Caryl Lewis, Gwen Davies (trans.) – The Jeweller

The first thing that strikes you when you read The Jeweller is that this blanket of serenity is draped over you. The descriptions are gentle, all the characters moved in hushed tones and even the pacing of the book is at a relaxed pace. It’s like settling down to a tea and biscuit after a long day at work.

However, dig deeper and there’s a lot going on.

Mari is the titular jeweller. She lives alone with her monkey Nanw and cat. During the day she runs a stall where she buys and sells jewellery and vintage clothing. On the side she collects ephemera and creates back stories for them. Her only friend, Mo runs a lingerie stall by day and collects dead people’s possessions during the night, which she sells at auctions. Mari joins her and that’s how she manages to find the wares for her stall and the many other knick knacks she collects. When the novel starts the reader finds out that the marketplace is going to be destroyed with some stalls remaining so already there’s a bit of tension among the sellers.

Saying that, this a more character based novel. Each of the protagonists are fleshed out and are made life like, there’s also a cinematic quality to the writing so I could easily imagine all the events played out clearly in my head.

Mari, is the most complex character as she does have a lot of secrets, how come she treats the butcher Dafydd like a son? how come she constantly feels guilty?, why does she open a wooden box under her bed? slowly everything is unveiled but Lewis does leave clues for the reader to piece together.

The Jeweller is a wonderful little novel and came across as an unexpected treat. I must also note that this is the first time in my 10th year as a book blogger that I have reviewed a book translated from Welsh. As an introduction to Welsh language literature, it is a fantastic one and I urge you to invest in this quietly Gothic gem ( pun not intended)

Many thanks to Honno for providing a copy of The Jeweller in exchange for an honest review.