A raw and beautiful tale of life in Cwmcysgod, a small Welsh village in the Valleys. This novella is brutal in its content and exquisite in its prose. It packs a huge punch into 176 pages. Perfect for fans of Claire Keegan and Sarah Moss.

This Novella was quite strange. It’s extremely slow and in my opinion too wordy. You know like really long flowery paragraphs that could of got the message over simpler and less complicated?

The story is based in a small Welsh village and centres around a number of characters. Absolutely none of them appealed to me or drew me in. I am even struggling to write this as still rather baffled about the entire point.

I guessed the reveal very early on and to be honest the book only got good after that point. It’s quite late in the novella too. However despite it being the most interesting part, briefly, it still did very little for me. This was lacklustre and too much over description used. It had real promise but fell short. It’s not one I’d recommend. 2 stars, it would be 1 star but for the slightly better parts after the reveal.

So much more could of made the storyline and message powerful. By the way, some reviews mention triggers. Nope. The one tiny thing is cushioned so vaguely you could miss it completely so if you read it don’t worry about that.

Set in the Welsh valleys, it tells the story of the the residents of a village and their relationship to a beautiful young woman called Rosalind Bone.
Rosalind had walked away from the village years ago, never to be heard of again.
All the family have left is a photo - what drove Rosalind to go all those years ago.
Loved seeing how the inhabitants interlinked and how they brought the story to life.
How you can build up or tear down, showing how judgemental behaviour and stereotyping others on looks can impact lives.
A confident debut novel with Clare Keegan vibes.
Thanks @alexmccarthy @doubledayukbooks & @netgalley for the eARC

Welsh author Alex McCarthy’s debut novella’s partly inspired by her time in the Welsh Valleys. Set in the small village of Cwmcysgod, McCarthy’s story moves between 2001 and scenes from the more distant past, it’s centred on the Bone family, teenage Catrin and Mother Mary each haunted by the loss of Mary’s sister Rosalind who disappeared over 20 years ago. Rosalind was the village beauty, fussed over since she was small, she seemed destined for a great future but one day she just vanished. The mystery of Rosalind’s whereabouts ties McCarthy’s narrative together but this is just as much a portrait of the village and the characters who dominate its day-to-day. It’s an atmospheric piece, often beautifully-observed with a pleasing sense of place, but I found the lyrical style a little overdone for my personal taste. I also felt it was slightly weighed down with incident: from suicide to arson to juvenile delinquency to vagrancy to child abuse. It probably didn’t help that I worked out a major plot twist very early on. However, it’s great to have more new writing from Wales and I think it’s very possible this will appeal to fans of writers like Claire Foster - another author whose style doesn’t quite work for me.

I enjoyed this book very much as the author skilfully explores the lives past and present of the inhabitants of a small Welsh village. Hidden secrets come to light and as the tale unfolds the characters develop in a pleasing way. The writing is beautiful, evoking the splendour of the Welsh mountains and countryside as well as the mess humans make of it and their lives. I particularly liked the way the author goes into the thoughts and feelings of the characters which felt very real and natural and relatable. There is sadness as tragic events are recalled but also hope and redemption that gives pleasure and satisfaction together with a light humour making it very readable and moreish. It made me smile as I finished it and I can't ask for more than that.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC.

General fiction is always beautiful to read. This was a very short read for me but I enjoy it since is set in a Welsh environment. The most beautiful thing about this book is the prose it was written, it was beautiful to read and very enjoyable. This book hit you hard when you not expecting it, the story is about grief, pain, mental health, love and all the pains we as woman’s have to endure in our life. What make me love more this book is the capacity of the author of connect the narratives. I adore the bond and sisterhood in this book. And how important is HOPE in our life’s. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the autor for let me hace access to this beautiful book.

A 3.75-4⭐️/5 read

Before reading, I highly recommend checking this short novel’s trigger warnings. To be quite frank, had I known what was happening to the main character Rosalind, I wouldn’t have read the book. There are a few things that I prefer avoiding reading about, if I can help it. That is why I think publishers should star indicating trigger warnings in the books.

