It is 1963 and in north Wales the Jones family are being forcibly ejected from the land they have farmed for generations. Their valley is to be drowned, turned into a reservoir for the people of Liverpool.

While her husband Dai is grief-stricken, Olwen Jones privately sees it as a blessing, an unforeseen chance to escape the narrow confines of the valley. But for her teenage son Emyr, Liverpool's careless arrogance is proof that Wales will never be free to decide its own future until, like Ireland, it breaks the shackles of English imperialism.

Based on true events, Adder Stone is an exploration of personal identity and the possibilities and limits of love. How far will we go for our child or for our country? Who are we when we lose the places and the people that define us? And how much, in the end, is it possible to forgive?



Clare Clark is the author of seven critically acclaimed novels including The Great Stink and Savage Lands, both longlisted for the Women's Prize. Her previous book, Trespass, exploring the murky world of undercover policing, was praised by the Mail on Sunday as 'provocative, moving and timely'. Her books have been translated into seven languages.



'A beautiful, breathtakingly written book, with shades of Claire Keegan. A novel that lives in the memory long after the last page is read'



'Beautifully written, incredibly moving... the highest calibre writing'



'Clare Clark treats the drowning of the Tryweryn Valley – that pivotal moment in modern Welsh history – with remarkable nuance and sensitivity. Adder Stone is a fine, rich novel, as heartfelt as it is compelling'