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Loading... The Welsh Girlby Peter Ho Davies
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. I thought this was just wonderful - beautifully written, small and yet huge. I really liked all the characters and found the end very moving in its rather understated way. The only criticism is that it didn't quite convey the Welshness of (N) Wales enough for me but that wasn't really essential to the story. (  )samsheep | Apr 2, 2009 |   I found this a little slow to start but the latter sections of the novel improved and made for an enjoyable read. It is an interesting story about a group of characters living through war in a small Welsh community with themes explored about identity and patriotism. Esther's story was no doubt a common one during times of war for women left at home and the author has created a likeable and engaging character. Overall a book I would recommend and an impressive debut. (  )jeniwren | Jan 25, 2009 | 1  I grew up listening to my Welsh mother telling me stories about her farm during WWII. Her family had POW's working on their farms. The Welsh Girl follows that theme. I thought it was a good read, but a bit heavy going at times, it was not what I would call a "page turner". To me the crux of the book was the concept of "cynefin" a welsh word for a territorial boundary passed down over 100's of years through female sheep. The sheep don't need a sheperd, they naturally know where they belong. This concept really blew my mind when I thought of how it related to people, and I think that is really what this book is all about. A good, thoughtful read. (  )SWilley | Jan 23, 2009 | The Welsh Girl ought to be better than it is. The concept is interesting (the story follows a German in a POW camp in a Welsh town and a girl living in the town) and Peter Ho Davies writes well. But there's nothing terribly compelling about the book. I enjoyed it okay as I was reading but found it very easy not to come back to. Nothing ever surprised me in the unfolding of the plot, and that might not always be a criticism--but in the absence of wanting to know the answer to "and then?", I should care deeply for the characters or be enthralled by the language. I was not. As for the structure of the narrative, the switching between Esther's and Karsten's points of view worked well, but the prologue-interlude-epilogue bits too obviously provided an opportunity for a third, more removed character to observe the story and serve as a mouth piece for the novel's ideas. Not a bad read and I will likely read more of Ho Davies's work (though that may be based more an a reading I heard him give a few weeks ago in which I was absolutely captivated by the (as yet unpublished) short story he read), but ultimately somewhat disappointing. (  )lycomayflower | Jan 21, 2009 | 1 The premise of this book made me think of "Summer of My German Soldier" for adults. This was a very lovely, well-written novel that I enjoyed. But I don't think I was quite as blown away as other reviewers. I liked the overall theme of conflicting loyalties and thought all of the main characters' plotlines were brought together full-circle rather nicely. However, when it was all over and done with, I didn't really feel anything for any of the characters. The story was simply over and done. It didn't stay with me days after. ( )mabrown2 | Jan 12, 2009 | 0.043 seconds to build listing
Amazon.com (ISBN 0618007008, Hardcover)Following two widely praised short-story collections, Equal Love and The Ugliest House in the World, Peter Ho Davies's first novel, The Welsh Girl, deserves to be equally well received. It carefully examines two great themes, dislocation and cowardice, through the stories of a WWII POW camp built by the British in the remote mountains of northern Wales and Esther, the 17-year-old Welsh girl at the heart of the story. The POW camp, filled with Germans, is yet another national insult, as far as the Welsh are concerned, only one of many instances of prejudice between and among the novel's characters: Welshman against Brit and vice versa, Brits and Welshmen against Germans, Germans against Jews. Some of these enmities are age-old antagonisms; others are newly-minted political killing machines.Davies introduces a Welsh concept--cynefin--for which there is no English equivalent. It means a certain knowledge and sense of place that is passed down the matrilineal line in a flock of sheep. They always know where they belong and never leave their own turf. It is a perfect metaphor for much of what takes place in this carefully plotted story, and for the displacement felt by many of the characters. Esther longs to escape her village, yet is devoted to the flock and to her father. She meets Colin, an English soldier, in the pub where she works. He is a rough sort and things end very badly between them. Another theme visited again and again is the concept of cowardice. Is it cowardly to save one's life and the lives of others by surrendering to the enemy? Is death the price that must be paid to be considered brave? The German POWs debate this endlessly, especially Karsten, an intelligent, sensitive soldier who did surrender himself and his men when it was clear that all was lost. When he and Esther find one another under impossible circumstances, Davies renders their relationship perfectly: it is star-crossed, but desperately important to both of them, setting them both "free" in the truest sense of the word. The Welsh Girl is a beautifully told story of love, war, and the accommodations we make in the midst of both. --Valerie Ryan (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:05 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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