Advantages of the Older Man by Gwyneth Lewis

review by Maryom

Growing up in Swansea, Jennie has had her fill of both Dylan Thomas and poetry, but when she meets aspiring poet Peter, she soon puts her prejudice aside and finds even an open mic poetry evening can be ok so long as she can be with Peter. Sadly, the course of true love doesn't run smooth and after a fiasco at the Swansea carnival parade, Peter turns sullen and ignores her. Help is at hand for Jennie though, in the unlikely guise of Dylan Thomas - or at least his ghost - who claims he can help her win Peter's heart, but first Jennie has to help Thomas with his plans....


Advantages of the Older Man is a novella-length ghost story; not a scary one that leaves you afraid of the dark or wary of the noises in the attic, but a light-hearted, entertaining one - more Beetlejuice than The Woman in Black.
Dylan Thomas isn't as you would expect him to be either. His drunken lifestyle and moody Celtic image were apparently just an act for the punters - his real self is quieter, homelier and into long-distance running! While pursuing his own ends, he leads Jennie off on a whirlwind trip to the US where nothing goes remotely to plan but we discover the real reason behind Thomas's return from beyond the grave.

Although the author, Gwyneth Lewis, is a former Welsh National Poet, with several poetry collections and non-fiction books to her name, the only work of hers I've read is The Meat Tree , a sci-fi re-working of the Blodeuwedd myth for Seren's Mabinogion series, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Advantages of the Older Man. It probably isn't something I'd have picked up for myself but, when offered it for review, it sounded quirky and funny so I said yes - and I'm so glad I did.

It's darkly funny, filled throughout with wry humour and cleverly written with an unexpected twist at the end; an unusual find, but one I really enjoyed.



Maryom's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Seren Books
Genre - adult ghost stories, humour

The Meat Tree by Gwyneth Lewis

Welsh Myth - 23rd Century Style
review by Maryom

2210 - An old Earth-style space ship is discovered drifting in orbit round Mars and inspectors are sent to check it out. In an attempt to discover what happened to it they log in to its Virtual Reality Games programme - and find a medieval, gender bending, myth based tale in progress - but what has it to do with the ship's breakdown? and what has happened to the crew members?

When I read this was a Sci fi interpretation of the Blodeuwedd myth, I expected something very different to this. I read the Owl Service by Alan Garner when much younger and supposed this would be a similar re-telling but with a futuristic setting. The Meat Tree is a far more complex, multi-layered reworking. The old myth is plainly there in the VR game - helpful if you've never read it - but also echoed in the actions of the wreck inspectors as their identities shift and merge with the VR characters. The story is told through "thought recordings" of the two inspectors, immersing the reader totally in their world.
An unusual and intriguing story about identity, self-determination and survival.


Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Seren Books
Genre - adult literary fiction


Buy The Meat Tree (New Stories from the Mabinogion) from Amazon