The writer's grandfather gives him an envelope containing a package of papers and pictures and a large notebook, containing letters and papers related to "John," the grandfather's brother who was killed during World War II in Syria, without asking him for anything specific about those papers.
Which leads the writer on a long personal journey to explore history, imagination and memory passed down through generations, shifting imperceptibly from autobiography to journey story, from letters and diaries to official records, from text to visual image. A rereading of the history of World War II and humanity that is destroying itself, and his attempts to visit the grave of "John", which is also located in the circle of the devastating Syrian war.
In his first prose work, Lewis reveals a great literary talent and a master of detail, no matter how small they may seem. This young writer, deeply rooted in his Welsh identity, outlines his experience and the experience of his family within the wider European world in a unique and interesting book, with a very smooth narrative.
Gwyn Lewis: Lewis is a Welsh writer and poet born in 1987. He grew up in Caernarfon, North Wales, and studied at Cardiff and Oxford Universities before earning a doctorate in the works of T. Gwyn Jones and W.P. Bates. He worked as a lecturer in Welsh at Swansea and Cardiff Universities in 1983.
