Book review: Neon Roses by Rachel Dawson
This is why independent bookshops are awesome. I probably would never have heard of Neon Roses by Rachel Dawson if my local bookshop Bookhaus hadn’t held an author event about this debut novel. Though I was unable to attend because I was unwell at the time (my lupus has flared up a little in the last month), the description in the Bookhaus email about the event sounded so good that a few days later I cycled over and bought myself a signed copy.
The story opens in a small coalmining town in South Wales in 1984. It’s the peak of the miner’s strike and Eluned is working all the hours she can to support her family, as her father’s strike wages have trickled to almost nothing, while also turning up to the picket lines and volunteering at fundraising events at the miners hall. It’s a lot, and her sister Mabli’s no help – swanning off with her Thatcher-supporting policeman boyfriend.
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