This said, the short novel is well written, descriptive without being overly so, intense, painful, uncomfortable. It is in neither light or nor gentle for it portrays the dark side of life that can be masqueraded by everyday’s life.

It is the story of the Bone sisters, mainly Rosalind whose beauty is unrivaled and a curse, and who goes through the unthinkable. Life is not kind to any of the characters in this novel, but Rosalind especially. It is also the story of a little hamlet where people go about their lives (often willingly) oblivious to what is happening around them and with a tendency to look the other way.

To be frank, the ending was a tiny bit rushed. I wish [SPOILER ALERT!] we could have witnessed the mending of years of incomprehension and of being apart and the rebuilding of the relationship between the two sisters.[/SPOILER ALERT]

I was sucked in immediately by the beauty of the writing in the first few lines - and was then absorbed, finishing within 24 hours. Lyrical, personal, and immersive, a window into some of the inhabitants of a small Welsh village and the events that shaped a life

This short novel is set in a small post Welsh post-mining town of Cwmcysgod (which means ‘shadow valley’). The village is full of dark secrets particularly around the missing Rosalind Bone and the interest from her niece Catrin in finding out more about her. Especially as she is told ‘You’ve got the look of Rosalind Bone with none of the beauty.’

The novel has a shadowy feeling in its narrative as it flits back and forward from the 1970s to 2001. There are hidden secrets and many damaged individuals seeking a place for their true selves. Alex McCarthy captures a strong sense of place but an uneasy, unsettling one. A novel for fans of Sarah Moss.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for a review copy.

I was drawn to this one because it was set in the Welsh valleys and I am always interested in reading stories set in Wales or from Welsh authors. The story is set mostly around two sisters of which one suffered at the hands of a child abuser when she was a kid. It is based around a sad story that is very well written and portrays life very well in a small Welsh village. One or two parts made me laugh like seeing the word twp (which was a very typical Welsh saying) which I haven't heard anyone say for a long time but always made me laugh. It's not a very long book around 180 pages, I would recommend this one.
#netgalley #bookstagram #bookstagramuk #booksofinstagram #bookstagrammer  #bookrecommendations #bookreview #bookreviews #readingtime #theunbrokenbeautyofRosalindBone #AlexMccarthy

This a short novel but it's packed with emotions, events and features strong characters and a lovely setting.
There's a lot of darkness in the lovely villaged, there's memories and struggles.
A well plotted and strong novel.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The first thing that stood out to me was the cover. It is absolutely stunning and I would 100% have this hanging in my future home. The premise really intrigued me and I’m glad I got the chance to read it. It was a very interesting experience. The writing was lyrical with short chapters, which is great. However, the story was a bit slow at times and it felt like a rollercoaster in terms of the pace - one minute I was reading it fast and couldn’t put it down, the next I was a bit bored, and then was obsessed again. I was a little bit confused at the characters and it took me a while to get used to who was who, but in the end I thought most of them were great. They each had their own fleshed out story and background, and I loved their development even for a book so short. It was very well done. I enjoyed the fact that the story was set in Wales, which is where half my family come from, so it was nice to see the Welsh representation done so well. Overall I had a lovely reading experience and enjoyed my time. It was a nice, short story with some great themes running through them which I thoroughly appreciated.

Thank you to @netgalley for this #gifted #arc in exchange for an honest review. This book will be published on the 15th June 2023 so grab a copy whilst you can📚

3.75/5⭐️

A beautifully written book that explores the downside of beauty in an intriguing and devastating way.

Society assumes that, for a young woman, being beautiful, is an asset to be desired, however in this story, Rosalind’s beauty changes the course of her life in terrible ways.

Set in a small Welsh village, where the community all know each other, the characters are well developed, particularly Dai and Daniel and their stories all weave together intricately.

It’s a short book, but oh so powerful and deserves every one of its five stars.

