Cloudless

by Rupert Dastur

'Beautiful and unflinching, Cloudless is a phenomenal debut' ANNA HOPE, author of Albion

‘Attends to the bonds we have to family, landscape, global politics with uncommon attention, extraordinary depth and lightness of touch’ ELIZABETH O'CONNOR, author of Whale Fall


It is autumn 2004 and in a farmhouse on the hills outside Llandudno, Catrin and John endure the agonizing wait for their older son to return from Iraq. His decision to join up has left them reeling, yet there are other battles at the working of the land that has been theirs for generations and what to do with their troubled younger son.

Catrin’s childhood sweetheart comes back to their small town, forcing the boys’ doting mother to confront the life she might have had. And John, desperate to keep farm and family together, turns to ever riskier methods to stay afloat.

As each member of the family grasps at their own tenuous lifeline, they drift further from one another – until, on a cold winter evening, there is a fateful knock at the door.

Written in luminous, exquisitely calibrated prose, Cloudless is a masterful portrayal of the fragility and resilience of human connection.

‘Dastur writes with devastating compassion on what it means to be human’ CATHERINE AIREY, author of Confessions

‘Elegant and quietly devastating’ MELISSA FU, author of Peach, Blossom, Spring

‘A story about love and war, family and nation . . . Told with intelligence, sensitivity and a huge heart’ PAUL McVEIGH, author of The Good Son

Genres: Fiction

298 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 27, 2025

Reviews

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would be a disservice to the book if I did not start with the fact that this is a debut. The further I read, the less I could believe that that's what I was reading, because the writing is truly fantastic.

Cloudless is, at its heart, a book about heartbreaking familial love, and the endurance of those relationships as they both break down and rebuild, but I believe it goes further than that. For me, this book was also a lesson in acceptance; understanding that life doesn't always take the course we'd planned for it to, no matter how hard we try. But it's what we do with the journey that makes a difference to the destination, and that's something that I feel the Rupert Duster gave every single character in this book, no matter how big nor small.

Cloudless shows that you can experience many types of love, in many different ways, for many different beings. It shows the darkest places that people can go to when they suffer an addictive personality, and how it affects those around them. It highlights the lengths that people will go to when they believe they're fighting for the right cause, and it presents you with the ultimate question of how do we do what's right?

If you want something that will break your heart in the most wholesome way, and also give you moments to reflect on the decisions you make, then I'd highly recommend that you pick this book up when it's released in February 2025.

[Awais Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written debut from a rare talent. Lyrical, compassionate and devastating, this will stay on your mind long after you've turned the final page. A must read!

[Katy Wheatley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A study of a family torn apart by the pressures of history, both in the long and short term. John and Catrin are eking out an existence on a sheep farm in the hills above Llandudno. The farm is failing and so is their marriage. John is hiding secrets and the pressure on Catrin to keep everything and everyone together means that soon, so is she. As well as the farm there is the worry about their sons, Harri is in the army and now the Iraq war flares into life around them. Rhys is at school, safe but unsettled, dealing with things he doesn't want to talk about. In the shadows of secrets and fear, the family starts to fall apart. Can they survive, as individuals and as a family?

Dark and brooding, this is pretty unrelenting in places. The author does a great job of piling on the pressure and making you, the reader, feel like one of the characters, trapped in a situation which seems like there is no way out of.

[Frankie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! It was a book club book and I was slightly sceptical at first, however I think the writing is really lovely. It was quite slow to get going however I couldn’t put it down towards the end. Very heart warming, not necessarily believable. Excited to see what he writes next!

[Scott Baird (Gunpowder Fiction and Plot)]

This was beautifully written and just an all round great book.

[Aoife Cassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

I cried reading this debut novel from British writer Rupert Dastur.

It’s autumn 2004 and Catrin and John are sheep farmers in North Wales. They’ve raised two sons, Harri and Rhys, and their marriage is struggling in the wake of Harri’s departure to Iraq, serving with the British forces there following the Allied invasion.

As they await Harri’s return home to Wales, they retreat further inside themselves and away from each other to cope with the fear that something will happen to Harri. John has developed a gambling problem and accomplished pianist Catrin is exploring the rekindling of an old flame with her former beau Matt.

In gorgeous prose, these flawed but very human characters are wonderfully drawn, with very real hopes, longings and fears. The chapters are punctuated with excepts from the Chilcott Report and the number of casualties lost in the war (or “Iraq Body Count”).

