I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did . It is about a family of Welsh sheepfarmers who are eking out an existance in 2004 . The elder son received a scholarship for university from the army and is now in Iraq on tour. In the first chapters, John and Catrin (the parents) and Rhys, who is still at school all have their own difficulties and are all missing Harri . There is not a lot of action, but the descritption paints a difficult existance in the wintertime where the family members are growing apart and financial problems are mounting up.
I suppose in some way , Harri's timeout at home is a turning point in the book. I had been hooked into the plot by this point and reading the book was less of a chore. I was not keen on the official reports at the start of the chapters but did like the switching viewpoints telling the story . The characters are well portrayed without lengthy descriptions. So although it took a few chapters to get into the book and the downwards spiral of family life in places, the book does a turnaround and life becomes more hopeful. Definately a book which requires a lot of thought rather than a quick read.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC

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.

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.

This is a well-written novel. The characters are not likeable, but that's as it should be in this particular case. They are highly flawed individuals — and thus uniquely human — living difficult lives, battling hardship and complicated relationships that are shaped by the austere environment of rural Wales and the circumstances in which they exist at the beginning of the 21st century.

A debut that has proved worth reading. I look forward to future novels by this author,

Many thanks to the publishers and to Netgalley for the ARC.

A family farming saga, with the usual worries over keeping land for the next generation, with rather too much(for me) of the tedious minutiae of farm and livestock chores. Each of the characters is suffering from some personal problem, gambling, infidelity, unfulfilled expectations, then add in a son gone off to war and it adds up to a rather depressing book. I didn’t feel the need for chapter introductions with Iraq war reports, and in fact skimmed past them, I did in fact skim through an awful lot of mundane detail.
I was interested in how things would play out, but never really felt invested with any of the characters, many of them seemed too stereotypical, like the city boy in his blue shirt and chinos who is the romantic competition of the piece.

Set in 2004 against the backdrop of the Iraq war this is a family story set in Wales. Catrin and John run a Welsh hill farm that has been in John's family for years but they are struggling to make ends meet. At first it appears this is the struggle is due to the farm not making money but it emerges that John has a serious gambling addiction and has built up thousands of pound worth of debt. Against this background an old friend of Catrin's reappears and she and Matthew reignite their relationship. The eldest son, Harri, has just been sent to Iraq as the army sponsored his stint at university, and the youngest son, Rhys, is playing up at school.
All in all the family is struggling, each with their own problems and against the backdrop of the decline in sheep farming, the weather, and the harsh Welsh landscape. The descriptions of farm and the setting ring true and well written but I found the plot predictable and I didn't bond closely with any of the characters closely enough to be fully invested in their outcome. I also found the clips from the Chilcott report unneccesary and after reading the first few I simply skipped over the rest - I prefer the political implications of things to written into a story rather than as a background.
Bleak, brutal and well written but missing something to grip me.
With thanks to Netgalley and Fig Tree, Penguin Random House UK for an arc copy in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed the beautiful prose, the vivid depictions of the natural landscapes and the raw humanity of the characters. What truly brought this book to life for me, however, are the juxtaposing sources of tension and how they entwine as the story develops. First there are the uncontrollable elements: the vagaries of climate, disease, and the harsh realities of nature, all of which threaten the farm's viability and place constant stress on the family. Then there's the impact of the Iraq War, a man-made catastrophe whose arbitrary and senseless nature is conveyed through excerpts from the final Iraq/Chilcot public inquiry report. Finally the story layers the human responses and frailties that appear to straddle the line between being within and beyond human control. Issues like addiction, attraction and misunderstanding seem both self-inflicted yet inherent to the character's nature. Rupert Dastur deftly weaves these elements together into a profoundly human narrative. Special thank you to Fig Tree, Penguin, Random House UK and NetGalley for a no obligation advance digital review copy.

