The Dig

Cynan Jones

A hauntingly beautiful but brutally honest and shocking account of rural Wales. It captures the inner tensions of rural hardship, isolation and the survival of those that live solely off the land. A memorable read, but certainly no amusing countryside idyll.

Extract

Daniel picked up the small black lamb. His father would have simply dashed its head on the barn floor. He was not a hard man, but a pragmatist; but that kind of will wasn’t in Daniel. Despite the lamp the lamb felt cold, as if it could generate no heat of its own, and it was too light for itself and hung limply. It was as if he’d picked up a jumper from the floor. It had a completely will-less passivity.

Parallels