As anyone who’s ever tried to hide an unwrapped Christmas present from a loved one knows only too well, buried things have an uncanny knack of being discovered at the most inconvenient of moments. It’s this trope that A. L. Reynolds explores so movingly in her beautiful, sweeping love story Seaside Towns.

Amid the fossil-rich landscape of Llandudno’s mighty Orms, friends and fellow academics Anatoliy and Francis discover that it’s not just ancient creatures that refuse to remain in the past. Both men are haunted by the spectre of passionate affairs that ended in heartbreak. Francis lost his lover in the Korean War while Anatoliy’s childhood sweetheart eventually buckled to the pressure of society and found himself a bride. Scarred by all that has gone before, neither feels strong enough to open themselves up to happiness in the present.

Increasingly torn between memories of lost joy and the possibility of future contentment, what unfolds in Seaside Towns is a compelling love triangle between two men and the lure of the past. It manages to be both gentle yet searing, introspective yet intensely physical. A real gem of a book, its Welsh setting makes it shine brighter still. Seek it out if you can.