From the acclaimed writer Peter Ho Davies comes an engrossing wartime love story set in the stunning landscape of north Wales during the final, harrowing months of World War II.

Stori gariad gan yr awdur Peter Ho Davies, wedi ei gosod adeg y rhyfel yn nhirlun godidog gogledd Cymru yn ystod misoedd olaf erchyll yr Ail Ryfel Byd.

After two acclaimed collections of short stories, Peter Ho Davies’s first novel unquestionably justifies his inclusion as one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists in 2003.

Set mostly in Wales in the wake of D-Day, The Welsh Girl traces the lives of two Germans who find themselves far from home for very different reasons: Captain Rotherham, a German Jewish refugee who is working for the British intelligence services and has been sent to Wales to interview Rudolf Hess; and Karsten Simmering, who surrendered to the British to save the lives of his few remaining men and is being held in a prisoner-of-war camp just outside a small village in Snowdonia. Their lives cross only briefly, yet their stories constantly inform each other and chart the same territory. What does it mean to belong? Where should loyalties lie? When is shame healthy and valid and when is it unnecessary and toxic to our lives? Is honesty always best and must one lie always lead to another? ‘Are we who we think we are, or who others judge us to be?’ The questions raised here are innumerable and there are no right answers – or at least, no answers that are right all of the time.

This is essentially a novel about our shifting and ambivalent perceptions of identity, and rural Wales in wartime is the perfect setting. With a Welsh father and a Chinese mother, Peter Ho Davies is clearly exploring a theme that is important in his own life, and his sensitivity and empathy are reflected in the rich depth of his character portrayals.

The Welsh Girl is beautiful, compelling, thought-provoking. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Suzy Ceulan Hughes

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment 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 ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.