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Neon Roses
- Narrated by: Ffion Aynsley
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
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Summary
A coming-of-age novel about two women falling in love during the culturally and politically turbulent 1980s.
It's 1984 in The Valleys, South Wales, and Eluned Hughes is stuck. The miners' strikes are ravaging her family and community, and her boyfriend of six years, Lloyd, is starting to bring up marriage more than she would like. She spends her days selling shoes, listening to Madonna, and trying to hold it all together. Meanwhile, Eluned's clever and precocious little sister, Mabli, thinks she knows it all. Mabli takes her older, moneyed, Thatcherite, policeman boyfriend, Graham, as the ticket out of her working class reality.
So, Eluned is left contemplating her own destiny—staying at home with a husband and a couple of kids—until one day she hears about a fundraising group called Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. Apparently they're from London, they've been raising money for the miners in her town, and they're coming to visit. She's curious, for sure. And even more so when she lays eyes on June for the first time. She has short hair, she wears leather jackets, she's moody—and Eluned's life is turned upside down.
Neon Roses takes us on a ride of all the glorious sights and sounds of the 1980s, as Eluned attempts to carve her identity out of the protests, Pride parades, nightclubs and parties of Cardiff, London and Manchester. But this is also a story about two sisters, and the different paths they take outside of where they come from. What is the reality of reconciling family with queerness? What does a family even look like? What choice should Eluned make when her little sister rings her up out of the blue one night, confessing the truth about her relationship with Graham?
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What listeners say about Neon Roses
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- catfoxy19
- 02-10-23
Amazing story, beautifully narrated!
I am actually so sad to have finished this book as was loving living with Eluned and June. The writing is fantastic and the narration like soaking in a hot bath. Haven’t enjoyed a book as much in years. Can’t wait for her next one.
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- Helen Priddle
- 09-06-23
Compulsive listen
I grew up at the same time (maybe 5 years later) but in a different place. So much of this was so familiar. Music, politics, cars, pride, AIDS, phone boxes, landlines, letters. Great to have a different viewpoint of the Welsh miners strike and Cardiff city. Effortless, heartwarming plot, 3 dimensional protagonist. Beautiful prose juxtaposes seamlessly with Eluned’s brash dialog. Reading of Eluned and June so natural that you’d have thought there was a cast. Congratulations to author and performer.
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- mrsnorman
- 28-05-23
Fantastic story, beautifully read
This is an extremely enjoyable, well-written and well produced audiobook.
Full disclosure: ‘Neon Roses’ by Rachel Dawson is a novel I’ve been looking forward to reading, *and* listening to. Reading and listening to a book are often different experiences, and I wanted to know what both were like. I can confidently say that both the book and this audiobook are excellent.
‘Neon Roses’ is a well-overdue story, not just a queer coming-of-age story but a historical novel that’s incredibly apt for today. I can’t wait to read what else Rachel Dawson has up her sleeve!
Ffion Aynsley’s reading is beautiful and nuanced, not to mention the range of accents she delivers with ease. (It’s one of my pet peeves when narrators attempt accents and the result is so bad it takes the listener out of the book.)
One of the best books of 2023.
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- D. Luckwell
- 25-09-23
Outstanding story and narration
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the story behind the film ‘Pride’.
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- K. Jones
- 28-04-24
Not your ordinary lesbian fiction! Joyful, real and v v beautiful
Neon Roses is rare gem! It is refreshing, original and the most relatable story I’ve ever read about being a working class lesbian. It shows our stories can be told with nuance, truth and without lazy tropes. Cannot wait to read again and see what Rachel writes next. I will be encouraging everyone I know to read it.
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- Amelia
- 03-10-23
fuckin great
Outstanding book, honestly. Really sad to have finished it. Went partying last year with some dykes who squatted London in the 80s and it felt good to read some of their history. Also a really accessible book re understanding the 80s miner strikes and class solidarity between different groups (the strongest solidarity). characters and events were so well written it felt like a memoir. Will read again without a doubt
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- Rowan Parker
- 23-06-23
Great Listen
I was hooked within the first couple of minutes.
It is a great storyline and is well written.
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- Hayley Baldwin
- 01-06-23
Queer joy
One of the best stories I’ve read in a long time, this book is a celebration of the 80s of my childhood and the queerness of my adulthood. I found myself by turns identifying with and mad at Eluned, I loved the visceral descriptions of the queer experience and Eluned’s relative naïveté against the backdrop of the political landscape of early 80s South Wales was beautifully woven together.
I look forward to reading more by this author.
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- Emily Dibdin
- 23-09-23
Great story really well read
What a great story. I grew up at the same sort of time, and it takes me back to the era, to the politics, to coming out as a dyke.
And now I live near Neath so the location of much of the story is pleasingly familiar too.
It’s well written, and the reader does a fab job of the different people and accents.
Highly recommend.
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