Glenda Beagan's haunting stories are simply told, but delve into the deepest recesses of the mind and family memory, questioning just how well we know ourselves and those closest to us. The stories are deeply interwoven with the folklore of Wales, its sacred trees and places, its language, art, land and identity.

Ceir yma gasgliad o straeon gan Glenda Beagan. Mae'r arddull yn syml, ond mae'r straeon yn treiddio'n ddwfn i'r meddwl ac i'r cof, ac yn cwestiynu pa mor dda yr ydym yn ein adnabod ein hunain a'r rheini sydd agosaf atom. Ceir yn y straeon hefyd ôl dylanwad llên gwerin Cymru, ei choed a'i mannau cysegredig, ei hiaith, ei chelf, ei thir a'i hunaniaeth.

Kicking off with the title story, a shorter version of which was a prizewinner in the Rhys Davies Competition, Beagan raises enormous expectations that she goes on to meet, unfailingly, throughout. This is an awe-inspiring debut collection.

Many of the stories involve powerful evocations of altered states of mind – so powerful that I occasionally found myself having to take the dog for a walk or eat chocolate biscuits to bring myself back to reality. Or is it reality? This is just one of the themes that Beagan returns to again and again. What is reality? Where is the line between sanity and insanity and who defines it? Is there a connection between ‘madness’ and creativity? Will we ever understand the powers and complexities of the human mind?

Beagan’s textured, tactile prose captures place and personality with equal intensity. She explores mysticism and madness without prejudice or judgement and has unerring empathy for her characters, however troubled their state of mind. Her quiet skill in creating and holding tension is magnificent. In ‘Foxy’, an artist chooses to give up her medication to re-embrace her lost creativity at the risk of becoming ‘crazy’ again. In several stories, dreams and visualisations appear to be realised in the tangible world. In ‘Messages’, the ‘interconnected energy patterns’ within a family mean that no sooner has the mother’s manic depression been healed than her son takes over her role and becomes schizophrenic. ‘Lucy is Collecting Archetypes’ highlights the ironic paradox whereby people take drugs specifically to achieve hallucinatory trance states, whilst those who achieve such states of their own accord are medicated . . .

Beagan explores the darkest reaches of the human psyche with great tenderness and conveys the complexity of human emotions with extraordinary insight. This is writing that touches the soul.

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.