I absolutely loved everything about this novel, which, ostensibly, covers the lives of a 'normal', everyday family. Set in Wales in 2004, the story follows John, who struggles with debts, and who resorts to gambling to sort it out. Wife, Catrin, discontent having shirked her music career to be a 'farmer's wife' has an affair with an ex-boyfriend, and as if that's not dramatic enough, son Harri has joined the army and is in Iraq. Because of Harri's growing fear, revealed in his letters, the family have to pull together, especially after the younger son gets into trouble at school. What I love about this novel (pretty much everything) is that often this kind of story takes over at the expense of the quality of writing. Not so here. Dastur is an absolutely brilliant writer. Can't recommend highly enough. Grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for the privilege of the ARC.

I mainly wanted to read this as I know the area the novel is set in. While I enjoyed it while I was reading it, nothing about it struck me as particularly new or interesting, it was all a bit predictable and the characters felt a bit flat and lifeless. Some of the writing was beautiful though.

This book gently draws you in to caring about each and every character, from wanting to shake John by the shoulders for believing he can gamble his way out of debt to a constant low lying anxiety that Harri will make it back from his tour of duty.
The focus on Catrin and John's marriage and the struggle they have staying afloat in uncertain times is sensitively explored and the general grind of everyday family life is grounding and real.
There are no twists or great surprises but I nevertheless reached the end of the book wanting more!

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 an ARC in return for an honest review.

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.

Family life on a Welsh hill farm. Extraordinary depiction of the landscape interwoven with the problems and successes of sheep farming in an unforgiving but beautiful environment. The lives and interactions of John, Catrin, Rhys and Harri are explored and explained with feeling and compassion for their addictions, mistakes and triumphs but most of all the impact of the Iraq war during 2004/5 on one serving soldier and his family.

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

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.

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.

Well not for the first time in my life I appear to be Billy No Mates in my liking of a book.
It's not fast paced but then it isn't meant to be. Puts me in mind of A Kestrel for a Knave- slice of life books. It's not a new story but it is one that every one can relate to. I remember the Iraq war very clearly, perhaps that helps. It did mean I could connnect with the book. I did like the factual reports. I felt they helped to give perspective and substance. I'm not a fan of Wales which was the only downside. A strong debut novel.
I can imagine this being made into a film (not TV series)
I also thought using the Iraq war was unique, so often WWI or WWII but this war did impact on a lot of people's lives expecially given the outcome
Enjoyed it

Set in 2004, in Wales, a couple navigate life and their son’s decision to go to Iraq.
The family experience several problems, and we go on a journey of challenges and tenderness with them.
Unfortunately, I expected more from this book, and must say that the style of the prose was not for me (more tell than show, in my opinion).
The books strong suits were the Llandudno landscape/setting, the representation of life in a small town, and some of the themes it tackles.
Plot: 2.5
Characterisation: 2.5
Prose: 2.5
Themes: 3.5
Overall, I round it up to 3 stars.
I hope other readers enjoy this more.

North Wales, 2004: John and Catrin are struggling farmers with a teenage son and another serving in Iraq. Over the course of a year, we follow a fractured relationship, infidelity and instability through the lens of the Welsh landscape and what are now historical events.

It’s funny to think of 2004-05 as ancient history, but it is. This is debut novel and it’s a well-written, thoughtful debut. However, I think the biggest problem is in its structure. The framing device is the Iraq War and its subsequent enquiry - each chapter begins with a death toll for that month in the narrative.

Events also seem to have some weighted significance - everything seems to have relevance to something else. You can make an educated guess at to what’s going to happen to the son in Iraq. The narrative also seems to have a number of themes (death, fate, chance, marriage) but there is not enough interconnectedness between them. The novel also ends with a coda a decade later which wraps things up a little too neatly.

In conclusion, it’s a portentious debut, with the prose too dense to just let the story drift. It’s published by Penguin on February 27th, 2025 and I thank them for a preview copy. #cloudless