This unforgettable tale of two men in late-80s Wales deals with the emotions and repercussions of their intimacy – and is one of the best debut novels in years
Finding a distinctive voice that stands out and speaks clearly is an essential test for a novelist, and it’s one that Welsh artist and writer Anthony Shapland effortlessly passes in his impressive debut. A Room Above a Shop opens in south Wales in the late 1980s, where a young man, B, is feeling excited, about to make a big decision. It will take him away from the sense of provisionality that’s embodied by his council house with its “doors with weightless cardboard interiors and hollow aluminium handles”. He’s going to meet an older man, M, to view the sun from a hill on New Year’s Eve.
But he’s not really going for the sun. “He’ll go to hell for what he wants, but still he climbs.” M and B edge closer to each other, certain and uncertain at the same time, heading towards an intimacy they can’t speak aloud. “The hunger for another body, for a person to know, to see what he knows, to share.” Over time, M, who owns the local hardware shop, gives B a job there and invites him to stay in the room above the shop.
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