Our Bookshelf
Browse our Bookshelves, selected annually by the Exchange as a window to recent Welsh literary works which we recommend for translation.
“Kean’s writing is much like the lace Mary crafts in this sublime novel, intricate and delicate, tightly woven,
robust and very finely controlled.”
Rachel Trezise, author of Easy Meat
“Kean has spun an enthralling tale of trauma, redemption, and tangled family bonds: as delicate and complex as
lace itself.”
Carly Holmes
“The intricate patterns… create more than just a beautiful fabric—they spin the very threads of rejuvenation
and hope, but not everything can be healed in one generation.”
Isabel Adonis
Lace
Sequel to Kean’s prizewinning debut, Salt, this novel which will grab the hearts of historical fiction lovers.
In the early 1900s in Wicklow, Ireland, the lives of six-year-old Mary and her siblings are torn apart when their father dies leaving the family penniless. Mary's mother is forced to travel to Dublin to find work. She places her children in an orphanage for a short stay, which turns into years. Many years later Mary settles in Cardiff with her Welsh/Bajan husband Louis, and is thrilled at the arrival of their first child, Teresa. But the birth of the baby dredges up long hidden memories that Mary must confront before she can bond with her daughter.
Kean deftly recounts Mary’s story – a tale inspired by her own grandmother – with the skill and compassion readers have come to expect from her award-winning debut, Salt. Tackling issues of race, poverty and belonging, Lace is a beautiful, heart-wrenching look into the impossible decisions a mother has to make to save her children, and the impact of trauma on the next generation.
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Honno (2024)
Honno (2024) | 978-1912905744
200 pp
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Honno (2024)
Lynzie Fitzpatrick: press@honno.co.uk
Reviews
“Kean’s writing is much like the lace Mary crafts in this sublime novel, intricate and delicate, tightly woven,
robust and very finely controlled.”
Read more reviewsRachel Trezise, author of Easy Meat