Twll Bach yn y Niwl

Twll Bach yn y Niwl

Shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year 2021 | Fiction

The struggles of millennial life are captured with candour, humour, and poignancy in Llio Maddocks’ debut novel. Lowri has lost her way since graduating from university and is failing to transition into adult life: out of work, bored of small-minded village life, she spends most nights drinking in the same local pub with the same old friends. An unexpected break-up, compounded by the stresses surrounding her mother’s illness, throws her further off course as she stumbles into situations and relationships that reveal to the reader the desires and vulnerabilities which Lowri herself steadfastly chooses to ignore.

With distinct authenticity of voice, this touching depiction of a young woman’s failure to launch is as refreshing as it is entertaining. Sex, relationships, friendships are all portrayed with darkly comic honesty and readability, as Maddocks draws on a special ability to capture the sensitivities and fears that shy away behind the bluff of strong language and causticity. It is a skill also on display in her first pamphlet of Instagram poetry - Stwff ma hogia ’di ddeud wrtha fi (Stuff boys have told me) – published in 2021.

Shortlisted for the 2021 Wales Book of the Year, this immensely readable novel marks the exciting introduction of a lively new voice in Welsh fiction.

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"Lively, honest, funny, heart-breaking and exciting [...] one of those novels that will stay with you for a long time."

Lleucu Non, Sôn am Lyfra