A new edition of the prize winning volume of the 1991 National Eisteddfod Literary Medal with its sensitive treatment of old age and the brittleness of life, the generation gap and the burden borne by carers, together with a parallel English translation of the text.

Argraffiad newydd o gyfrol arobryn Medal Ryddiaith Eisteddfod Genedlaethol 1991 yn ymdrin â breuder bywyd a henaint, gwrthdaro'r cenedlaethau a baich gofalwyr, ynghyd â chyfieithiad cyfochrog i'r Saesneg.

Angharad Tomos is a leading contemporary Welsh language writer and this is a translation of ‘Si Hei Lwli’, the work which won her the prose medal at the National Eisteddfod in 1991. Such is the quality of the work that it has assumed the status of a modern classic and hence its inclusion in a series of specially commissioned translations which Gomer are currently producing. This is a bilingual volume offering a parallel text, the Welsh original appearing on the left hand page and the translation on the right.

Twilight Song is about old age, but it also focuses on a relationship between a young woman named Eleri and her great aunt Bigw who, in her nineties, lives in a home. Eleri takes Bigw out for a day’s excursion in her car and the novel reveals much about their attitudes, their joys, their despair and how, in a low key and undemonstrative way, they bond.

Bigw recalls the death of her brother in France during the 1914–18 war and her profound sorrow. Death is a prominent theme in the book but it is never depressing in any way. It is compassionate and affirmative and I found much of it extremely moving. The verisimilitude of every sentence Angharad Tomos writes is enhanced, possibly, by the fact that it is very closely based on her own experience, as she explains in her preface.

Throughout world literature the journey has been used in order to explore every variant of human experience and, for readers in Wales, this is a superb addition. The term masterpiece should, I suppose, be used with extreme care but it is a word which comes to mind when I reflect on the wealth of pleasure and interest which I have derived from Twilight Song.

Dewi Roberts

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgement should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio’r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatad Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.