Anna and the Angel

Prizewinner in New Welsh Writing Awards 2022 Rheidol Prize for Prose with a Welsh Theme or Setting

'This is a beautifully written retelling, demonstrating that some old stories never lose their power to move us.' – Alexander McCall Smith

'These are extraordinary transformations of ancient narratives into an immediate contemporary vitality. Written with wit, inventiveness, compassion and economy, they persuade us that the step from the chaotic world of the biblical Middle East to modern south Wales is not really all that far.' – Rowan Williams

'Sensual, ambitious, flowing and intimate… [a] warm, [diverse] exploration of mental health, dodgy money and optimism.' – Gwen Davies, adjudication, New Welsh Writing Awards 2022

A fish, a dog, a property shark and the luck of the draw…

Who turns up when the chips are down? In these contemporary feminist adaptations of two timeless stories from the Old Testament, we find out. Here are women who are resilient in the face of sudden change, harness the enduring power of jazz, and welcome a house guest whose skills in medicine and matchmaking prove providential.

Set in a diverse Cardiff and Newport, the novella Anna and the Angel transforms the apocryphal tale from the Book of Tobit. Edna and Anna, the women of the original story, are brought from the shadows to tell their own tale. Starting with a confession of how Anna's family is unravelling as a result of an accident which leaves her husband disabled, the women's rich email correspondence evolves, changing them from strangers to firm friends with a shared renewal of trust. The bonus story, 'Debs and Jay', moves the military acumen of Deborah from Judges to present-day Cardiff, where Debs finds everything she has worked for is jeopardised by an unscrupulous property developer. Casting her mind back to Girl Guide camp days, she starts to see how revenge is hatched.