Novel

Set in a fictional Welsh village in 1965, disaster strikes to the sound of sirens from the pithead – 123 trapped miners dead. The riven community looks to its sole survivor for answers, but Ray is unable or unwilling to talk. His resilient wife, Eve, childhood survivor of the 1941 Swansea bombings, can’t get through to him, and so their enterprising sons, Evan and Gwil, make a secret pact taking them on perilous journeys back down into the heart of the mountain in search of answers. It’s in their blood.

The Caged Bird Society follows the fortunes of a family rejected by a community that only wants to recover their dead. Work, livelihoods and pride are at stake, but Ray is losing his mind and the inquiry is not getting to the truth. Can Eve find a way of getting through to her tormented husband? Can Evan and Gwil rescue their father from his own death wish?