The Jeweller
by Caryl Lewis, Gwen Davies
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Pub Date 19 Sep 2019 | Archive Date 11 Sep 2020
Honno Press | Honno Modern Fiction
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Description
Mari supplements her modest trade as a market stall holder with the wares she acquires from clearing the houses of the dead. She lives alone in a tiny cottage by the shore, apart from a monkey that she keeps in a cage, surrounding herself with the lives of others, combing through letters she has gleaned, putting up photographs of strangers on her small mantelpiece.
But Mari is looking for something beyond saleable goods for her stall. As she works on cutting a perfect emerald, she inches closer to a discovery that will transform her life and throw her relationships with old friends into relief. To move forward she must shed her life of things past and start again. How she does so is both surprising and shocking…
Translated from the original Welsh.
Advance Praise
"Caryl Lewis’s novels and short stories are already considered to be contemporary classics in the original Welsh. In this lyrical, muscular translation by Gwen Davies, English-speaking readers are given the opportunity to appreciate the full power of Lewis’s work, which is bold yet unassuming, and to lose themselves in it. 'The Jeweller' features a slew of compelling characters, their flaws and weaknesses crafted by a writer who deserves every one of the numerous accolades she has already garnered." Francesca Rhydderch
"A gem of a story about the mistakes made in the name of love, and the magic needed to mend. Language gleams here, even in the darkest moments - a beguiling, mythic tale of redemption."
Katherine Stansfield
"A novel about hoarding the past - and letting it go - 'The Jeweller' peers into lives warped by loss and cluttered with objects, yet held together by gentle acts of kindness. In this vivid translation, Gwen Davies expertly captures the cadences and textures of Caryl Lewis’s richly descriptive prose."
Mary-Ann Constantine
"{The depiction of Mari’s relationship with her monkey is] deeply moving and almost mythical… [the novel] captured my attention immediately because Mari is such a richly complex and engaging character. The Jeweller is beautifully written, with a lyrical quality that is a testament to the skills of Gwen Davies’ translation."
BookerTalk
"The things that mark this novel out as exceptional are the characterisation, the story and the glorious writing... Each sentence evokes moments of intense beauty and the language has the lyrical musicality of a song in written form, which floating off the page creates haunting images both fleeting and tender, yet also shocking and unforgettable."
BooksAreMyCwtches
"The story is character driven, unfolding in spare prose around a swirling vortex of shadows, past hurts and blame. There are rich descriptions of place... Depths are glimpsed but in tantalising opacity... A study of grief and the weight of longing for what might have been. An evocative, poignant read."
Jackie Law, neverimitate
Available Editions
| EDITION | Mass Market Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781912905058 |
| PRICE | £8.99 (GBP) |
