Welsh author Lloyd Jones hits the ball right out of the park with this tale of cynical booze-addled academic Llwyd McNamara. Lou travels to Ireland on a rugby international weekend to pick up the literary legacy of Irish colleague/rival Dermot Feeney. Both were working on biographies of Welsh rugby legend 'Big M' ( Dylan Manawydan Jones ) but Dermot died before he could complete his masterpiece and left the MS and a digital version on flash drive to Lou for completion. Such is the extent of Lou's venom and petty jealousy that he casts the MS overboard on the ferry back to Holyhead. As he considers a similar fate for the thumb drive he ruefully reflects on his own academic and emotional inferiority:-

" A man's mind in a morsel. Great mind, nano technology. And as for Lou....nano mind, great technology? ".

Having decided to spare the drive from a watery grave he peruses its contents and embarks upon a voyage of discovery. Lou learns as much about himself as he does about the legendary and almost mythical 'Big M' in the ripping yarn which follows.

The action unfolds across Wales and England as Lou studies the manuscript and visits a former haunt of 'Big M' on the West wales coast. The Hotel Corvo is also a former teenage haunt of Lou's and his reunion with the seven wise drunks at the bar in the hotel lounge is a colourful and memorable scene.

Lou's final encounter with 'Big M' leads to revelations of an academic, personal and spiritual nature. But is he redeemed in the course of his journey? Author Lloyd Jones wisely leaves that question to the reader to decide although in his final reflection there is at least a grain of hope. Calling out Manawydan's name in the closing moments of the book Lou reflects that:-

" In that moment, his lips red with raspberry juice, alone in the cornfield under a vast blue sky, he felt like a small child calling out to his father. "

Anyone who is collecting the superb New Stories From The Mabinogion series will need no encouragement to add this volume to their collection. For anyone who has not been this would be an ideal place to start. One of the strongest additions to the series yet and an ideal Christmas present.

Review by Ceri Shaw Ceri Shaw on Google+