Hestyn is a coastal town untouched by time. As more and more destinations fall victim to war and terrorism and are crossed off his beloved maps, travel writer Wilf Bromley finds himself exploring its dubious delights for his next book, Gems of the Coast. It's a far cry from his past expeditions with Aggie, his feisty co-writer. But Aggie has disappeared, and Wilf's visit to this bleak place is taking a very strange turn, as he's drawn into the bizarre world of landlady Gwen, local historian Warren and the mysterious B&B guest Martha Crick. Then there's the abandoned old manor house on the cliff, which harbours more secrets than any guidebook could contain. The more Wilf investigates this particular hidden gem, the more we discover about his own confused private life. Set in a dystopian Britain of the near future, Hidden Gems is the fifth novel by Nia Williams.
Author Biography:
Nia Williams is a freelance writer and musician, born in Cardiff and now based in Oxford. Her other novels are The Pierglass (Honno Modern Fiction, 2001) Persons Living or Dead (Honno Modern Fiction, 2005), The Colour of Grass (Seren Books, 2011) and Birdcage (Gurning Gnome, 2013), and her short stories have been published in magazines and anthologies and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and Radio Wales. Nia's job involves music and words in various forms and combinations. She works as an accompanist, répétiteur, workshop-leader and teacher, and writes music, lyrics and libretti. Her musicals Daddy's Girls and Verity have been staged at the Burton-Taylor Studio and the Old Fire Station in Oxford, and another musical, Love Online, in collaboration with Andy Milburn, has been produced by several theatre groups. A cantata for choir and brass, Terpsichoreana, by Nia and composer Malcolm Pearce, recently had its debut performance by Oxford choir Pro Musica, and her music is due to feature in performances by international charity Open Doors and dance group Lunas Dance in 2013. In 2011 she was a librettist on the Royal Opera's Exposure programme and her work was showcased at the Linbury Studio Theatre in the Royal Opera House. Nia and mezzo Rebecca Martin recently performed her show 'Smoke and Mirrors', based on the music of Kurt Weill, and hope to take it to other UK venues and festivals in the near future. Nia teaches piano and performance and has led vocal and music workshops for Creation Theatre, the Birmingham Hippodrome, Live Nation Theatre, the Royal Academy of Music and several other companies, colleges and universities. Nia is a Regional Associate Artiste for the English National Ballet and co-leads their Dance for Parkinson's sessions in Oxford. She's accompanied singers in venues including a cowshed, an ice rink, any number of gardens (usually in rain and/or gales), Oxford colleges, several regional theatres and concert rooms and in the Royal Opera House.
