Tag Archives: Honno Press

JANE CABLE REVIEWS…

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Three books read for pleasure and another for research… My book of the month for January is the brand new family drama from Judith Barrow, Sisters, which was published by Honno last week.

Sisters by Judith Barrow

This novel about how childhood lies spiral into adulthood had me gripped from the very first chapter. One sister causes a dreadful accident and the other is blamed. The set up sounds simple enough – one moment changes both their lives. But it is the complex and realistic emotions involved that made this book as we follow Angie and Lisa from the estrangement of their teenage years into their twenties and beyond.

Judith Barrow is such a skilled storyteller I was completely immersed in the narrative, living alongside the characters as the plot played seamlessly out. It is hard to say too much about the story itself without including spoilers, but take it from me, Sisters is a first class read.

 

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

I’m not sure why I didn’t expect to enjoy this book; perhaps it was the style of the prologue and first few pages that put me off, but once I got into the story I forgot all about it.

I have to say that happened very quickly. Such brilliant characters, I think I could have forgiven them anything, and there were plenty of things to giggle at too, which I didn’t really expect. As for the mystery I enjoyed the ride and the red herrings very much, but I wasn’t completely convinced by the final outcome. It just didn’t seem as well embedded as the rest of the plot, which was a bit of a shame.

 

A Christmas Miracle for the Railway Girls by Maisie Thomas

I can hardly believe that this is the sixth Railway Girls saga; I have enjoyed them all so much and the stories still feel fresh. Of course the characters are familiar and this book focuses on Cordelia, Mabel and the return of Colette. I had a hunch that would happen, but how it came about, and how this important strand of the story was hold surprised me.

The tension attached to this storyline had such emotional power I was so invested at one point I had to put the book down. I couldn’t bear to carry on reading, and yet I had to know what happened. Always an excellent writer, think is Maisie Thomas hitting a new high. Challenging, uncomfortable, and it made me angry.

But the book ends at Christmas and of course miracles do happen. And the gentler counterpoint of Cordelia’s story was perfect foil to Colette’s making it a brilliantly rounded read.

 

The Four Swans by Winston Graham

I love a Poldark novel; they are fast becoming a go-to comfort read, although in this case I read the next in the series to immerse myself in the era in Cornwall. Although I am writing some fifteen years later I was delighted to discover that the family inspiring me, the Bassets of Tehidy, had more than walk on parts in The Four Swans.

The swans are the four women in Ross’s life and although I loved the full richness of the tapestry drawn, the thread that drew me most was Demelza’s and Hugh Armitage’s pursuit of her. As ever the whole novel was superbly written and brilliantly researched. These are not modern classics for nothing.

 

 

WELSH WRITING WEDNESDAYS: JAN BAYNHAM ON CONTEMPORARY NOVELIST CAROL LOVEKIN

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I first met author, Carol Lovekin at Tenby Book Fair in 2015. We’d been following each other on Twitter and it was so good to meet in person. It was just six months before her wonderful debut novel, Ghostbird, was published by Honno, the Welsh Women’s Press. A feminist writer based in west Wales, Carol writes contemporary fiction exploring family relationships and secrets, but for me it’s the fact that her writing is interwoven with myth, fairytale, ghosts, and mystery that makes her novels so special.

‘My stories touch on the Welsh Gothic & its most powerful motif: the ghost. They concern the nature of magic & how it threads through the fabric of our lives. I explore possibilities: the fine line between the everyday & the time-shifting world of enchantment. My books are also firmly rooted in reality. I write about family relationships: how people, women in particular, respond to loss & how they survive. I set my stories in Wales, where I’ve lived for several decades: a place whose legends & landscapes inform my writing.’

Carol’s own words sum up the very essence of her writing. When reading her novels, there is no doubt as to where they are set and she takes you into the innermost thoughts of her characters. I love the poetic nature of the prose and its figurative language that does not in any way detract from the plot and pace of the novels.

Carol’s next novel will be published by Honno in 2022. Entitled Only May, she describes it as her ‘lockdown novel’ when she said writing kept her sane. ‘With no distractions, I listened for the word birds, cracked on and wrote it.’ It’s written in the first person present and involves a girl who could tell when people lied to her. If, when they looked her directly in the eye and told lies, she knew.

