{"product_id":"the-stromness-dinner-9781781725962","title":"The Stromness Dinner","description":"\u003csection\u003e\u003ch3\u003eDisgrifiad Cymraeg \/ Welsh Description\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMae Ynysoedd Erch ymhell o Lundain, ond pan fo Ed a Claire yn cyrraedd yno, maent yn darganfod bod unrhyw beth yn bosibl. Nofel ddoniol a thyner am berthynas gyfoes pâr o Lundain sy'n dilyn eu breuddwydion.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\u003csection\u003e\u003ch3\u003eDisgrifiad Saesneg \/ English Description\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOrkney is a long way from London but when Bermondsey odd job man Ed and city banker Claire end up in Stromness they find anything is possible there in this compelling novel. Kind, funny, narrated by white van man Ed, Peter Benson's The Stromness Dinner is the story of a very contemporary relationship in which two Londoners follow their dreams.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\u003ch3\u003eManylion y cynnyrch \/ Product details\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN 13\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e9781781725962\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGwales Code\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003egwales.com.9781781725962\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGwerthwr \/ Vendor\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eCyngor Llyfrau Cymru\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLong Title\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eThe Stromness Dinner\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAwdur \/ Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eBenson, Peter\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCurrent Price ex VAT\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e£9.99\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCurrent Price inc VAT\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e£9.99\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailability Status (EN)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eAvailable\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailability Status (CY)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eAr gael\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDyddiad cyhoeddi \/ Publication Date\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e2020-11-24\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCyhoeddwr \/ Publisher\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eSeren\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMedia Type (EN)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003ePaperback \/ softback\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMedia Type (CY)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eClawr meddal\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePages\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e278 pages\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e135 × 208 mm; depth 19 mm\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLanguage Code\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eEnglish\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCategori \/ Category\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eCY: Nofelau a Storïau ar Gyfer Oedolion (yn Saesneg) | EN: Adult Fiction and Stories (in English)\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIs-gategori \/ Subcategory\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eCY: Ffuglen Lenyddol a Chyffredinol (yn Saesneg) | EN: General and Literary Fiction (in English)\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003c\/dl\u003e\u003csection\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBywgraffiad yr Awdur \/ Author Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePeter Benson is the author of eight novels, and winner of the Guardian Fiction Prize, the Encore Award and the Somerset Maugham Award. He has also published short stories, screenplays and poetry, and his work has been adapted for television and radio, and translated into several languages. His previous novel, 'The South in Winter' (2017) was published by Alma Books.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\u003csection\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAdolygiad y Cyhoeddwr \/ Publisher Review\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePeter Benson’s first novel, 1987’s The Levels , won him the Guardian Fiction Prize. Thirty something years later, The Stromness Dinner shows Benson to have lost none of the talent you’d expect from an award-winning novelist. This is a deceptively simple and memorable read that’s both contemporary (B**xit makes an appearance, but don’t let that put you off) and utterly timeless. It is a pitch perfect examination of people, places and passions, with Benson plaiting together the three strands expertly. Ed Beech is our protagonist: south-east London builder, painter and decorator, food lover, and fan of driving to the accompaniment of Balearic dance classics. Benson gives Ed a distinctive, direct and no-nonsense voice. The sentences and chapters are no longer than they need to be, and so the novel clips along at a steady pace. ‘My dad and I were Beech Building Services’, opens the novel. ‘We did all kinds of work. No job too small. You called us. You told us what you needed.’ This curt and clear tone quickly puts readers at ease and endears them to Ed in the same way that you trust a builder who tells it like it is. Which is exactly what Ed is. Ed is more than just a builder though. He cooks and, although he doesn’t always know it, he appreciates art and people and is open to experiences and places with a natural blend of wariness and curiosity. When Ed does a job for a City worker, he ends up taking on a subsequent job for him in Orkney – a long way from the comforts of Bermondsey and his favoured pubs, The Yorkshire Grey and The Miller. When he spends time away from all that’s familiar, he unlocks the potential in life and is suddenly open to all that’s possible. Benson’s greatest talents are in writing people and places. Ed and the cast of characters he mixes with are so perfectly formed. They are not stock characters, reliant on stereotype or readers’ assumptions to fill them out, but complex, human and relatable. Ed is likeable but flawed. When we get to know Marcus and Claire, the well-to-do siblings who employ Ed in Orkney, they are equally well formed. Claire particularly is well painted as a woman who, on the surface, appears to have everything, but lacks what’s needed to make her truly happy. What really brings the novel to life are the details and the sense of place. Bermondsey is described in such detail that the reader gets a sense of the history of the place along with a contemporary snapshot of Ed’s slice of the city. Pie-and-mash shops, the ever-changing names of London pubs, and the modern gastropub menus and craft beers on offer: all contribute to fleshing out the make-up of Ed. Orkney – particularly Stromness – is vivid in the same way, so that one can only assume Benson knows the places personally. The two settings in contrast give this novel something that’s really special. The Stromness Dinner is a great novel. It is about what happens when we leave our comfort zones and allow ourselves just to be. Places make us who we are, but this is about how new places can bring out something new and unknown and make us all over again.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e","brand":"Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58819481895286,"sku":"9781781725962","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0041\/5340\/9585\/files\/9781781725962.jpg?v=1790350485","url":"https:\/\/www.siopypentan.co.uk\/products\/the-stromness-dinner-9781781725962","provider":"Siop Y Pentan","version":"1.0","type":"link"}