An appealing novel presenting a warm portrayal of the community spirit and hardship of rural life in the Llandysul area, west Wales, 1932-43, through narrative in the words of a child and letters to a friend in the words of the child's mother.

Nofel ddeniadol yn cyflwyno portread cynnes o ysbryd cymdogol a chaledi bywyd cymdeithas wledig yn ardal Llandysul, gorllewin Cymru, 1932-43, trwy gyfrwng naratif yng ngeiriau plentyn a llythyrau at ffrind yng ngeiriau ei mam.

Margaret Wyles’s book is described as a ‘memoir’ of her life as a child growing up in rural west Wales. There is no indication of how much, if any, is fiction or how much is recounted from stories told to her by relatives and friends.

The book is set out in a very helpful way: most chapters begin with a newsy letter written by Margaret’s mother, Blodwen, to her close friend Miriam telling her all the things that have happened in the family lately, her worries and her joys. Then follows Margaret’s first person account of her perspective on those events and her child’s eye view of life in a very Welsh rural community. The main part of the book chronicles events from 1932, when Margaret was born, to 1939 and the outbreak of war.

The family moved from South Wales to Cardiganshire (her mother’s original family home) soon after Margaret was born because of her father’s ill health and the Depression in the Valleys. They took over a small shop and small-holding. The precise location is not given but it could refer to many small villages in Cardiganshire in the 1930s and possibly some readers might pick up clues which would enable them to identify it. Blodwen’s letters and Margaret’s narrative are packed with amusing, sad, engrossing stories; many intriguing characters (Mamgu Poli and Col stand out) and local Welsh and English idioms which lend colour and interest. As well as daily life in a rural shop and smallholding, there are day trips to Llangrannog and Tresaith, picnics, haymaking, life in winter, visiting tramps and gypsies and many tales of family members and friends. Written in an easy style, it is a most enjoyable book.

The last part of the book deals with the years 1939 to 1943 – the early war years and the family’s return to Mountain Ash after Margaret’s dear Mamgu Poli, her father’s mother, died. By then Margaret was 11 and about to move on to secondary school. The book ends as they arrive in Mountain Ash to find things very different to what they anticipated . . .

As someone who spent long summers on a farm in Cardiganshire in the late 1930s and 1940s, Margaret Wyles has reminded me of so many things and her description of life then seems to me to be truly authentic. I would love to know whether her mother actually wrote those letters!

Beryl Thomas

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.