Wanderer, The

Disgrifiad Cymraeg / Welsh Description

Caiff Ryder ei ddenu gan Maggie sy'n bymtheg oed, wrth iddo ei gwylio o bell. Pan fo yntau'n achub ei bywyd mewn damwain car, mae hithau'n syrthio mewn cariad ag ef. Yr unig broblem yw bod Ryder yn farw ers pum mlynedd... Stori ramant hynod deimladwy ac angerddol ar gyfer oedolion ifanc; stori garu galonrwygol sy'n croesi rhwng y bywyd hwn a bywyd wedi marwolaeth.

Disgrifiad Saesneg / English Description

Ryder has fallen for fifteen-year-old Maggie as he's watched her from a distance. When he saves her life in a traffic accident, she can't help but fall in love with him. The only problem is that he's been dead for five years... The Wanderer is a sentimental, passionate and moving YA romance; a heartrending love story that crosses between life and the after-life.

Dosbarthu

Byddwn yn dosbarthu eitemau sydd mewn stoc o fewn 3 diwrnod gwaith, fel arfer drwy Royal Mail Tracked 48. Ar gyfer archebion o flaen llaw, byddwn yn dosbarthu’r eitem o fewn 3 diwrnod gwaith ar ôl ei derbyn gan ein cyflenwr.

Dispatch

In-stock items will be dispatched within 3 business days, usually by Royal Mail Tracked 48. For pre-orders, we’ll dispatch within 3 business days of receiving the item from our supplier.

Bywgraffiad yr Awdur / Author Biography

Josie Williams has successfully self-published a number of best-selling romance novels for adults including The Boy who Sneaks in my Bedroom (2012). She lives in Norfolk with her husband and son.

Adolygiad y Cyhoeddwr / Publisher Review

The prologue to The Wanderer and, indeed, the blurb on the back reveal immediately that the main protagonist in this romance for young adults has been dead for five years. Neither is the nature of a “wanderer” cloaked in mystery. A wanderer is a spirit who has not completely passed over to the “other side” and therefore exists in an often lonely and frustrating version of purgatory, hovering somewhere just outside the living. Such a revelation might suggest a potentially sad, rather gloomy tale but the story of Ryder and Maggie seems to transcend these inhospitable beginnings. Their vibrant voices, strong emotions and the way in which their dilemmas are portrayed as both extraordinary and yet mundane, helps the reader to overcome any misgivings about believing their story. Ryder’s voice opens the dialogue. His death in an accident is revealed starkly and with very little self pity. Only later will the reader appreciate the full impact of loss on loved ones. Some readers in this age group will find the focus on death rather unsettling and it somewhat unrelenting throughout the tale. Ryder spends his time visiting those who are on the verge of dying but with the rather startling revelation that he wishes to be there at the moment of death, not just to comfort but so that he can be seen and his existence “validated”. This need for recognition is a very poignant thread in the narrative and easy for young adult readers to relate on many levels. It is at a nursing home where Maggie visits her grandmother that Ryder first encounters the sensitive young woman who will consume his every thought. Here the writer’s humour balances the sadness of the setting. “I have it bad” – and so the unusual soul mates begin their relationship. Through Maggie’s eyes readers will recognise the pain of loss and loneliness felt by those who do not quite fit in, but she never lacks strength and her determination to keep moving forward makes her a worthy partner for Ryder. In many ways Maggie and Ryder’s narratives render the adults in the story indistinct and almost incidental. Maggie’s foster parents, well meaning and loving, seem almost less real to Maggie than Ryder, reflecting the teenage experience rather affectingly. Even their peers, Jade and Charlie, so essential to the story seem to exist as inner voices or agents of self reflection for Maggie and Ryder rather than strong characters in their own right. The story is not driven by introspection alone, however. The ordinary, everyday events of school, cafes and gatherings all help to keep Ryder and Maggie’s story brisk and the reader turning the pages. Inevitably the tale will reach a sad and moving conclusion, but is strangely life-affirming throughout. Some readers might find the preoccupation with death in all its forms rather oppressive and overwhelming, but the triumph of the human spirit will give readers something to hold on to; Ryder is a friendly ghost, after all.