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Newfoundland
Ynys-morlan is a dying tourist resort on the west coast of Wales. But when a mysterious American gives its inhabitants millions of dollars to reverse the decline of the village, things necessarily change - although daily life still seems to hand out its share of romance, trauma and heartache.
1002 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
1 person is currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Rebbecca Ray
8 books36 followersRebbecca Ray was born in 1979, to dope smoking, goat-rearing, hippy artist parents, in the most rural area of Mid Wales. Home life and school life held great disparities and produced a precocious, ambitious teenager. But a love of words and ideas didn't prove enough to counter a problem with authority or the tendency towards a rocky personal life and Ray left school at 17, to produce her first novel, the controversial best-seller A Certain Age.
Published by Penguin when she was 18, the book opened many doors and Ray was to spend most of the next ten years in London, traversing a full spectrum of jobs and lifestyles; from fiction writing and journalism to waitressing, penthouse chic in Canary Wharf to ketamine experiments in basement squats in Hackney, all the while working on her second novel, a thousand page long love letter to Wales, Newfoundland.
Shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Commonwealth Prize in '05, Newfoundland was received with passionate reviews. The culmination of seven years' work, it left Ray eager to concentrate on new horizons. She married a South African artist and 'rave' organiser in 2004, and together they have spent the last three years developing a festival in Mid Wales which unites music - live and electronic - with art, literature and performance. The Newfoundland Secret Summer Gathering is a biannual not-for-profit event, generating donations for arts and community organisations in Wales and across the UK.
In the last 3 years, living with her husband on the farm where she grew up, Ray has completed a third novel, The Answer, inspired by her experiences of squatting and homelessness in London, contributed to short fiction anthologies The Flash and Perverted by Language, and taught creative writing through organisations such as the Arvon Foundation.
She continues to pursue a diverse range of projects: starting work on a fourth book, taking part in preparations for the Newfoundland 09 Secret Summer Gathering, travelling, occasionally working in pubs, often sitting on street corners and generally attempting to find an even keel.
Published by Penguin when she was 18, the book opened many doors and Ray was to spend most of the next ten years in London, traversing a full spectrum of jobs and lifestyles; from fiction writing and journalism to waitressing, penthouse chic in Canary Wharf to ketamine experiments in basement squats in Hackney, all the while working on her second novel, a thousand page long love letter to Wales, Newfoundland.
Shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Commonwealth Prize in '05, Newfoundland was received with passionate reviews. The culmination of seven years' work, it left Ray eager to concentrate on new horizons. She married a South African artist and 'rave' organiser in 2004, and together they have spent the last three years developing a festival in Mid Wales which unites music - live and electronic - with art, literature and performance. The Newfoundland Secret Summer Gathering is a biannual not-for-profit event, generating donations for arts and community organisations in Wales and across the UK.
In the last 3 years, living with her husband on the farm where she grew up, Ray has completed a third novel, The Answer, inspired by her experiences of squatting and homelessness in London, contributed to short fiction anthologies The Flash and Perverted by Language, and taught creative writing through organisations such as the Arvon Foundation.
She continues to pursue a diverse range of projects: starting work on a fourth book, taking part in preparations for the Newfoundland 09 Secret Summer Gathering, travelling, occasionally working in pubs, often sitting on street corners and generally attempting to find an even keel.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 21, 2020
This is a long book; at over a thousand pages. Most books of a similar length tend to have an epic sweep about them: Les Miserables, War and Peace and the like. This one doesn’t. It focuses on an imaginary Welsh small town near Aberystwyth called Ynys-morlan. It is a seaside town that is gradually crumbling; hit by decline, by holidays taken abroad and a lack of investment. The cast of characters is limited, not many more than a dozen significant ones and we spend a thousand pages with them. Into this mix comes an American woman, Charlotte Weyland, who buys a house on a hill near the town and does it up. She strikes up a friendship with a local woman, Ruth Lewis, who helps her in the garden. Charlotte has a legacy from her mother which she does not want. It is £33 million and she decides to give it to the town to renovate it. That is the plot, the effects of suddenly getting what you always wanted for your house/business. Beware of what you wish for. Ray looks at the effects on the community and on the relationships of the main characters.
