Well I've had time to calm my shaking nerves after turning the last page on this one today. So I now feel ready to get my review done.I have not connected with a story like this since The Bronze Horseman. And for that to happen is MASSIVE. I am so engrossed in the town of Pontypridd, I can't thin...
Orphaned at age 8 and raised by a brutal brother, nineteen-year-old Rhian dreams of meeting a man who will love her and give a family of her own. When she is invited to join the Evans family on New Year's Eve 1913, her life is thrown into turmoil. The youngest Evans' brother, Joey, confesses he l...
In 1939, Haydn Powell returns to his native Pontypridd as a star for the summer season. It is his dream come true, but is soon soured when he finds his family divided. Haydn seeks consolation with the theater crowd, but is also drawn to Jane, a young waif lodging with his family. But Jane is haun...
It is 1942, and America's entry into the war brings dramatic changes to Pontypridd. Colonel David Ford and his South Carolina regiment descend on the town to discover themselves billeted in a community of women delighted by the influx of young American men. But there's also resentment, particular...
Trainee midwife Bethan Powell lives in the shadow of the workhouse during the Depression. It's difficult to say which is harder for her and fellow nurse Laura Ronconi--their grueling work in the hospital, or the frictions and financial hardships at home. Bethan's Communist miner father, rigidly C...
Believing herself to be alone, she lifted them to her nose and sniffed them before laying them on the end of the bed. ‘Let me guess, they’re warm from the airing cupboard and scented with lavender water.’ Bella turned and saw Edyth curled on the window seat. ‘I didn’t see ...
‘No, Diana and Phyllis were nice about our engagement.’ ‘Meaning the others weren’t?’ ‘No, silly. Meaning that women are more romantic than men.’ She slipped her hand into his pocket and tickled the top of his thigh through the thin cloth. ‘Can I come in for a while when w...
‘It’s called hope,’ Trevor smiled. ‘Ronnie’s given her something to look forward to. To be honest, I’m amazed. I never thought of him as the type to sweep a girl off her feet. Figuratively, that is,’ he added as he saw the irony in the idea of sweeping a consumptive off her feet when she was alre...
‘There’s nothing worse than a meal like this that’s been kept warm for hours. The pudding part turns to leather. I’ll make him an omelette when he gets back.’ As Diana cut into the crisp batter and well-browned sausages she tried to think of something she could say to lighten the atmosphere. Eliz...
‘Must be the sun.’ Charlie lay back, locked his hands beneath his head and stared up at the wispy clouds drifting above the trees. ‘There were times when I thought last winter was never going to end.’ ‘It was a hard winter where you were?’ ‘Freezing,’ he replied shortly. Reaching out he picked a ...
He listened hard but the silence inside was absolute. Resisting the impulse to knock on the door, he pushed his hands deep into his trouser pockets and walked to the east end of the corridor. Sergeant Lane entered the building. Crabbe beckoned to hi...
‘No thanks, love, I’ve eaten too much for comfort as it is.’ Roy loosened his belt and sat back in his chair as Lily cleared his plate. ‘This afternoon shift is a killer. I feel as though it’s six, not eleven o’clock. But you don’t have to sit up with me. You have work in the morning.’ ‘I told Ja...
She set two in front of her brothers and mashed the vegetables in the one she had poured for herself with a fork, before taking Luke from David. ‘So, the toff came in here.’ David lifted a spoonful of soup to his lips and blew on it to cool it. ‘How many times do you want me to tell you that he d...
Sali glanced at her watch. It was past eleven and, the only time she had sat down since midday dinner was for ten minutes at the tea table. Rhian massaged her back as she stood upright. ‘Don’t forget to clean Owen’s boots when he comes in. He can’t stand seeing his boots d...
Worm’s Head and the sea were distant, and the afternoon languid. It would take only a moment, and she had until evening, a whole day free. Unimaginable luxury. She turned and climbed the downs, seeking the waterfall she sensed was near, but it eluded her. Perhaps in the next copse of trees … ‘You...
‘Is it one of the children ... Esme ...’ At a nod from the sergeant, Roy beckoned John towards an interview room further down the corridor. ‘Come in here, John, and I’ll explain.’ Roy opened the door on a cubicle that stank of cheap disinfectant mixed with other odours that didn’t bear thinking a...
One half of it backed on to the staircase that led upstairs, and he listened intently for the sound of Gabrielle stirring. As soon as he heard the creak of a tread, he heated up the coffee he’d prepared for her, flung open the door and picked up the breakfast tray he’d set out with bread, a slive...
Dressed in a borrowed, floor-length, gold satin frock, with every visible inch of skin on her face, hands and arms covered with gold greasepaint and her black hair hidden beneath a crocheted gold elastic cap threaded with glass beads, she positively shimmered. She turned sideways and checked her ...
There are many places in this wasteland where they can hide our bones. We’ll lie there forever, never to be found by a living being, and no prayers will be said for our souls,’ Mrs Gulbenkian whispered close to Rebeka’s ear. Terrified of being overheard by one of the gendarmes who surrounded them...
‘That is Mrs Jones, Mrs Clay,’ the woman confirmed. ‘But surely you know your own sister-in-law?’ ‘We only met once and that was years ago,’ Helen fabricated, wondering what other lies Jack had spun when he’d visited Maggie. ‘Are you better, Mrs Clay?’ ‘Better?’ Helen aske...
She didn’t move until he pointed to the front door. She shook her head and indicated herself and then the pavement. He nodded to show he’d understood. She pulled the curtain across her window and dived out of bed. Lifting her clothes from the iron footboard she began to dress. The more she hurrie...
Naked they tumbled headlong onto the bed. His mouth sought hers as she guided his erection deep inside her. And for a while nothing existed for either of them outside of one another. When he finally withdrew, they lay back, exhausted, her head pillowed on his chest, his ar...
She read the time but it didn’t register. If anyone had told her that a century had passed since they had left Tonypandy, she would have believed them. Minutes had crawled by like hours, especially on the tram that had taken forever to reach the market town at the head of the valleys, and afterwa...
His white shirt, collar and black tie were neatly pressed, his dark suit shiny, the sleeves and trouser legs too long, the shoulders too wide as if it had been tailored for a taller, broader man, and Helena wondered if he had inherited his foster-father’s suit along with his ecclesiastical duties...
He watched her remove her hat and gloves, walk into the hall and put them away in the cupboard. She returned, sat on the edge of the chair opposite his and stared into the empty fireplace. Disturbed by her silence, he asked her a question he already knew the answer to, because he had seen her ent...