As a mother of three sons and a sworn pacifist myself, I felt Catrin’s pain and worry over Harri, and fury over the sheer futility of a war that should never have happened.

A powerful, humane debut novel that (intentionally or not) makes the case for peace as well as any other novel I’ve read. 4.5/5⭐️

Sincere thanks to @penguinbooksuk for the arc via @Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Cloudless will be published next week 27 February.

[Pernille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, real, tender. Absolutely brutal in parts; it doesn't shy away from the reality of farm life. Beautiful writing and even more beautiful cover art!

[Kayla Hunnisett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written - stunned that this is the author's debut!

[Immy · Rating 3 out of 5]

took a couple chapters to get into, was hooked in the middle, then zoned out again

[Jill Thomson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set on a farm near Llandudno the story opens towards the winter of 2004.
John and Catrin are struggling to keep their family farm viable while desperately
worrying about their elder son who is serving his first tour of duty in Iraq and
their younger son who is trying to puzzle his life out.
Each chapter starts with an extract from the Chilcott report and the Iraq body count. I found this a distraction as the book is more about Catrin and John’s relationship, his gambling and her affair, and the resulting impact in their local community rather than an in depth look at what their elder son was experiencing. Also it was no great surprise what happens towards the end of the book.
The descriptions of the beautiful brooding landscape are well written and interesting, as are those of the day to day life on the farm and the wider rural community and characters.
Unfortunately I felt there were too many themes resulting in the story losing its way at times and I finished reading it feeling slightly disappointed.

Many thanks to Penguin Fig Tree and NetGalley for an ARC

[Ben Dutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

North Wales, 2004. On their farm, in the hills above Llandudno, John and Catrin live, tending to their animals but not always to each other anymore, along with two or their sons. Far away, in Iraq, is their son Harri, fighting. They worry about him, his safety, and the extracts from the Chilcott Report in that war are interspersed, giving a sense of impending doom to the proceedings.

This is a quiet novel, about the lives of very ordinary folk. There are no grand fireworks, but rather the unspoken intensity of relationships flailing. This is Rupert Dastur's debut novel, and his writing is lean but effective, and he does a lot in such a short space to make you care for these people and the troubles they face. It makes me very keen to see what he does next.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

[Chris Chanona · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a straightforward read about a family in Wales. John is the farmer who is struggling against debt. Catrin is his wife who teaches piano. The story is largely narrated through these two protagonists.

A twist is that their eldest son, Harri, is in the army and this is the time of the Iraq War. There is always present the underlying fear for him which makes their every day struggles even worse.

It is an engaging story and I warmed to Catrin, less so to John. Not quite there for me; it was less than literary fiction but better than romance.

I read a copy provided by NetGalley and the publishers.

[Hannah Webster · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful capturing of a moment in time. I couldn’t put it down. The characters are complex and compelling. You empathise with them and find yourself questioning them in equal measure. I was transported to the beautiful Welsh landscape in an instant. Some of the descriptions are like poetry. Everybody must read it!

[Gethin Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the usual book i read. It feels very real at points which is I think what kept me reading. I would abolutly recommend this book as a bit of palette clenser. Its quite a straight forward read. It did take me a few chapters to get involved but once I did I enjoyed. However, I do think Harri’s story is a bit to brief. I dunno if thats the right word but his story seems to advance so much quicker and more dramaticallly that the others, which comparaed to the well paced stories of the other family member sticks out a bit to me.

[Jamad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cloudless is a debut novel that announces a powerful new voice. The writing is beautiful, precise, and often lyrical, drawing the reader into its atmosphere from the very first page. There is a strong sense of place throughout, which anchors the narrative and gives it real weight.

At times the story feels unrelenting in its intensity, which may not suit every reader, but it also speaks to the author’s commitment to honesty in the themes being explored. While not always an easy read, it is a deeply rewarding one. A striking debut that lingers long after the final page.

thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

[Katrina Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

At some points I found the exploration of infidelity, war, rural life, addiction and growing up a bit too constructed. A bit too many themes being explored within one small network of characters. However I was routinely brought to a standstill by passages. Some of this writing is exceptional and it really makes you consider the human capacity to simply keep going (for good or ill) when the world around you feels like it is collapsing.

