A Terrible Kindness: The Bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club Pick

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Yes, good point about the availability of counsellors. And yes. In these disasters the need is huge. My father died nearly 40 years after we left the crematorium. Despite a lifelong career in the funeral industry, he refused to contemplate his own death and, even as a frail, elderly man, made no end-of-life plans. But there was never any question that he would be cremated, the means of disposal he had championed as the modern, clean, civilised option . For years I viewed burial as old-fashioned, unsophisticated, unsustainable. Today, the green burial movement offers a simpler, more environmentally friendly approach; many choose willow or cardboard coffins over the expensive treated wooden ones. My husband and I have already chosen the green burial ground we will be buried in – something my younger self would have been surprised at. But when it came to my father, cremation and a heavy, lacquered coffin seemed the only way to go, with his ashes being scattered in the crematorium grounds of which he had been so proud. For William his resentment is focused on his mother due to a traumatic event which occurred in the College Chapel culmination of his Cantabrigian choral career – a solo performance of Miserere. What exactly happens is only revealed towards the book’s end, but it leads to William breaking all ties with his mother to the despair even of those more directly impacted by the incident (William’s Uncle Robert and William's closest Cambridge friend Martin). As an aside I initially felt this was an authorial misstep to withold the information about what happened in the incident from the reader when it is known to all of the book’s characters even those not there like William’s later wife Gloria (the daughter of another undertaking/embalming dynasty) – but I think this is so that we can first of all understand its consequences and judge for ourselves if it fits the incident (which while not doubt hugely mortifying should not have lead to a lifetime of damage). William also has a horror of having children – which he ascribes to his experiences at Aberfan which leads to an eventual breach with Gloria – at around the point he rediscovers the friendship of Martin. 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.

A Terrible Kindness book review: character-driven drama, post A Terrible Kindness book review: character-driven drama, post

Browning Wroe affirms that music acts as a kind of golden spiritual thread throughout the narrative, speaking of both brokenness and healing. For William, there is a period when it is absent from his life; his creator says that it was “like cutting his heart out”. The book also made me want to find out more about Aberfan. My heart broke thinking of all those lives shattered. However this book isn’t just about that tragedy, huge parts of it focus on William’s earlier life as a chorister, which I found incredibly fascinating. There is much to love about this book, which draws you in and moves you along. But too often, just when Ms. Wroe needs to take her theme just a little bit further, she cops out. Homophobia is rampant in the 1960s and it is evident that this must be the main reason why Evelyn (William’s mother) dislikes Robert and Howard and is afraid of their influence on her son. Yet the reason given is that Evelyn can’t bear to see her dead husband’s identical twin be “happy in love” when she has been deprived. I don’t buy it. I think the reason is far darker. Approaching Aberfan the day after the disaster, 19-year-old William Lavery, a newly qualified embalmer, felt exhilarated, excited even, that he was about to do a good thing. With skills gained (with distinction) from his recent training and from teenage years of apprenticeship in the family business, he believed he was perfectly prepared. I think anyone above a certain ages in the UK will be familiar with Aberfan, as it was a disaster that was and still remains seared on the national conscience due to both the huge loss of life – including 116 young children and 28 adults – and the aftermath – in particular the refusal of the National Coal Board to accept their clear corporate culpability.As the Aberfan disaster begins to fade from living memory, A Terrible Kindness is a promising debut with an important story to tell. freshly graduated … with top marks for every piece of practical and written work, William looks at what’s left of the little girl who he’s just found out is called Valerie, and realises none of it counts for anything, not a thing, unless here and now he can do his job and prepare this child’s broken body for her parents, who are right now standing on the wet pavement behind. William would suffer from the trauma of that day for years afterwards, with nightmares and visions of mangled children, which would affect his relationships with women and young children. What made it even harder for William, was that he was already bearing scars from his childhood before he went to Aberfan. His father died when he was eight and after being encouraged by his mother to develop his musical talents rather than go into the family business, he was accepted into a chorister school in Cambridge two years later. However, his musical career came to an abrupt and traumatic end, causing William to sever ties with his best friend Martin as well as with his mother, Evelyn and to later train as an embalmer and join Robert and Howard in the family business he has come to love. I enjoyed the role of music in the book, as redemption for both William and Martin. As well as William’s gentle, caring nature, I also loved Martin’s cheeky character and the man he became. The novel really made me feel William’s pain both at losing his musical future and the PTSD he suffered after Aberfan. I admired the author’s gentle touch in dealing with William’s issues but did feel he was somewhat immature and stubborn in his relationships with his mother and his wife Gloria, while everyone around him seemed to be so tolerant and forgiving of his behaviour for so long. This is a very original book which has managed to bring together the diverse topics of the Aberfan disaster, the life of a boy chorister and embalming as a career choice and meld them into a delightful novel. Historically, on 21 October 1966, just after 9.15 a.m., waste tip number seven on the upper flank of Merthyr Vale colliery — loosened by two days of heavy rain — had slipped down the hillside. A 40-foot wall of debris hit Pantglas Junior School, burying its children and teachers, and killing 140.

