This collection of short stories follows hard on the heels of the author's award-winning novel, Mr Cassini. But the 25 stories are a sharp departure from Lloyd Jones' previous works. Each very different tale is a short, simple bedtime read encompassing everyday subjects such as life, work, sex, Welshness and death.

Mae'r casgliad hwn o straeon byrion yn olynu cyfrol arobryn yr awdur, Mr Cassini. Ond mae'r 25 stori sydd yn y gyfrol hon yn dilyn trywydd tipyn yn wahanol i weithiau blaenorol Lloyd Jones. Mae'r straeon yn fyr ac yn syml ac yn sôn am bethau bob-dydd fel bywyd, gwaith, rhyw, Cymreictod a marwolaeth.

When Lloyd Jones gave up drinking a few years ago, he vowed to do these things: ‘to write three books, walk completely around Wales, walk across Wales seven times, and circumnavigate Wales by water’. The walk around Wales gave rise to Mr Vogel, which won the McKitterick Prize; Mr Cassini emerged from the walk across Wales seven times and won the Wales Book of the Year Award. Now we have My First Colouring Book, a collection of short stories and essays, to complete the three-books promise but Jones has yet to circumnavigate Wales by water – which surely means we can hope for more.

For anyone unfamiliar with Jones’s writing, I would tentatively suggest beginning at the end with the four essays. Jones’s personality and his deep-rootedness in Wales come powerfully to life in his pithy non-fiction, with its unassuming, slightly self-derogatory tone. His keenly observant eye ranges over all things natural and human, dismissing nothing as too trivial for consideration, and it is precisely this generosity of spirit and attention to detail that make some of the short stories so memorable.

Indeed, many of the stories are about memory, with characters of all ages and walks in life remembering, recording, seeking ‘to recover all those valuable episodes strewn around my brain, littering the floors of remembrance’. The past is constantly revisited and reviewed, often by first-person narrators touched by the awareness of death. There are bizarre flights of fancy, down-to-earth musings, dark humour, and tales steeped in the history and mythology not just of Wales but of the author’s own family. The many threads are maintained throughout by a consistent narrative voice and deftly drawn together in the final story which, incidentally, you should leave till last . . .

Suzy Ceulan Hughes


It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.