Fiction A Terrible Kindness

Jo Browning Wroe: Allen & Unwin, $30

The best stories are those that make you feel. This beautiful and brilliant story had me silently weeping. In 1966, Aberfan, Wales, was devastated by a coal mine landslide, which killed 116 children and 28 adults. William Lavery, 19, attended as a recently graduated embalmer. His first professional role will stay with him forever and shape his life in ways he could never have imagined. The pain already experienced in William’s young life is alluded to in the opening chapters, as he shows such gentle compassion in caring for the young and their bereft parents. Slipping through time, from a schoolboy chorister to a married man, William touchingly reminds readers of kindness in the face of grief.

LEANNE EDMISTONE