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A Terrible Kindness

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A Terrible Kindness

By: Jo Browning Wroe
Narrated by: David Dawson
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About this listen

*INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*

*AN OBSERVER DEBUT OF 2022*

*AS FEATURED ON FRONT ROW*

When we go through something impossible, someone, or something, will help us, if we let them . . .

It is October 1966 and William Lavery is having the night of his life at his first black-tie do. But, as the evening unfolds, news hits of a landslide at a coal mine. It has buried a school: Aberfan. William decides he must act, so he stands and volunteers to attend. It will be his first job as an embalmer, and it will be one he never forgets. His work that night will force him to think about the little boy he was, and the losses he has worked so hard to forget. But compassion can have surprising consequences, because - as William discovers - giving so much to others can sometimes help us heal ourselves.

Biography: Jo Browning Wroe grew up in a crematorium in Birmingham. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and is now Creative Writing Supervisor at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. Her debut novel, A Terrible Kindness, was shortlisted for the Bridport Peggy Chapman-Andrews award. She has two adult daughters and lives with her husband in Cambridge.

©2022 Jo Browning Wroe (P)2022 Faber Audio Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Romance Tear-jerking Heartfelt

Critic reviews

"It's a long time since I've read a debut novel that moved me so much." (Rachel Joyce)

"Extraordinary." (Sophie Hannah)

"A brave and tender novel." (Joanna Glen)
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I am welsh and lived in south wales Not far from ABERFAN. My father was one of the first men that ran to the scene immediately after the slag slipped.onto the school. My mother didn't see him for 3days as he tried to rescue and recover the children and adults. He has NEVER spoken about what happened in those 3days. I tried to broach the subject with my father once and he quickly closed the conversation down with a description about the disaster that is not appropriate for this review. The audio book was just wonderful and a insight to what really happened behind those closed doors of the chapels. The accents were right on. Thank you for putting this book onto the audiobook collection.

A terrible kindness

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I loved the characters in this book. They are real and believable. I cared for them. The main character, William... wow, one of the loveliest people. I didn't want this book to stop!!!

My favourite book for a long time!

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One of the best books I have had from audible. Fabulous narration and captivating story. So different from anything I have read before, all the characters were believable and the narrator got each one perfectly. I felt like I knew each and every one. After reading other’s reviews I thought it was all about the Aberfan disaster, but it wasnt what I expected, obviously the story pivots around this, but there is so much more and it is written in a deep and considerate way winding Williams life and story around each character beautifully. I didn’t want it to end!

Absolutely wonderful

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An absolutely beautiful story, so well written and narrated. I honestly didn't want it to end. Superb.

Simply Beautiful

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This is probably the best audiobook I ever listened to and this is largely due to the brilliant narration. Whoever is responsible for commissioning audiobooks for audible needs to listen to A Terrible Kindness and then get David Dawson to narrate Game of Thrones instead of the awful version my Mr Dotrice.

Probably the best audio book I ever listened to

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