This is not a book with humour in it. The effects of the money are mainly negative for the relationships of the current occupants, although good for the infrastructure. The pace of the novel is slow and some of the slow build tragedies reminded me a little of Hardy. There is a very good exploration of domestic abuse and Ray tries to get into the minds of both parties with some success. Ray’s attempt to explain and understand the mind of the abuser struggles a little with brutal masculinity and attempts to redeem it by explanations of misplaced love and aimless life. Maybe, but I wasn’t convinced, maybe he’s just a brutal thug.
Although this is set in Wales, it does not feel Welsh, the sense of place isn’t that strong, and that’s not entirely true, there is a sense of bleak abandoned seaside town. With the houses that "looked like a line of driftwood that had been piled here by the sea". There are a few loose ends, a few happyish endings and more tragedies. There are also things which took place which made me think: “That would never happen”, particularly a couple of the sexual encounters. It’s a character driven novel with deeply flawed characters that you get to know very well because you spend a thousand pages in their company. If you like that sort of thing then this may be for you. I wanted to like it more.
This is not a book with humour in it. The effects of the money are mainly negative for the relationships of the current occupants, although good for the infrastructure. The pace of the novel is slow and some of the slow build tragedies reminded me a little of Hardy. There is a very good exploration of domestic abuse and Ray tries to get into the minds of both parties with some success. Ray’s attempt to explain and understand the mind of the abuser struggles a little with brutal masculinity and attempts to redeem it by explanations of misplaced love and aimless life. Maybe, but I wasn’t convinced, maybe he’s just a brutal thug.
Although this is set in Wales, it does not feel Welsh, the sense of place isn’t that strong, and that’s not entirely true, there is a sense of bleak abandoned seaside town. With the houses that "looked like a line of driftwood that had been piled here by the sea". There are a few loose ends, a few happyish endings and more tragedies. There are also things which took place which made me think: “That would never happen”, particularly a couple of the sexual encounters. It’s a character driven novel with deeply flawed characters that you get to know very well because you spend a thousand pages in their company. If you like that sort of thing then this may be for you. I wanted to like it more.
May 3, 2014
I think by page 100 of a 1006 page long novel you should be at least a little bit in love with it. But truth be told, the only way I’m gonna read any more of this is if Rebbecca Ray kidnaps me and gives me the Clockwork Orange treatment
Sling yer hook, yer daft long book.
No, let me be clearer - sling yer hook, yer daft long obvious-metaphor-strewn miserablist soap-operactic maundering depressive mawkish pawky novel with your deaf children and mentally challenged men and scuzzy teenage fathers, your grafitti and your nailed up shops, your leaden skies and hampered lives. Did I want to read a thousand page Smiths song? No. I was misinformed.
Sling yer hook, yer daft long book.
No, let me be clearer - sling yer hook, yer daft long obvious-metaphor-strewn miserablist soap-operactic maundering depressive mawkish pawky novel with your deaf children and mentally challenged men and scuzzy teenage fathers, your grafitti and your nailed up shops, your leaden skies and hampered lives. Did I want to read a thousand page Smiths song? No. I was misinformed.
July 27, 2011
This would be a perfect novel, but its length is its downfall. Over half could have been cut out and the book would be stronger for it. Rebbecca Ray is a fantastic writer though, and her extraordinary characters carried me through to the end.
December 9, 2021
Like many others, I've tried to like this book and get into it, but it's slow and the characters have not hooked me. As a Canadian, I wondered at the title - nothing to do with our easternmost province, but Wales, of all places. Along with several others who have rated this book, 1000 pages is too much for me to struggle through. Did not finish.
January 12, 2025
It wasn't quite the cosy welsh village story i thought it was going to be.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews