Why a Booktrail?
1980s: Radnorshire (a former and historic admin district of Wales) as seen through the lens of a Claude Glass
The Claude Glass
What you need to know before your trail
Set in the Welsh Borders in 1980, The Claude Glass looks at the most unlikely of friendships between two neighbours: Robin and Andrew.`The Claude Glass’ is the story of two boys – Robin and Andrew, both aged seven who live on the neighbouring farms of Ty’n-y-coed and Werndunvan in Wales
Robin has new age parents whilst Andrew has practically been raised by wolves. Both sets of parents are rather unique and challenging to say the least. When the boys come across a Claude Glass, the view through it seems to be as distorted and shows such different views that it could well reflect the two boy’s lives.
Travel Guide
“The rain fell endlessly in Radnorshire. It came in hills across the hills – blown against the walls of the barns at Werndunvan, oozing through the weather boards and pouring through the holes in the roof”
This is the first view of the area and it’s not a particularly welcoming one.
This welcome is not just referring to the weather however. This part of Wales is very claustrophobic setting and environment. The characters and setting are brooding, dark, with a sense of foreboding, with nothing to do but explore the grounds and land around them.
There’s no ipods etc to distract them and they don’t even have a telly, but it’s their imaginations which creates and enhances the world around them. Wales does seem to have its fair share of folklore and tales however and the boys know a lot about it. The sense of time and place is a complex web here – the story slow but the overall picture different every way you look – rather like a claude glass in fact.
Claude glasses were invented sometime in the 18th century as a way of seeing the world in a frame and giving it a darkened ethereal quality.
Where Next?
