Dear Ceridwen by Jan Fortune Wood
When her fifteen year old daughter, Ceridwen, goes missing, Bethan Prichard returns to Wales alone, except for the voice of her recently deceased Grandmother, to write a journal for Ceridwen, charting their involvement in the Bristol community that had turned out to be a haven of abuse.
Jan Fortune-Wood has produced a novel of disturbing depth; the subject, always alarming, is child abuseA novelist has to be brave and confident to write such material. Dear Ceridwen is very much a story of today. Bethan's daughter has gone missing; after an extensive search, police and social services can be of no further assistance. Through never-sent letters to her daughter, Bethan tells the story of their lives together up to Ceridwen's disappearance. I look like a normal person; I walk, talk, comb my hair, and get dressed. I don't smell, hot baths being my drug of choice. My weight never seems to vary, whether I binge on chocolate or live on toast for a week. Only my eyes look different to me, older, more tired, always slightly red rimmed and dull, or the set of my shoulders, the tension that would be imperceptible to anyone but you. I wonder if the police thought I was a cold person; I didn't cry in front of them. The characters who have been involved during those years unfold: Caro, a beautiful, promiscuous, self-centred, weak woman married to Stephen, who is mousy, prematurely balding, his only memorable feature his piercing blue eyes. Bethan and Ceridwen meet them and other members of the Soulful Living community when Bethan finds a job in Bristol. Bethan misses Wales and her mother, Nain, but finds support for herself and Ceridwen within the Community. Stephen is the only male in the group; all the children are girls. Why? A highly invocative and carefully constructed tale. Norma Penfold It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council. Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru. -- Welsh Books Council
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781905614295 |
| ISBN 10 | 1905614292 |
| Title | Dear Ceridwen |
| Author | Jan Fortune-Wood |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Cinnamon Press |
| Year published | 2007-05-03 |
| Number of pages | 192 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |