Set in the mining country of southern Wales, Vanessa Gebbie's incandescent new novel captures the cadences and speech patterns that lovers of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood have celebrated for years, and as I read the book (as slowly as possible), I felt as if Richard Burton, the Welsh narrator of Under Milk Wood, were whispering in my ear. A collection of stories recited by Ianto Passchendaele Jenkins, a beggar who lives on the front porch of a disused chapel in a Welsh mining town, the novel eventually becomes the history of the town itself, and readers will come to know all the characters and their families going back for three generations. The emotional power of this novel is overwhelming without becoming sentimental or syrupy.
Telling his stories in exchange for food and coffee, often outside the local movie theatre, Ianto is always haunted by the explosion and collapse of the Kindly Light mine, which killed eighty-five townsmen three generations ago. He, a child whose father was dying from lung complications after working the mines for most of his life, was forced to go to work in the mines himself to support the family at age twelve. After working for only a few terrifying days, however, Ianto found himself inside the mine when it exploded. The dozens of wives and mothers whose husbands and fathers died in the mine never forgave Ianto for surviving, or for his announcement that the deaths were all his fault. Now, as an old man, he nears the end of his life, one spent in penance for actions, real or imagined, which have prevented him from having a life of his own since he was twelve.
The stories Ianto tells are inspired by the friendship which evolves between him and Laddy Merridew, a red-haired nine-year-old who has just come to live with his grandmother. In an introduction overlaid with symbolism, Laddy, weeping from the mockery of the local boys, introduces himself to Ianto by saying, "My name is Laddy Merridew. I'm a cry-baby. I'm sorry." Ianto responds, "And my name is Ianto Jenkins. I am a coward. And that's worse." Ianto's stories all have mystical significance, and how much "truth" resides in them, in terms of real life events, becomes irrelevant as their emotional and personal truth and their family significance are revealed. The cumulative impact of Ianto's many stories provides a unique look at life in a small Welsh mining village, but just as importantly, it provides a look at Ianto's own life since the mining disaster which determined the outcomes of families for generations.
Filled with unforgettable descriptions and emotionally moving insights into people of all types, The Coward's Tale recreates an entire town, and as the characters develop and overlap throughout the book, the wonder of this author's achievement expands. The novel is astonishing for the breadth and depth of the emotions it conjures without clichés or sentimentality, and the ending is unforgettable - sad, exhilarating, and most importantly, honest. At the top of my Favorites list for the year. Mary Whipple