‘I’m the girl who sees beyond the glint in your eye, around your over-confidence and through to the truth and I can hear the earth hum, the way the bees do. Ever since I was a tiny baby and they started talking to me, it’s seemed rude not to take notice.
Bees don’t lie.’

 

Published works:

Ghostbird (2016)

Described as ‘Charming, quirky, magical’ ~ Joanne Harris, the book was chosen as Waterstones Wales and Welsh Independent Bookshops ‘Book Of The Month’ for April 2016. It was longlisted for the Guardian ‘Not the Booker’ prize 2016 and nominated for the Guardian Readers’ Book of the Year 2016.

Snowsisters (2017)

Author, Louise Beech, said of this novel, ‘Lovekin’s words soar like the birds, who see everything’. It was selected by Books Council of Wales as their October 2017 Book of the Month.

Wild Spinning Girls (2020)

‘A timeless tale of grief and belonging… haunting and hopeful.’ ~ Mags Phelan Stones. This third novel was selected as Books Council of Wales Book Of The Month for March 2020 and was shortlisted for Literature Wales Book of the Year/ Rhys Davies Fiction Award 2021. This was a huge accolade for not only for Carol and her fellow Honno author, Judith Barrow who was also shortlisted alongside her but for Honno itself. Congratulations!

 

 

 

 

 

 

WELSH WRITING WEDNESDAYS: JUDITH BARROW ON HONNO PRESS

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“Great Women, Great Writing, Great Stories”

Honno Press was set up in 1986 with four core aims: to provide a feminist perspective, to give Welsh women writers an opportunity to see their work published, to get earlier important, but neglected, writing by Welsh women back into print and to provide employment in publishing for women in Wales.

At the time, none of the publishing houses in Wales were particularly interested in promoting Women’s literature or writers, especially not in English.  There was a practice of publishing Welsh-language material by winners of competitions in the National Eisteddfod by the traditional presses, who would then pursue those particular authors. But the thought of going out to look for new female talent and female voices was not a priority

The establishment of Honno, their active search for women writers in both languages in Wales widened opportunities for women and saw all the Welsh publishers take women’s writing and the subjects women write about more seriously.

When asked why there is such a great variety in the books published by Honno, Janet Thomas, former editor of Honno and now on the committee, says, “I think a key reason for the vitality of Honno’s list that we are run as a group, with a variety of tastes, enthusiasms and expertise.  Honno tries to be open to all the broad range of writing that Welsh women want to write, looking for talent as widely as possible, Welsh and English, in all different kinds of fiction and non-fiction. As long as the skill is there, whatever the genre, style or subject matter, Honno will consider publishing their work.”

The commitment to provide opportunities for women in Wales in the publishing world is still at the heart of Honno. As well as the experienced staff, who appreciate the chance to work in publishing in mid-Wales, over the years there have been many volunteers in the Honno office, allowing them to gain practical experience and an insight into how publishing works. Volunteers generally take part in marketing activities, read manuscripts, help with general office procedure, and work on other projects as required. Gaining experience at Honno has helped many to go on to work in various areas of publishing.  (Of course, at the time of writing, due to the pandemic, this is on hold.)

Throughout the years the Press and its titles have garnered many awards including Wales Book of the Year. Even so, as Caroline Oakley, Editor for Honno says, “For independent presses to survive and compete against the big publishers they need strong customer support and to build a community of enthusiastic readers – a lot of which recent tech advances enable. Social media is vital to creating a groundswell of interest in any new title from a small press with ‘word of mouth’ (or more likely ‘tweet’) becoming an essential viral marketing tool.”

Finally, when asked to sum up what Honno have done, Janet says, “It’s hard not to see all we haven’t done – the writers we want to find, the histories we want to tell. I have a note my late father once wrote out for me, a quote from Ecclesiastes: ‘And of the making of books there is no end.’ I think he gave it to me as a comfort when I was feeling overwhelmed by one project or another, but it’s also optimistic. We keep going. Books matter. They last. The books we haven’t published yet are, with luck, the books we will publish next year. For Honno to have survived thirty-five years is a great achievement and a testimony to all the women who’ve been part of it.  It’s also, hopefully, just the beginning.”

https://www.honno.co.uk/