Throughout the summer, we've seen Gary Raymond’s new suspense novel The Golden Orphans get a great reception from reviewers and readers alike. Jeff Noon of The Spectator called it “intense, unnerving and brilliant” while The Bookseller described it as “Shades of the Talented Mr. Ripley".
The Golden Orphans is set in warm, dry Cyprus, but its story is chilling. The old painter Francis Benthem leads a secluded existence funded by his wealthy patron, the Russian gangster Illy Prostakov, whose recurring dream Benthem has to capture through his art.
Bethem dies suddenly, and one fellow painter, our narrator, shows up to his funeral, bereaved and confused. Why did his old mentor withdraw himself so suddenly from society? Questioning the events that led to this lonesome funeral draws the young man into a labyrinth of mystery and secrets; betrayals that take him across Cyprus to an abandoned ghost town on the Greek-Turkish border and far into the convoluted and troubled mind of Bethem’s mysterious benefactor.
Hear more about The Golden Orphans at the stall of the Wales Literature Exchange at Frankfurt Bookfair, where they showcase a great selection of recent Welsh works.
