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Christian Dittus
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English
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THE BLUE BOOK OF NEBO

Manon Steffan Ros

Prize-winner in three categories of the 2019 Wales Book of the Year Award, The Blue Book of Nebo paints a spellbinding and eerie picture of society's collapse, and the relationships that persist after everything as we know it disappears. After nuclear disaster, Rowenna and her young son are among the rare survivors in rural north-west Wales. Left alone in their isolated hillside cottage, after others have died or abandoned the towns and villages, they must learn new skills in order to remain alive. With no electricity or modern technology they must return to the old ways of living off the land, developing new personal resources.

While they become more skilled and stronger, the relationship between mother and son changes in subtle ways, as Siôn must take on adult responsibilities, especially once his baby sister Dwynwen, arrives. Despite their close understanding, mother and son have their own secrets, which emerge as in turn they jot down their thoughts and memories in a found notebook. As each reflects on their old life and the events since the disaster which has brought normal, twenty-first century life to an end, their new-found maturity and sense of purpose contrast not only with their old selves but also with new emotional challenges.

In this prize-winning and best-selling new novel, Manon Steffan Ros not only explores the human capacity to find new strengths when faced with the need to survive, but also the structures and norms of the contemporary world.

Manon Steffan Ros was born in Rhiwlas, Snowdonia. After leaving school, she worked as an actress for a few years before becoming a writer. Her first novel for adults Fel Aderyn, reached the shortlist for wales Book of the Year and her novel Blasu won the Fiction Prize of the 2013 Wales Book of the Year. Ros translated Blasu into English with the title The Seasoning and was published by Honno in 2015. As well as her books for adults, Ros has found great acclaim in her children's writing. She has won the prestigious Tir Na N-Og prize for Welsh children's literature four times, with her novels Trwy'r Tonnau (2010), Prism (2012), Pluen (2017) and most recently Fi a Joe Allen (2019).

The Blue Book of Nebo won the Prose Medal at the 2018 Eisteddfod and won the triple crown of prizes at the 2019 Wales Book of the Year Award: the Aberystwyth University Fiction Award, the Golwg360 Barn y Bobl (People's Choice Award) and the Welsh-language Overall Winner. She has won the drama prize at the Eisteddfod twice in 2005 and 2006, and her play, “Mwgsi,” won a National Theatre Wales award in 2018.
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Published 2021-09-01 by Deep Vellum

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Film rights sold to Fiction Factory.

- Manon Stefffan Ros's THE BLUE BOOK OF NEBO is longlisted for a 2023 Yoto Carnegie in the UK Read more...

"Manon Steffan Ros gets close to perfection in this novel Wonderfully human. Readable. Scathing in parts. Believe the hype." — Llwyd Owen "Should we believe the hype? In a word, yes. This is a frightening and scarily relatable novel." — Elen Ifan, Blog Lico Llyfre Lot "It's a short novel that is an explosion (yes, I'm aware of the irony) of raw emotion and perceptive writing." — Mwnaimwnai, Blog Mwnaimwnai "I can honestly say that Llyfr Glas Nebo is one of the best novels I've ever read Gripping, subtle, powerful I can't recommend it enough. It's wonderful in every way and so easy to read." — Sioned Haf Thomas, Cylchgrawn Y Stamp "Llyfr Glas Nebo is a stunning work which will never leave its reader It's easy to read, but the difficult part is what it does to your heart." — Bethan Mair, Golwg "Llyfr Glas Nebo is a masterpiece! So subtle, gentle, clever. Everything you need in a novel. Congratulations to Manon Steffan Ros- Finishing it has left me emotional, and very few books do that to me!" — Fflur Dafydd "I read this in a few hours tonight, and it will stay with me forever." — GwefusCymru "The perfect novel." — Gareth Miles, Trydar "An ocean of love in a post-apocalyptic world. I can't remember the last time I read a book in one sitting. Wonderful." — Tim Hartley, Tydar "This is a short novel, but is full to the brim. Yes, it's easy to read, but it raises questions about the priorities of our generation and our way of life that are in no way easy to answer." — Catrin Beard, Western Mail Week End "One of the most spiritual books written in recent years." — Arwel Rocet Jones, Y Goleuad "The question posed by the book is what is the essence of life, and what is the point of living? By the end of the novel, there is but one answer to all questions. The answer, every time, is Love." — John Gwilym Jones, Y Tyst "This is a story of all time, and none... [a] passionate and exciting book that stay[s] in the mind." — Mary Lloyd Jones, Planet: The Welsh Internationalist (Summer 2019)

Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal 2023.

Welsh (original publication): Y Lolfa (August 2018); Spain: Seix Barral; Catalan: Periscopi; Poland: Pouza; UK & Commonwealth: Firefly Press; Arabis: Al Arabi; France: Actes Sud Junior; Italy: Neri Pozza; Serbia: Partizanska kniga of Svetosavska; Malayalam: DC Books; Turkey: Nemesis;

- Winner of the 2018 National Eisteddfod Prose Medal - Winner of the 2019 Llyfr y Flwyddyn (Wales Book of the Year) - Winner of three categories at the 2019 Wales Book of the Year Awards - the Aberystwyth University Fiction Award, the Golwg360 Barn y Bobl (People's Choice Award) and the Welsh-language Overall Winner - Longlisted for a 2023 Yoto Carnegie in the UK (the Yoto Carnegies are the UK's longest running and best-loved book awards for children and young people)