A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe | Waterstones A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe | Waterstones

I enjoyed the parts of this book that are set in Cambridge as much as I enjoyed the parts based around the mining disaster in Aberfan. When one of the mothers speaks of hearing Myfanwy sung from the mountains I real ugly cried but also felt so full of hope and love for this books incredible characters. Jo allowed us a glimpse into the world of embalmers and funeral homes showed us the way in which these unseen heroes work so hard to ease the grief of those who have lost somebody - something I had never really considered before. Of course, everyone needs distance to appreciate the quirks and oddities of their particular childhood. My father was the superintendent of a Birmingham city council crematorium, and the job came with a small house set within the grounds. From our kitchen window we could see the wrought iron gates through which the funeral processions came every 20 minutes and rolled past our window. It was all I knew. It was normal. Nevertheless, I think I was slower than I could have been to realise just how unusual it was to have spent my formative years in such an environment and to consider how it shaped the person and writer I became. A Terrible Kindness does not wallow in, appropriate, or invade the events of Aberfan 56 years ago, but rather positions William’s experiences there as another layer of his life which wraps around him, constricts, and shapes his future. A Terrible Kindness recalls a day in October 1966 when coal and mud slid down a Welsh mountain side and engulfed the school in the village of Aberfan. I was a day seared in my memory because I was nine years old — the same age as many of the children who died — and like them grew up surrounded by coal mines. William's character has so much depth. I really felt I was accompanying him on his journey as he worked through his conflicting and difficult emotions. There are a number of interesting characters: Martin, his best friend from boarding school and William's uncle.The restorative power of music is most clearly shown however when William revisits Cambridge to discover his friend is the organiser of a choir formed from the city’s homeless population. William challenges the idea of men who have nothing being asked to sing about love and loss but his friend’s belief is that these are exactly the sentiments the men should be able to voice: Tibi soli peccavi, et malum coram te feci: ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis, et vincas cum judicaris.

I grew up in a crematorium – we learned not to look too alive

I remember hearing about this: I was 10 and still at primary school. And now, I must read this book. Following his late father into the family firm was an act of devastating rebellion against his mother’s ambitions for him and his singing gift. As you can imagine, so many books cross my path at work that I never get the time to look into. This was one. William was the main character and as the book opens he has just completed his training as an embalmer. A celebration is in full swing when news of the terrible Aberfan tragedy is delivered and the embalmers are asked to volunteer their services. William leaves for Wales but his days there, tending to the bodies of the children, are traumatic and have lasting repercussions in the years that follow. This experience wasn't the only one to cause lasting repercussions in Williams life. Some episodes from his time as a chorister resulted in major upheaval and to some extent altered the course of his adult life and indirectly led to his becoming an embalmer. Kindness, honesty and integrity are traits which run through William from a young age, and these characteristics attract similar souls.

Oh my goodness! Being chosen by The Reading Agency for Radio 2’s Book Club is such an honour. I’m incredibly proud not only that A Terrible Kindness will be discussed by this highly respected book club, but also that it will be sitting on library shelves across the country.