A Terrible Kindness: The Bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club Pick

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What was it about the make-up and purpose of the Midnight Choir in Cambridge that made it so central to William’s rehabilitation? With much of the story focused on William's time as a chorister at Cambridge, his relationship with his mother, Martin and Gloria, I don't see why this is marketed as "The Aberfan book" other than to just sell more copies. Which makes me feel uncomfortable. The opening section about Aberfan was one of the most moving things I have ever read. I had tears rolling down my face and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, even when I wasn’t reading the book. Although he comes from an undertaking family, that he would train as an embalmer was never a given. A gifted singer with a stunning voice, William knew his mother was fiercely determined that he should follow a musical career. Exactly what his father had wanted for him was never stated before his premature death when William was just eight. Arranged around the apparently pivotal phase of his life embodied in Aberfan, William is indeed stretched thin, out of time, his past and future constantly pulling his present out of shape.

Kindness, honesty and integrity are traits which run through William from a young age, and these characteristics attract similar souls. A Terrible Kindness recalls a day in October 1966 when coal and mud slid down a Welsh mountain side and engulfed the school in the village of Aberfan. I was a day seared in my memory because I was nine years old — the same age as many of the children who died — and like them grew up surrounded by coal mines. In general I found William a difficult main character to warm to and some events difficult to wrap my head around. Some parts of the middle of the story I found boring and frustrating. This wasn’t a bad book by any means. It’s a nicely written, easy enough read. After a great opening though, it lost pace and plodded along. This approach helps William make his decisions in life – if this, then that – and seems to work well for him as his moral compass, until his self-discipline slips to self-indulgence and then self-loathing.I interviewed two of the embalmers who'd been there at length,’ said Jo. ‘They told me their stories in great detail with great feeling. Their story was linked to going into Aberfan, and helping, and then leaving again.’ This book drew me in straightaway and I consumed it in a couple of days. The story is not a happy one as it begins with the Aberfan disaster and follows a young embalmer called William who volunteered to help identify and clean up the young children that lost their lives. We then hear the story of William’s life as to how he got to be an embalmer and then up to and after Aberfan and how that affected his life. The author has based her story on fact, wanting to highlight the unsung heroes of that terrible time, the embalmers who went to help out. The story is handled with compassion and what comes out of it other than how events can impact your future decisions is an overwhelming sense of hope and that things can get better. It’s a story written to be read and to linger with you after it is finished. It has lots to offer a book group with many discussion points and a wide appeal.” Browning Wroe affirms that music acts as a kind of golden spiritual thread throughout the narrative, speaking of both brokenness and healing. For William, there is a period when it is absent from his life; his creator says that it was “like cutting his heart out”. Family plays a huge part in this story, the dynamics of relationships, love, death and acceptance. It has it all and with such powerful writing that every person feels real. Every event affected me. This story isn’t just memorable. It is unforgettable. It is perfection. To be fair, I probably should have known not to venture near A Terrible Kindness given its mawkish appearance, but I was very intrigued by the mention of Aberfan.

The characters were well developed and realistic. William could be frustrating at times, especially with the way he treated Gloria and his mother, but you begin to understand why he makes the choices he does when you read more about his past. The Welsh sage Betty tells William: “When we go through impossible things, someone, or something, will help us, if we let them.” Why is this so difficult a lesson for William to learn? William’s mother says: “My job in life, William, is to love you like no one on earth, and I have to say, I think I’m doing a pretty good job . . .” Is she right? What a terrible mess we can make of our lives. There should be angel police to stop us at these dangerous moments, but there don’t seem to be. So all we’re left with, my precious son, is whether we can forgive, be forgiven and keep trying our best.

Forthcoming Events

William is a young, newly qualified embalmer, following in his father and uncle’s footsteps in the undertaking business, when the disaster in Aberfan happens. I would recommend this book to all - although it is historical fiction I believe it would suit those who prefer a more contemporary read too.

It's utterly magnificent and had to pull car over twice to cry. Intricate cobweb of love, family and friendship, so delicately wrought. Beautiful. A masterclass in character.' VERONICA HENRY

Selection panel review

And as his feet fix ever more firmly into that concrete, it is then that the true concepts of family and friendship make themselves known to him. It’s a long time since I’ve read a debut novel that moved me so much.’ RACHEL JOYCE, Miss Benson’s Beetle It is an honour to be Creative Writing Supervisor at Lucy Cavendish – the college in Cambridge with an excellent reputation for encouraging writers, with the Fiction Prize and the Student Fiction Prize. During Lent Term, I usually lead a six-week writing workshop for the first ten students who sign up, from any discipline. This means there is always a wonderful mix of people, all with amazing stories to tell. This has, without exception, been a wonderful experience with talented writers. Unfortunately, I’m not doing that this year because of the publication of my book. I also lead a one-off workshop on the short story for students who are thinking about entering the student prize. And once a year, along with my co-director, writer Miranda Doyle, I lead a Creative Writing Course for non-college people. Originally, this was a five-day residential, but for the last two years, we’ve been doing it online over a weekend. I love teaching and leading workshops and am invariably bowled over by the talent in the room.

Since his father died two years ago, William has had to tighten up his insides and work hard to cheer his mother up” but at Cambridge, he made a real friend: “he is relieved that it seems all he needs to do to be liked by Martin is to be himself.” Listen to the author Jo Browning Wroe in conversation with Malcolm Doney in this week’s Church Times podcast. This is a new monthly series produced in association with the Church Times Festival of Faith and Literature. The festival will return as an in-person event at the University of Winchester and Winchester Cathedral next February, and Jo Browning Wroe will be one of the speakers. faithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk Mark asked, ‘William, as a 19-year-old, learns lots about embalming, and he becomes very, very good at it. It's a gruesome business though. How did you learn all that you needed to know about embalming in the 60s and 70s?’ I found the tension between the protagonist's actions and their moral implications to be captivating. Author Jo Browning Wroe’s family home was within the grounds of a crematorium, and, as the daughter of the crem superintendent, death and funerals was not something unusual for her, nor were funeral directors.So, when things go wrong for him, when the flipside of those traits emerge, he finds himself in a safer place than he expects or recognises.