Cloudless

'Beautiful and unflinching, Cloudless is a phenomenal debut' ANNA HOPEIt is autumn 2004 and in a farmhouse on the hills outside Llandudno, a family endures the agonizing wait for their son to return from Iraq. His decision to join up has left them reeling, yet there are other pressing concerns to be met at home: the working of the farmland that has been theirs for generations and what to do with their troubled younger son. Catrin’s childhood sweetheart comes back to their small town, giving the boys’ doting mother a glimpse into the life she could have had. And John, their father, falls once more into his gambling habit, even as the farm sits on the brink of bankruptcy. As each member of the family grasps at their own tenuous lifeline, they drift further from one another – until, on a cold winter evening, there is a fateful knock at the door. Written in luminous, exquisitely calibrated prose, Cloudless is a masterful portrayal of the fragility and resilience of human connection. ‘A story about love and war, family and nation, addiction and recovery, told with intelligence, sensitivity and a huge heart. A must-read’ PAUL McVEIGH, author of The Good Son‘Elegant and quietly devastating . . . Dastur affords his characters such grace and complexity that they transcend fiction to become people you feel that you know and care for deeply’ Melissa Fu, author of Peach Blossom Spring

'Beautiful and unflinching, Cloudless is a phenomenal debut' ANNA HOPE, author of Albion‘Attends to the bonds we have to family, landscape, global politics with uncommon attention, extraordinary depth and lightness of touch’ ELIZABETH O'CONNOR, author of Whale FallIt is autumn 2004 and in a farmhouse on the hills outside Llandudno, Catrin and John endure the agonizing wait for their older son to return from Iraq. His decision to join up has left them reeling, yet there are other battles at home: the working of the land that has been theirs for generations and what to do with their troubled younger son. Catrin’s childhood sweetheart comes back to their small town, forcing the boys’ doting mother to confront the life she might have had. And John, desperate to keep farm and family together, turns to ever riskier methods to stay afloat. As each member of the family grasps at their own tenuous lifeline, they drift further from one another – until, on a cold winter evening, there is a fateful knock at the door. Written in luminous, exquisitely calibrated prose, Cloudless is a masterful portrayal of the fragility and resilience of human connection. ‘Dastur writes with devastating compassion on what it means to be human’ CATHERINE AIREY, author of Confessions‘Elegant and quietly devastating’ MELISSA FU, author of Peach, Blossom, Spring‘A story about love and war, family and nation . . . Told with intelligence, sensitivity and a huge heart’ PAUL McVEIGH, author of The Good Son