From a new voice in Welsh literature, an atmospheric and poignant story of a relationship between two small-town Valleys men during the late 1980s.
'One of the most beautiful and original gay novels I have a read in a long time'
NEIL BLACKMORE
AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2025
When two quiet men form a tentative connection neither knows where it might lead. M has inherited his family's ironmongery business and B is younger by eleven years and can see no future in the place where he has grown up, but when M offers him a job and lodgings, he accepts. As the two men work side by side in the shop, they also begin a life together in their one shared room above - the kind of life they never imagined possible and that risks everything if their public performance were to slip.
Unfolding in South Wales against the backdrop of Section 28, the age of consent debate and the HIV and AIDS crisis, this is a tender and resonant love story, and a powerful debut.
'It was a joy to read, such a tender story, the finespun prose and meticulous description' - Sara Baume 'An atmospheric portrayal of gay, working-class life in a South Wales Valley, to read A Room Above a Shop is to feel held within the hands of a master craftsman in control of his form. I dare anyone to read this and not feel the ache of M and B's story, their solitude and their desire' - Joshua Jones, author of Local Fires 'There's a moving uncertainty, a vulnerability on the page that allows the reader to hear, and to listen. There's a quiet, brave strength in that' - Cynan Jones, author of Cove 'An achingly intimate story, rich and ragged with emotion, told with loving intricacy and delicate precision... it winded me' - Megan Barker, author of Kit
ANTHONY SHAPLAND grew up in Bargoed, South Wales. He is a writer and artist, and founder of g39, an artist-led space in Cardiff. His short story 'Foolscap' was shortlisted for the Rhys Davies Award and he was selected for the Hay Writers at Work programme in 2023. This is his debut.
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