Novel set in PEMBROKESHIRE and HACKNEY

31st January 2024

Christ on a Bike by Orla Owen, novel set in Pembrokeshire and Hackney

“If you win, someone else loses.”

I will admit I chose to read Christ on a Bike because of the title. It had to be a funny book, surely? Well, it does have its ‘moments’ but really Orla Owen’s book is more about choices and our attitude to both good and bad luck.

It is human nature to hope that luck will play some part in improving our lives – preferably beyond our wildest dreams. These days, TV ads and social media promote competitions to win an amazing house. Before that it was the lottery and before that, the football pools or horseracing. We wonder: How would it be if fortune smiled on us and we won a life-changing amount of money? In Christ on a Bike, the answer is, “Complicated”.

Cerys Jones has suffered several tragic losses and the latest is Gwen, who was like a mother to her. The two women weren’t related, so she feels she can’t even grieve for her properly. She is a person who is prone to introspection and dreads making mistakes. Shortly after Gwen’s funeral Cerys is moved to say a prayer for a complete stranger and that small gesture of kindness changes her life. Suddenly she’s wealthy, leaving her job and her rented flat in Hackney for a wonderful home in Pembrokeshire. She has everything she could ever want. Except there are rules. She can’t share her good fortune in the way she would like to. What’s more, someone seems to be watching her every move. Cerys’s personal relationships begin to fracture.

Christ on a Bike delves deeply into the souls of Cerys and her sister, Seren. The sisters examine what it means to be happy and their personal values, especially about being kind and generous. They both have choices to make but whose best interests will they prioritise? The book had me thoroughly involved as the characters strove to conquer the dilemmas that faced them, and I finished reading it in a day. Their vulnerabilities and strengths had me wringing my hands in sympathy. The twists of the plot were deftly handled and there are definitely funny bits to lighten the mood. I particularly enjoyed the dialogue in the early parts of the book, and I defy any reader not to hear the Welsh accent as they read. I agree with an earlier review, which found parallels with Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected. This is an original, thought-provoking and entertaining book.

*I’m still laughing gleefully to myself about the title!“

Sue for the TripFiction Team

Catch our reviewer Sue on Twitter @SueKelsoRyan and on IG @SueKelosRyan

Catch the author on Twitter @Orlaowenwriting / Publisher  @ofmooseandmen

Join team TripFiction on Social Media:

Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction) and BlueSky(tripfiction.bsky.social) and Threads (@tripfiction)

Subscribe to future blog posts