- 5.0(1 review)
- Narration
- 5.0(1 review)
Synopsis
Tonight nineteen-year-old William Lavery is dressed for success, his first black-tie do. It's the Midlands Chapter of the Institute of Embalmers Ladies' Night Dinner Dance, and William is taking Gloria in her sequined evening gown. He can barely believe his luck.But as the guests sip their drinks and smoke their post-dinner cigarettes a telegram delivers news of a tragedy. An event so terrible it will shake the nation. It is October 1966 and a landslide at a coal mine has buried a school: Aberfan. William decides he must act, so he stands and volunteers to attend. It will be his first job, and will be - although he's yet to know it - a choice that threatens to sacrifice his own happiness. His work that night will force him to think about the little boy he was, and the losses he has worked so hard to bury. But compassion can have surprising consequences, because - as William discovers - giving so much to others can sometimes help us heal ourselves.
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