[Maria Bru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful debut novel.
Its tender and bittersweet. It was straight-forward to read; going through the separate lives of family members as their world starts to crack and their relationships deteriorate after the oldest son goes to fight in Iraq

[Alice Tyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written imo & great breadcrumbing of details that kept me engaged right up until the last few pages. Very invested in this family

[Fatguyreading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cloudless is an unrelenting, brooding tale of family, love, war and relationships, and of how those relationships can breakdown under incredible pressure, but under the right circumstances, can rebuild and endure.

We follow John and Catrin, barely surviving on a failing Llandudno sheep farm and dealing with an agonising wait for their son, Harri, to return from Iraq. His decision to serve his country left his parents staggered, and their other son, Rhys, is at school, and is dealing with his own demons, that he doesn't want to talk about.

To make matters worse, Catrin's childhood sweetheart returns to his hometown and gives Catrin a look at the life she could have lead. And John falls back into gambling.

Can Catrin and John's relationship survive? Will Harri return from war? Will Rhys pull through? Be sure to pick your copy up to find out.

Written in beautiful, compassionate prose, it's a devastating read that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

It's a read that may very well break your heart, but not exactly in a hurtful way, more of a wholesome way. It's thought-provoking, thoughtful, unflinching and a real tour de force of a debut novel.

5 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 's from me.

[Steve Cripwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is autumn 2004 and in a farmhouse on the hills outside Llandudno, a family endures the agonizing wait for their son to return from Iraq. His decision to join up has left them reeling, yet there are other pressing concerns to be met at home: the working of the farmland that has been theirs for generations and what to do with their troubled younger son.

This is a beautifully written book. The descriptions of landscapes, people and animals are breathtaking. It immediately envelops the reader in the central family with all the problems which surround them. Great writing and satisfying reading.

[Tina Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank to the publisher and to netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

Cloudless is a beautifully written piece, set on a hill farm in rural North Wales, close to Llandudno. As with many small farms, it is a real struggle to make this a financial success. This a major factor in the story arc. John inherited the family farm and, as with many farmers, he is as closely connected to the land, the weather and the challenges of the farm, as it is possible to be. For his wife and one of his sons this connection is less strong and Catrin has an alternative, creative drive in her life, while oldest son Harri has enlisted and is serving in Blair's Iraq campaign, in the era of WMD, whereas younger brothe Rhys deals with the frustration of school days, when in reality he would rather be working the farm alongside his Dad.

The twin anxieties of making the farm pay and dealing with fear over Harri, drive the narrative, pushing both John and Catrin into actions and situations which are out of character and out of their control. There is a point in the novel where this all feels very negative but the reader will be drawn along by the beautiful writing about the environment, the way the farming year is described and by the hope that these flawed but essentially sympathetic and human characters will find a solution.

They do manage to turn things around and there is a deep, unspoken emotion which is very well expressed and feels very true.

A lovely, escapist read about the challenges of rural life, the impact of addictive behaviour, the horror of overseas campaigns, the impact of these issues on families and the vital importance of love, trust and patience upon enduring relationships both with each other and with the land where we live.

I absolutely loved this novel an recommend it.

[Jackie Murrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set on a Welsh farm in 2004, this is the story of a family approaching their limits. John runs the farm like his grandfather and father before him, but is struggling with big debts. In a bid to clear them, he has returned to his old addiction, gambling. His wife Catrin has put her career in music aside to be a loyal farmer’s wife, but is unable to resist an affair with her former boyfriend, who represents a different and alluring kind of life. Meanwhile their eldest son, Harri, has joined the army and been sent to Iraq, and is much missed by his younger brother who has started to get in trouble at school. As Harri’s letters become increasingly concerning and fearful, the family will need all their love and strength to move forward. Beautifully written and with a strong sense of place and landscape, this is a gripping story, realistic but emotional. The characters are flawed but likeable as they battle their various demons and make tough choices, battered by the seasonal shifts and economic pressures, but supported by family and by the community that they are a part of and that is part of them. However bad things seem, there is always a sense of hope which prevents the narrative from becoming too grim, but it does pack a punch on issues such as war, sexuality and addiction as well as the dying out of old traditions and the need to adapt to change in order to survive. Highly recommended.

