A moving account of how a National tragedy has implications for people way, way beyond those families immediately involved. William Lavery has just qualified as a embalmer when he volunteers to use his skills in the harrowing aftermath of the coal slag heap collapse in Aberfan in 1960s Wales. His experiences there will alter the course of his life afterwards, and cause him to reflect on what has gone before. The writing here is gentle and fluid, the characters absolutely believable and the emotions both raw and subtle. The story takes us back to William’s loos of his father, his mother’s over protectiveness and his own extraordinary talent as a boy treble in one of Cambridge’s finest college choirs. This reviewer remembers the tragedy in Aberfan and is also a professional musician, and the writer has done plenty of research to ensure that the story is credible on both fronts. An engrossing page turner - perhaps not one of the great books of the year, but no less moving or thought provoking for that.