The Caves of Alienation is a story of unfolding revelation about the difficult, fascinating character of Caradock. The many-sided narrative follows his Welsh childhood, protected from (yet close to) the poverty in the valleys (which his family had themselves helped to create), his crucial first encounters with sex, his literary success in London, and his final withdrawal to Wales.

It is told from a variety of viewpoints, some conflicting, all interrelated. Friends and enemies, literary rivals, lovers, critics, the ‘official biography’ - even television and radio documentaries - jostle each other in the narrative with their own (sometimes feigning) fragments of truth. Caradock’s own novels and essays play a vital part in the story. All this makes for an exhilarating, kaleidoscopic read, funny and profound by turns, yet never flinching in its portrayal of Caradock and his deepest preoccupations.

An enthralling mixture of crime, memoir, travel and reportage from a hugely talented but neglected writer.

“The accomplished hand of a master craftsman in verse and prose.” — Dai Smith

Emotionally moving and intellectually daunting.