[Gordon Smart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in 2004 at the time of the Iraq invasion, Catrin and John are Welsh hill farmers who haves son, Harri, enlisted in Iraq and teenage son, Rhys, living at home. John is addicted to gambling and has secretly built up massive debts. Cardin is unhappy in her marriage. They both worry about Harri and whether he is safe, ever fearful for a knock on the door by the military with bad news from abroad. Meanwhile Rhys is struggling at school. An old flame of Catrin’s, Matthew, appears and they begin an affair. Bailiffs turn up to seize property in lieu of John’s debts and Catrin’s treasured piano is taken. Their relationship is at breaking point.
The story is told from various characters’ viewpoints which works well and helps the reader to empathise with them. I did find it all rather bleak as all the characters are seemingly ground down by life . Will Catrin escape to a new life in which she seems trapped? Will something good happen to change all their lives around?
It’s really a book about a family facing hard times and not an easy read at times but well written with some good descriptions of farming and the Welsh countryside.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a ARC in return for an honest review.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cloudless by Rupert Dastur his debut novel is a poignant story of a troubled family who eke a living from their farm in Llandudno set in 2004 which brought a lump in my throat as the parents John and Catrin tried to save their marriage, John the Father has a gambling habit, their older son Harri aged only sixteen fighting a war in Iraq and the angst of waiting for him to return home the agony of waiting for his letters to arrive which they devoured. Their youngest son Rhys is at the teenage rebellious stage and is not getting on well at his school and adds more stress for his parents. Also Catrin's old flame Matthew comes back into her life and she begins to think that the grass may well be greener if she decides to leave John for him.

I loved the way Rupert Dastur describes the harsh reality of running a farm which was becoming a burden as John's gambling addiction spirals putting them all in jeopardy. Also the love the family feels for the animals on their farm. I loved the description of the wild flowers, the different cloud names and description. The blood sweat and tears along with the memories of happier times for this troubled family going through turbulent times was such a moving story.

[Lynne McConway · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in 2004, Cloudless is about a family of four living in a farm in the Welsh countryside who are coping with the recent departure of their son, Harri, who is on a tour of duty in Iraq. The novel is told from multiple perspectives and builds a picture of a fractured, unhappy couple whose relationship is disintegrating.

Whilst I enjoyed the evocative setting of the farm, I didn't engage as much with the detailed descriptions of farming and equipment, The husband seemed selfish and it was difficult to develop empathy for him. I'm not quite sure what was missing for me as I couldn't fault the writing itself. It was perhaps more of an 'interior' narrative than I like,

I'd certainly recommend others to try the book as it was well written and, for the right reader, could be really enjoyable.

[Steve Capel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting story about a welsh hill farming family.. Set in the early 200’s the family is beset with worries and problems including the fact that the eldest son is a serving soldier in Iraq. Throughout the book there are excerpts from the Iraq enquiry as the author makes political points about the legality of the war and the conduct of Blair and Bush. While the farmer struggles both to make ends meet and cope with his gambling addiction his younger son gets into difficulties at school and his wife drifts into an affair with an old friend from her university days. The hardships faced by hill sheep farmers trying to make a living off the land are vividly described and the sexuality of the characters is sympathetically dealt with.
Truly a tale of our modern changing times but with hope at its heart.

[Anton Straney-Kraft · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful debut about a family wading through the struggles of life: one son has joined the army, the other struggles in school; the husband's addiction has dragged the family into financial ruin, while the wife is searching for happiness in a world that seems to only contain darkness.

The story is beautifully atmospheric; I could almost imagine every scene playing out in front of my eyes, like in a painting. The characters, while flawed, have been crafted with such tenderness that you can't help but root for all of them.

It's one of my favourite reads of the year, and I can't wait to buy a copy when it's released later in 2025.

[GP Hyde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of family secrets - secret addictions, secret affairs and secret loves. The setting is a farm in North Wales run by husband-and-wife team, John and Catrin. John is struggling to make the farm pay its way. He is drawn into gambling as a way of making money to pay off debts. Catrin is a talented musician and composer but who has become a housewife and farm helper.

The third principal character is the elder son, Harri, who has calculated that his best chance of a career is to take up an Army scholarship at university, serve for the required time and the leave for a life in civvy street. But his plan had been upended because the year is 2004 and Harri has been sent to fight in the Iraq war.

But for the first half of the book, Harri is never present but away on the front-line. We learn about him from the thoughts of his parents, John and Catrin and his letters home. There is a framing device in which extracts from BBC News and the Chilcot Inquiry are interposed into the main narrative taking place in North Wales. Ironically, because the writing of these characters and the North Wales setting is so good and so alive, the dry factual text of these interpolations is of little interest. I suspect that most readers will, like I did, simply skip over these extracts so as to get back to the real-life stories. These are riveting and very well-written. Dry statistics? Not so much. But Harri does make it home and we catch sight of his relationship with Simon, a farmhand.