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This is a slim but powerful novella about a small village in the Welsh valleys, the unique characters that make up that life and how as one they can build you up or tear you down. How you can be summed up with one word that will stay with you and how people can so easily turn a blind eye to the wrongdoings around them. I enjoyed this and the strength Rosalind Bone showed.

Thank you to @netgalley and @penguinbookssouthafrica for an e-arc of this stunner in exchange for my honest opinion.

'Tucked into the Welsh valleys and encircled by silver birch and pine, the village of Cwmcysgod may appear a quiet, sleepy sort of place. But beneath the surface, tensions simmer, hearts ache, and painful truths threaten to emerge'

Set in this atmospheric town, Catrin Bone is 16 and lives with her reclusive / Agoraphobic mother, Mary. Knowing only what she has been told her entire life, Catrin starts to wonder what is truth and what is fiction.

Her aunt, Rosalind Bone has always been a HUSHED subject no one talks about, not even her mother - who keeps the only photo she has of her sister buried at the bottom of a cluttered kitchen drawer. She doesn't know Catrin knows it's there, but she does. The only thing Catrin knows is that Rosalind's beauty was unmatched and unparalleled - no one knows what became of Rosalind, not even her own sister, they just all assumed she left for bigger and better things.

They could not have been more wrong!

An old man with dementia walks the town, buying the same items at the grocery store for years, no one questions him due to his condition.

The Clements brothers are trash, or so everyone thinks of them anyway. Deciding they will amount to nothing either way. The youngest use to be Catrin's best friend - and she misses him. Now they are both alone.

Wow wee, what an impactful novella. Short but SO POWERFUL. This book hit me RIGHT in the gut.

The writing was SO beautiful, so descriptive, I could picture everything and everyone so vividly, down to the lines on their faces.

During the story you kind of get snippets of different characters and different POV's but not before long they all start coming together in the most moving way.

This story is about jealousy, pain, grief, love and everything else woman have had to endure throughout the ages.

This book does explore some heavy topics so please check out trigger warnings.

Loved this 👌

“The Unbroken Beauty of Rosalind Bone" by Alex McCarthy takes readers on an enchanting journey through the idyllic village of Cwmcysgod, Wales. This heartfelt story explores the power of family, the longing for reconciliation, and the profound impact of past tragedies on present lives.

Sixteen-year-old Catrin Bone questions the truths she's been told and unravels the mysteries surrounding her reclusive mother, Mary. The disappearance of Mary's sister, Rosalind, years ago looms over the village, shrouded in shame and unanswered questions.

Through a skillful intertwining of narratives, McCarthy introduces us to the Clements brothers, struggling with financial hardships, and old Dai Bevel, whose dreams hold a connection to the past. As their stories converge, long-held secrets come to light, painting a vivid picture of a village grappling with its hidden demons.

At its core, this novel celebrates the strength of sisterhood, exploring the complex bond between Mary and Rosalind. Their journey highlights the power of love, resilience, and the longing for reconciliation, offering a compelling portrayal of the enduring ties that connect family.

"The Unbroken Beauty of Rosalind Bone" also shows the power of hope throughout its pages. The characters, burdened by their own struggles, find solace in the possibility of redemption and a chance for a brighter future.

Love, in all its forms, plays a significant role in this captivating tale. Love serves as a healing force, providing comfort and moments of joy amidst the characters' trials and tribulations.

Pain, both physical and emotional, weaves through the lives of the villagers in Cwmcysgod. As the sins of the past approach, they are forced to confront their actions and face the consequences.

"The Unbroken Beauty of Rosalind Bone" is a beautifully crafted novel that captures the heart and imagination. With its themes of love, pain, and secrets, this book offers a powerful exploration of human emotions and the resilience of the human spirit.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for sending me an electronic ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a resident of Wales, I always like to see a regional Welsh story and this more than met the brief.
This felt authentically Welsh and its prose was simply beautiful.

This is quite a short read, but has a lot packed in and being so emotionally driven, I think it was a good size read.

A vivid world.