I found the final 5% of this novel to be quite out of step with the preceding narrative. This is a story of difficult lives lived with secrets and stresses in a harsh environment but the concluding sections segued into ‘a satisfying ending’. Did the author feel he needed to achieve an ending of mellow resolution whereby people walk away holding hands? It seemed just too emotionally rosy and seemed to be the ending from a different type of novel.

But this is a novel full of very good characterisations and brilliantly insightful showing the tough life of a sheep farmer and of a soldier on the frontline. The author shows a woman facing the emotional conflict between loyalty and self-fulfilment.

This is a quite brilliant debut novel and we can look forward to a second novel where the author will have moved on and away from that sheep farm in North Wales.
My thanks go to Fig Tree of Penguin Books for making available a pre-publication copy so that I might write an honest and unbiased review.

[Ollie · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s a slackness about the writing, with an abundance of trite observations and sloppy metaphors. Much of the dialogue is unconvincing.

For me, the main flaw of the book is also a recurrent problem with much of modern literature, where you can find countless examples of both anachronism and presentism. The former manifests in the inclusion of words and ideas that weren’t used in the way they are here (if they existed at all) while the latter seeks to project contemporary values or mindsets backwards.

Two examples of this in the book are characters engaging in ‘visualisation’ or talking about ‘rewilding’. Outside the West Coast wellness industry or conversation circles the use of these respective terms, at this time in this context, is very unlikely. These are just two examples of present-day preoccupations intruding on a story set in the past.

As for presentism Dastur isn't overly guilty. It's almost standard nowadays but often taken to the point of genuine absurdity (like an 'LGBTQ+' brothel in 1920s Damascus or something equally silly). But there is an enough of it here to provide me with an opening onto the subject. Traces of it are observable in John especially. His opinions on social and political matters are framed in a way that, to the trained eye, is unmistakably ‘now’ and would not have existed ten years ago, let alone in 2004. Given he’s essentially a straw-man to display and examine male shortcomings, as well as a certain form of (supposed) ignorance - and this is an important aspect of the story - it’s unsatisfactorily cartoonish.

Relatedly there is also a streak of heavy-handed foreshadowing. Here characters make passing comments on the outcome of, for instance, the Iraq War and the wealth-accumulation of Tony Blair that, *as luck would have*, subsequent years reveal as exceptionally accurate forecasts. There’s a real lack of guile about it.

There are some good lines in the book and the emotional pitch as the story reaches its conclusion is nicely done, wisely avoiding melodrama. There’s a sensitive disposition to the book – enough that I would read the author further – but just too many technical flaws. A fair debut novel. [2.5 stars]

[Asha KRISHNA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bravo, what a read. Easily one of my top reads of the year. I know we are not much into the year yet, but I can safely say this one is up there for me.

Cloudless is Dastur's debut but doesn't feel like one. His ability to manoeuvre the narrative, - just like the ups and downs of the Welsh landscape the story is set in - leaves the reader in good hands.

While driving through the countryside, I would often spot isolated houses amid acres of land and livestock and wonder about their inhabitants.
Cloudless just took me inside one of them. I could relate to their struggles and rejoice in their optimism. The satisfaction of turning the last page felt similar to walking out of a theatre at the end of a great movie.

Dastur brings the realities of farming life with great prose and there are some striking scenes, marking pivotal moments in the story. There is a strong sense of place and the way he balances the rural and the urban setting is testament to his craft. Also, must be said about the peripheral characters who leave an impact on the story and that is where I think the strength of Cloudless lies. The tight narrative where every element serves a purpose.

I really enjoyed getting to know the principal characters Catrin, John, Rhys, Harris and their fallacies that endear them to the reader. The degree of emotional investment is high as the reader is caught up with these character entangled in their actions and motives.

Then there is this element of the personal and the political. Dastur does a seamless job of weaving in this political context about political ambition affecting ordinary lives. This social commentary documents an important time in contemporary history while offering sharp insights into farming life in this bureaucratic age. It is this juxtaposition that elevates Cloudless this story from an ordinary story to one that hits a chord with the reader.

It is a story I will come back to again. For now, I am buying a copy to gift my bookish friend.